Quoted By:
I live in and on snow sometimes 3m deep a reasonable chunk of the year with temps down to -40C.
Here is advice:
>Sleeping pads are good, foam on the snow, inflatable on top of that
>Check that your sleeping bags temperature is the COMFORT limit not the extreme limit
>A quality shovel is a good investment
>Mitts not gloves, and having a separate mitt from the liner will let you dry them faster
>Spare mitts
>Buy 1-2 sizes up on your mitts so you can take them off and put them back on easily and quickly or fit a liner inside for extremely cold days
>If you sweat during the day and don't dry off totally before you get in your sleeping bag, change your base layer, if you're mostly dry just change your socks
>some kind of lightweight glove for finesse work (knots, working with metal tools etc.)
>Keep your clothes for tomorrow in a dry bag in the footbox of your sleeping bag, if you don't have space then put them in your bag as soon as you wake up
>Buy winter boots or ski boots with removable liners, keep them in your bag at night in a dry bag
>2x .5L Nalgene bottles are important on longer trips, fill with hot water, drop in your boots in the morning so you start the day with warm feet, drop in gloves and hang in tent to dry them
>If you are static for a while on snow sit or stand on something insulated, foam pad is great; try sitting down and put one boot on a pad and the other one on snow, feel the difference in 5 minutes
>After eating: before the metal gets cold, put some snow in your cooking pot and use a mitt to scrape the inside clean, if the temperatures never go above freezing then you don't need soap
>If there is no running water and you have to melt snow constantly, a second pot is great to avoid getting food scraps in your drinking water
>Add olive oil/butter/fat to your dinner to stay warmer at night
And most importantly
>Even if it's terrible weather outside and you have to use your stove inside the tent; OPEN THE DOOR
