My first snow camping experience was an accident. I was on the southern portion of the 500-mile Colorado Trail, getting close to the end of a month-long hike when a blizzard swept over the mountain range. Over the years, I’d racked up thousands of long-trail miles but very few of them were spent in frigid conditions. Fortunately, I was ready to spend a chilly night under the stars, and I slept quite comfortably, even as the temps dropped. If you’re interested in cold-weather camping this winter, here are a few things you can do to be prepared.
Plan Before You Camp
Checking the weather is an obvious place to start, but it’s also smart to look beyond a basic forecast of a town near your backcountry destination. Many avid adventurers use Mountain Forecast (mountain-forecast.com) to obtain the most accurate information about a region based on a peak, which can provide a more comprehensive description of weather at higher elevations. Once campers know what kind of conditions they’ll be facing, they can choose the right equipment.
Choose the Right Gear
Campers should always head into the backwoods equipped with navigation tools like paper maps and a GPS tracker – especially in cold or winter conditions, since threats like hypothermia and frostbite can be higher.
Additionally, bringing the right tent and sleeping gear helps ensure that campers will be able to insulate themselves at night. While some campers continue to use 3-season tents when the temperatures start to dip, others find that a 4-season tent does a better job of providing insulation and warmth no matter the weather. Smaller, cocoon-shaped tents are also easier to keep warm with body heat than larger dome tents with more space.
In snowy conditions, campers should even out their tent spot prior to staking it out and consider creating snow walls around the exterior of the tent to retain more warmth. Snow is a great insulator, which means that it’s often used by avid winter campers to create a cozy home for the night.
Inside the tent, the sleep system also plays a huge part in cold-weather camping comfort. Choosing a sleeping bag with a low temperature rating is a good first step. The sleeping pad is an equally or even more important component of the sleep system, although its significance is often overlooked. In the same way that sleeping bags have temperature ratings, sleeping pads have R-values. The higher the R-value, the more insulated it is.
Stay Warm While in Camp
Temperatures can be volatile, and come with varying amounts of moisture, which makes preparing for them difficult. Fortunately, there are a few ways campers can stay prepared for a wide range of conditions. Layering clothing—a mix of baselayers, insulated puffy jackets, and rain shells—is a great way to trap body heat. But it also enables campers to remove layers when necessary, to find optimal warmth.
An old Army study suggested that the human head dispels 45-50% of the body’s heat, which highlighted the importance of wearing a hat in cold conditions for many decades. By the early 2000s, scientists found these estimates to be excessive. But head insulation still matters. In fact, researchers found that the face, head, and chest are all more sensitive to temperature changes, which means that they are much more likely to feel cold than other parts of the body. For this reason, packing a hat, scarf, and a balaclava or similar tube-style protector can provide added comfort for campers in cold-temperatures.
Another key component in maintaining body warmth is staying dry. This means that when a camper is preparing to be sedentary or to go to bed, they should ensure that their clothing isn’t damp from the weather or perspiration. Wet clothing causes quick heat loss. It can also weaken the immune system due to the output that’s needed to maintain warmth.
Cover photos: All photos courtesy of the author
