Survive The Snow!

That nice North Face-sponsored chappy Bear Grylls very kindly sent us some advice on staying warm and happy in the current winter conditions. Curiously though, much of his advice involved buying lots of TNF kit -)

Not a bad idea though, so we had a word with our man Gear, Richard Gear, and asked him to put together a quick guide to staying warm in snowy, wintry conditions. And here it is. Fior Richard's more general adivice on staying warm in winter, see this previous article.

Going back to first princilples, insulating clothing works by trapping warm air around the body either within or between the fibres of the clothing. The thicker the air-trapping layer, the warmer you're likely to be. Think or yourself as being like a water tank with an insulating jacket.

The most versatile way of trapping air is with a series of layers - fleece, synthetic insulation, down - all will work well, but using several thinner instead of one thick garment, allows you to adjust the insulation values by taking a layer off or even adding one if you're too cool.

Bear in mind, that if you're walking uphill, even in cold weather, you will be churning out the therms, so may need less clothing than you think.

That's all fine in still conditions, but wind makes a huge difference. What windchill is all about is the wind stripping the warm air layer from around your body, that means you have to continually re-heat the air in your insulating layers which, in turn, will cool you down.

A windproof layer will massively reciuce that heat loss by preventing the warm air from being blown away. Ideally you want it to fit closely enough to prevent flapping, which will move air around inside your clothing system, but loosely enough not to compress your underlayers, which will also reduce insulation values. So think close, but not tight.

In snowy conditions, like the ones we have now, a water resistant rather than waterproof outer layer should do just fine - soft shell works very well in cold, dry, snowy climates for example - windproof fabrics are generally significantly more breathable than waterproofs as well, which will help to stop your inner layers getting damp with sweat and condensation.

If you find yourself damping out from the inside and running hot then think about taking off an insulating layer.

Just as crucial when it comes to staying dry is a proper, wicking base layer, either synthetic or merino wool. The base layer doesn't need to keep your warm, it's main purpose is to transport moisture away from the skin and outwards. A cotton tee-shirt is useless, it will quickly become damp and transport heat away from your body - a bad thing.

There are a lot of hypothetical figures about heat loss from the head out there. Many of the really extreme ones are, apparently, based on an old and discredited experiment. The real figure is more like ten per-cent.

That's still a lot, so cover your head with either a fleece or windproof / insulated hat. We find something like a thin, windproof fleece beanie is a good compromise, though if you get cold easily, then a fleece-lined mountain cap may be the way to go.

Last but not least, always carry a spare hat. They're easy to lose and the consequences can be dangerous.

Legwwear is less complicated than the upper body. Rather than wear sweaty overtrousers, we'd suggest some form or water-resistant / wind-resistant or -proof pants. The lower limbs seem less fussy about breathability than the upper body too, so you can get away with a fabric like, say, Windstopper, which may not be breathable enough for upper body use.

Don't forget some form of synthetic underwear either. Cotton grundies are again a no, no. In really cold conditions, a pair of baselayer longs can up the insulation value of standard trousers to acceptable levels.

Like the rest of your body, your feet will be happiest when warm and dry. Boots with some sort of waterproof liner are an option, though a well-made and treated leather boot should also do the job just fine and be more breathable too.

A synthetic wicking liner with a wool-based over sock is a good combination, but modern walking socks are just as good alone. Don't try to cram lots of socks onto your foot - if your boot is overtight, blood circulation will be reduced and your feet will feel cold.

In snowy conditions, gaiters will prevent snow from entering the ankle cuff of your boot and generally protect the uppers of your boot. In snow, wear the gaiter over your trouser leg or loose snow will be forced up between the bottom of the trouser and the gaiter. In rain, reverse the arrangement or water will run down inside the gaiter :-)

Long gaiters can cause breathability problems so look for vented options like the MHW Ventigaiter or consider a short, ankle length 'stop tous'.

Wear gloves or mittens to keep your pinkies pink. Windproof fleece is great in snow as long as it stays dry, but don't write off traditional matted woollen dachstein mitts or gloves which work amazingly well even when crusted with snow.

Mittens are generally warmer than gloves because they reduce the surface area of hand available to disperse heat. The trade off though, is that they are less nimble than gloves. Mitts with baselayer gloves for the occasional bit of fiddly work is a good combination.

Tactics? Yep, in our experience, many people wear too much when they're moving and get hot, sweaty and damp, but not enough when stopped. As soon as you stop, throw on a hat and, ideally, an extra insulation layer. A synthetically insulated top or belay jacket is ideal for this. Just carry it in the top of your pack and throw it on over other layers. Remember when you start off that you may feel cold, but any sort of ascent will have you kicking out the heat and raise temperatures fast.

Last but not least, you should be carrying an emergency survival aid of some kind, a torch and whistle and ideally, a mobile phone. See our Survival Aids Buyer's Guide for more details and hints.

That's it folks. Stay warm, stay safe and enjoy the snow :-)