As others said, the game is all about exploration and overcoming the environment as much as it is about hacking and slashing monsters. The weapons break, but they are plentiful and there is a wide variety to try put anyway with different strengths and properties. It encourages you to explore more (both to find cool weapons and to grow your storage capacity), use different types of attacks and prioritize weapons for different types of enemies. But, if all else fails, even a stick off a tree can be used in a pinch. And there are environmental weapons and sheikh slate utilities that never run out.

The dialog with characters is often helpful for learning some of the mechanics. If you are required to do something, guaranteed there is some character, book, or dungeon to teach you how to do it early on. On the plateau, the old man is your guy. Talk to him for tips. Even better for those who enjoy exploration, though, there are usually multiple ways to overcome the same challenges and they let you discover some of those on your own instead of hand holding.

If you want a helpful tip on this specific problem, read on. If not, stop here.

The cold environment will make you freeze to death, but there are multiple ways to overcome this. Warm clothes. Campfires. Even eating spicy food. There are even some fun more subtle ways I'll let you discover for yourself. You can also always just say "screw it" and just run in naked if you want and keep pounding apples to refill your hearts if that's your jam. But the simplest way to handle the cold on the mountain at the start is to get a torch and light it on fire at a campfire (you can find a fire where you first saw the old man coming down from the shrine of resurrection, or in bokoblin camps, if you dont yet know how to make one yourself). Unlike other weapons that catch fire, a torch will never burn up or go out until you stow it away. 'Cause it's a torch. That's what torches do. The mechanics of the game often hold up to common sense like that. So just carry a lit torch and it's heat will keep you warm enough to get to the top. Just don't stow it until you're back at the bottom. Job done.