cold weather

Professionals Playbook: What it takes to survive in Antarctica with British Polar Explorer Felicity Aston

Felicity Aston is a British Polar Explorer living in Reykjavik, Iceland. In 2012 she became the first person in the world to ski alone across Antarctica. The journey of 1744 km (1080 miles) took her 59 days and gave her a place in the book of Guinness World Records.

More than a decade before, her first journey to Antarctica was as a meteorologist with the British Antarctic Survey to monitor climate and ozone activity. She went on to complete numerous journeys in Antarctica and other polar regions of the world including Greenland and Siberia.

Felicity regularly speaks to audiences around the world about her expedition experiences as well as polar science, Antarctica and meteorology. She has written three books which have now been translated into several languages.

In this episode she talks about (in order):

Her career
How she puts together expeditions
What type of people she selects
Her leadership philosophy
Why Antartica is so amazing
Why it’s so difficult to navigate during polar trips
Being utterly alone on the fringe of the world
Her mental training
Her physical training
Projects she’s working on now

Feature image courtesy of WikiMedia Commons

Rad on Gear: Rad talks gloves and jackets on the slopes of Brighton Ski Resort

This time Rad’s going straight to the source and talking with skiiers at Brighton Ski Resort in Utah about the one piece of gear they love the most. Topping that list today are Burton’s Gore-Tex ski mittens and Wantdo’s waterproof jackets. If you’re looking for a review from an end user, you can’t beat finding guys touting their favorite bits of cold weather kit in the falling snow of Utah. Check it out!

Check out these deals on Burton Mitts and Wantdo jackets:

Rad on Gear: Talking Burton’s Moto Boa snowboarding boots

Rad’s still hanging out at the Brighton Ski Resort in Utah, checking out the snow conditions and breaking down the best gear for cold weather hikes, outdoor adventuring, or just a leisurely day on the slopes. This time, it’s the Burton Moto Boa snowboarding boots that have Rad’s attention.

These boots are advertised as feeling “broken in” right out of the box to bring you nothing but comfort from day one. Do they meet Rad’s expectations? We’ll let him tell you.

Check out these deals on Burton Moto Boa boots

Photo of the day: Recon Marines prepare for extreme hike in South Korea

I remember going through the South Korean ROK Marine Mountain Warfare training center. Those ROK Marines were damn machines during the entire training course. I remember going up into the mountains one day, probably covering a few thousand feet in elevation, and they smoked us. Obviously, this is their backyard and they better be good at it, but damn. We were all in pretty good physical condition and these guys didn’t break a sweat.

Moving on to the ropes course was another interesting training evolution. This consisted of knot tying with regards to combat and survival and then traversing many different types of rope bridges. We all had safety carabiners snapped into the overhead line when going across these bridges. One of the two rope bridges actually crosses a major highway with a steady flow of vehicles and trucks. One of our guys got hung up and lost his footing. Unable to regain his footing to continue across the bridge, one of the Korean ROK Marines quickly went out across the bridge with no safety line snapped in and helped our guy back onto the bridge. They seem to have an increased level of crazy in them. All in all, it was a great training deployment with the ROK Marines.

MOUNTAIN WARFARE TRAINING CAMP, SOUTH KOREA

Petty Officer 3rd Class Cody Goddard covers the rear of the group as Republic of Korea Marines try to use communication equipment before a simulated pre-dawn raid Jan. 22 during Korean Marine Exchange Program 14-3 near the Mountain Warfare Training Camp in Pyeongchang, South Korea. To prepare for the cold weather training, the U.S. Marines went through climatization training which included jumping in a pool of ice water, learning to ski, and surviving with no warming layers. Goddard is a corpsman with 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force. The ROK Marines are with the 1st ROK Special Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st ROK Division.

Photo courtesy of DVIDS

Procuring water in a cold environment: Tips from a Military Survival Instructor

People worry about dying of dehydration in the desert and rarely think about dying of thirst when surrounded by frozen water. However getting water efficiently is paramount in an arctic/winter setting. As you dehydrate in the cold your blood becomes thicker and the circulation rate slows leaving you incredibly vulnerable to cold injuries such as hypothermia and frostbite. In this article, I’ll go over a couple of things that I’ve done and that I teach to ensure that you can procure yourself some safe drinking water.

Water generator. It’s a simple enough device. Find something that is permeable to water and that can hold a good amount of snow. I typically use sections from a parachute as I’m teaching downed pilots how to survive. Hang the parachute up so that there is a pouch that you can fill with snow. Have a fire going near it so that the heat melts the snow in the pouch. Have a stick placed into the pouch to create a point for all of the water to collect at, and below that, a bucket to collect that water. It won’t taste great but it’ll get you through some tough situations.

Melting ice. Simple enough, ice will yield far more water than snow will due to the density of the ice. Melt it in canteen cups or equivalent and enjoy yourself some quality H20. If you find yourself in a location where the snow meets the shoreline or you find yourself rummaging for drinkable water in the ocean around the arctic circle make sure you stick to ice that has a deep blue color as it will be (mostly) free of salt.

