WINTER CAMPING • 101 • 5 Essential Tips for First Timers
Photo Credit: Katie Botwin
By Jenny Willden
Bundled up deep in a sleeping bag, I can see my breath against the orange tent walls. Our campsite: a frozen lake, deep in northern Canada’s Limberlost Forest. While I’ve overnighted in an ice hotel and camped WAY too early in the season at Bryce National Park, this is my first purposeful foray into winter camping, and I’m not frozen yet. Sleep comes easily, and the next day brings breakfast on the ice followed by fat biking and snowshoeing around the lake. For me, it’s a perfect winter weekend. But if the easy access to winter adventures isn’t reason enough to try winter camping, consider the other perks. Imagine the solitude of camping without summer’s crowds, the lack of bugs and bears (yay hibernation), and the ability to ski or snowboard the backcountry right from camp.
“When you have warm feet, you have a warm heart, and when you have a warm heart, you can do anything.” -polar explorer Eric Larsen’s winter camping motto Turns out, plenty of adventurers want to winter camp, but don’t know how or have the proper gear. So this winter, I traveled with polar explorer Eric Larsen (the first person to reach the North Pole, South Pole, and Mount Everest in a single year) to Canada’s Camp Cold to learn the in’s and out’s of camping in the winter— without being totally miserable. Eric judges the quality of life but the number of nights he spends in a tent, so he’s just the person to teach me how to love it. From essential gear to proper layering, we’re breaking down the winter camping basics into these simple steps: 10«
Late Winter 2020
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1. KNOW THE CONDITIONS Before spending a night outside, read the local weather (not the iPhone weather app—think NOAA) and avalanche reports (Utah Avalanche Center). High avalanche danger and roaring winds are great reasons to postpone your winter camping experience while others—like subzero temps—require extra gear and preparation. When summer camping, you can forget something at home and it isn’t a huge deal. With camping in winter, forgotten gear can make the night uncomfortable, even deadly. Create a packing list and check it twice before departing. Look up potential campsites/recreation areas to see what’s open and available during winter. Find at least one buddy to go with you, and let others know where you’ll be. Leave emergency contact information with someone at home, and know emergency numbers to use if something happens while you’re in the woods. Phones matters for more than photos in the backcountry. Preserve your phone’s battery life by stashing it in a cold-protected pouch at the bottom of your sleeping bag and pack a backup battery for recharging. If you’ll be out of cell phone service, bring two-way radios or a satellite phone. 2. CHOOSE THE RIGHT CAMPSITE Know what avalanche zones look (sites pitched more than 20 degrees) and avoid camping in those areas. For your first winter camping trip, choose an easily accessible, sheltered destination that‘s close to roads and civilization. That way you can get help if needed, or bail if things aren’t going well. An ideal winter camping location is one with firewood so you can build a fire (if needed) and access to running water. Watch for overhead hazards when pitching your tent like sagging tree branches or hanging icicles.
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