Winter camping Colorado Mountain Club (CMC) High Altitude Mountaineering School (HAMS)

1. Winter Camping
HAMS Seminar 2013
Debbie Markham
Co-Director, HAMS
Goal:
Stay comfortable
and warm so you enjoy!

2. Winter Camping Topics
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Clothing
Shelter: Tent, Walls, Snow Caves
Sleeping Systems
Cooking (Stoves, Fuel) and Food

3. Clothing
 Minimize sweat; Don’t get wet!
wet = cold; DRY = WARM
 Change into DRY clothes ASAP
 Light-, mid-, and heavy-weight layers
Merino/SmartWool wicks; does not retain odor!
 Hat and balaclava
 Multiple sets of gloves, with tethers
 Soft-shell pants and jacket
 Hard shell (Gore-Tex) jacket & pants
(full zips are worth the price)
 Hand and Toe Warmers
 Dry socks at night. VBLs work well for some.
 Bring damp clothes in your bag to dry
 Pee Bottle (48 oz., marked)

4. Shelter
 Tent
4-season recommended for wind & strength
Identify “safe” place to establish tent zone
Use shovels to level tent platform
Use snowshoes to firm up tent platform
Leave the ground cloth at home!
Use lightweight snow stakes; consider parachutes
Must dig out during heavy snowfall!
 Snow Walls
Blocks the wind
Snow shovels and snow saw

5. Shelter
 Snow Cave
Dig down and deep – must not collapse!
Must have air vent
Quiet, warm, dark, light (no tent, poles, stakes)
But, takes longer than tent, and you will get wet!
Consider for multi-day base camp
Not for claustrophobics

6. Sleep System
 Sleeping Bag (consider temps and conditions)
 0 degree is our “most used” for CO winters
 lighter bag will suffice on Mt. Rainier
 down vs. synthetic (rainy/wet camping?)
 add warmth with liner bag and/or down clothing

7. Insulation
 Insulated pads
 Protect tent floor – keeps in warmth
 Extra protection for sleeping pad
If it leaks and goes flat, you are still protected from snow
1/4” Evazote® foam pads - prolitegear.com
 Exped Downmat – 5, 7 or 9 (great if you sleep cold)
 NeoAir – lighter option
 Small size insulation rectangle for sitting/standing
 Optional: lightweight, collapsible, camp chair

8.  Stoves
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Cooking
Helios JetBoil - canister
MSR Reactor - canister
MSR WhisperLite Universal – canister and liquid
MSR XKG EX – all types of liquid fuel
 Fuel Pros and Cons
 Canister Fuel – typically heats water faster, easy to use,
fuel is more expensive, build-in pots (less flexible),
not as accessible outside U.S.
(cold weather performance with inverted canisters)
 Liquid Fuel – less expensive, excellent cold weather
performance, heavier, requires fuel bottle

9. Cooking and Food
• Typically, most just melt snow for water
and “just add boiling water“ to their food:
instant soups and potatoes, hot cocoa, tea, coffee, oatmeal,
dehydrated/freeze-dried veggies and dinners
• Cooked food in pans “freeze” and difficult clean-up
Bacon, eggs, pancakes – always welcome! Group meals
can also be fun.
• Consider food that doesn’t require cooking: (i.e., tortillas
or flatbread with chicken, tuna)
• Bring the food you like and know you will eat!
• Water containers need to be insulated, or they will freeze
Use insulated water holders rather than camelbaks/bladder