Streams, Rivers, Ponds. Remove your gloves (so that they don’t get wet and your fingers don’t freeze solid) and get yourself some water. Be wary of falling through the ice or slipping off of the snowy bank into freezing water. To avoid getting a ton of debris in your water as you fill it hold your canteen cup or other water collection container 90 degrees to the flow of the stream. It’ll minimize the stuff that gets in there.

One of my favorite methods is to melt snow/ice in my canteen while on the move. While your canteen is partially full, add small amounts of snow or ice as you travel. The water in your canteen will melt it so long as the temperature is somewhat regulated (In an insulated cover, or in one of your layers if you must). It’s a simple method that can easily be done in cold environments and is a go-to for me.

A couple more cold weather water tips for you. Store your water containers upside down. Water freezes from the top down. This will help to ensure that your cap doesn’t freeze solid onto your canteen. Do not sleep with your water in your sleeping bag, if it bursts open or leaks you’re likely to have a very bad time. I like to place my canteens underneath my bough bed by my feet. Usually, the heat radiating off my sleeping bag coupled with the insulation from the boughs will keep the water from freezing. Alternatively, you can bury your water containers upside down in 2-3 feet of snow. The snow will insulate the containers enough so that they do not freeze solid. Also, purify your water.

As with any environment you need to hydrate. I see far more hydration issues during cold weather than I do during warm weather. Take care of yourselves, worry about water and not food. Avoid protein to save your water, ration sweat not water and be safe out there.

Winter Clothing & Footwear Recommendations from a Military Survival Instructor

Not wearing proper clothing or layering correctly while traveling in a snow-laden environment could lead to cold injuries and death. As a survival instructor for the military, I find myself in these environments often and teach others how to effectively travel in them. In the lists below I will note the things that I typically wear and why.

Typical weather of the survival training area during the winter months.

I follow the basic principle of wicking, warming and weather layers. The purpose of the wicking layer is to keep moisture from accumulating on the skin and to allow it to evaporate if at all possible. Above this, we wear a warming layer. This is the layer I’m going to remove depending on the amount of work I’m doing to ensure that I don’t sweat. Finally, we have our weather layer. This layer will typically be on at all times as I don’t want to get the under layers wet. The layers I usually wear when instructing are a Patagonia or Crye combat shirt as my wicking layer, Beyond Clothing A3 Alpha Sweater as my warming layer and a Beyond Clothing Wind Shirt or a Beyond Clothing A6 Rain Jacket depending on precipitation as my weather layer.

In weather above 15 F, I wear no thermal underwear and wear either Crye Field or Crye Combat pants. If the weather drops below 15 F I may opt for thermal underwear in addition to the Crye pants. I find that I tend to sweat too much if I wear thermals in weather above 15 F. Another consideration is also the amount of precipitation that you have. If the temperature is hovering around or near freezing and the rain is staying rain, you find yourself in a very dangerous environment. This is what we call “prime hypothermia weather”. In environments such as this, I’ll opt for a full Gore-Tex ensemble of Beyond Clothing A6 Rain Jacket and Rain Pants.

The shoe and socks make up perhaps one of the most crucial pieces of the picture. If your feet sweat too much you’re likely to sustain a cold injury of some type. I’ve seen multiple approaches but in my experience, I’ve found what works best to be one pair of quality thick socks such as winter weight smartwool socks (or equivalent, darn tough are great as well) with some type of full grain leather boot and gaiters. The reason I recommend one pair of socks is that if you begin to layer socks to try to keep your feet warm it ends up doing the opposite. With 2-3 pairs of socks on, your feet have less room in your boot. This compresses your feet and reduces blood flow. As blood flow slows within your feet you’ll find yourself much colder than you need to be. Hence, wear one good pair. You can mitigate this by getting a larger boot size, but I prefer the one sock approach.

When it comes to boots I prefer to use a full grain leather boot. I find that they last longer than synthetic boots and can be treated easier. Before every outing, I heat the leather on my boots using a hair dryer and apply as many coats of SNO SEAL as I possibly can before the leather stops absorbing it. SNO SEAL and other weatherproofing waxes stop water from soaking into the leather and lead to dry warm feet. The waxes also treat the leather and helps keep it supple so that it doesn’t crack. The boots I personally use are either the Asolo TPS 520 GV for snow no deeper than 2 feet or in more extreme weather the Kenetrek Mountain Extreme 400 insulated hunting boot. Don’t lace your boots tight, if your boots are overly tight you’ll restrict blood flow to your feet and your feet will be more susceptible to cold injuries.

The aforementioned boots are always paired with gaiters. I and many others typically roll with the Outdoor Research Rocky Mountain High Gaiters. Gaiters will mitigate the amount of moisture that soaks into your pants which could, in turn, soak your socks and then your feet. I wear gaiters in most environments and even if not I keep them in my pack as they weigh almost nothing and pack down quite flat.

I realize I’m throwing out some high dollar equipment. This is not a comprehensive list of winter clothing but rather what I use. There are many other excellent companies out there that make warming, wicking and weather layers. Arc’teryx and REI come to mind immediately. You can definitely get what you need for less. I’d feel irresponsible if I didn’t mention that you should always have emergency equipment on you in a winter environment. Tinder kit, signaling devices, and ways to collect and purify water are essential.