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.
How
Insulation Works
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.
Stripped
By The Wind
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.
Stay
Dry
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.
Cover
Your Bonce
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.
Legs
Eleven
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.
Foot
Fetish
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'.
Hands
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
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.
Emergencies
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 :-)
