Start Hiking Cold
 

Oftentimes we want to start our hikes early in the morning.  This way we can reach our objectives earlier in the day with plenty of daylight and a more stable snowpack.  But the earlier you start hiking, the colder it will be!  This may lead to the temptation of layering up to begin your hike.  After all, who doesn’t want to feel warm and cozy in the morning?  However, it is best to fight this temptation as there are negative consequences; mainly wasting energy and starting to sweat.

It doesn’t take long for your body to heat itself up when you are hiking uphill.  Even quicker it you throw 50 pounds of gear on your back.  If you layered up before you begin hiking, you will probably find yourself taking those layers off within the first 5 to 10 minutes of your hike.  Save yourself the time, energy, and effort it takes to drop your backpack, take layers off, re-pack, and move on.  On a long expedition, we want to minimize the amount of times we have to take our packs off as it can get very taxing on the body.

What’s worse than the energy and time wasted changing layers is the threat of the sweat.  Sweating is your body’s natural reaction to overheating and it is an amazing mechanism to cool your body down.  A great process to have for a hot summer’s day; not so great when your goal is to stay warm.  Working up a sweat is very counterproductive to surviving a winter tour. 

When you begin to sweat, your body is using up stored energy to cool down.  So, to “layer on” to the first problem of wasting energy by layering up, building up a sweat wastes even more energy.  But the larger consequence of sweating is dampening your base layers.  When winter camping, moisture is the enemy.  It is a constant battle to stay dry, which consequently means staying warm. 

So, next time you start a long hike in the snow, start out cold.  Anticipate how many layers you expect to be wearing 10 minutes in and start out with that.  It will be uncomfortable for a few minutes but it will pay off in the long run.  Save your energy, don’t work up a sweat, and power through the initial pain.

Stay safe, stay Savvy, and get out there!

Avi Kleiman
Founder, Savvy Touring Company Ltd.
For Life in the Backcountry