Bucket list Long term trip planning Winter aand deep cold 2020/2021

[Edward John M]

Long been my desire to see the Far North

I blame Robert Service and Jack London and my early childhood reading

I have a small inheritance coming soon and I’d like to spend some of the money on this trip.

I have a couple of friends and some family in the USA so it makes sense to me to go there rather than Scandinavia or Siberia.

I will have a total of about 90 days.

I have a post u about a new sleeping bag in the Winter camping forum but here I am asking for some advice on possible trips and places to see in winter that are easy to moderate in scale.

General gear advice too on how to keep my lod down to a safe minium and what o bring with me and what to purchase over there. Not everything is cheaper in the USA and Canada.

I know that I will not be bringing my CCF mats or XL Ridgerest for instance but it may pay me to bring the coupling sleeve for my mattress system.

I have been warned to expect normal tempertures of around -30C but that I should be able and equipped to survive a possible -55C, that extra 25 degrees is the difficult part for me so I want to avoid the mistake to bring too much warm gear

I ski and ski tour here in OZ and I like to think I am reasonably competent I have had advce from many Winter Trekkers but most of it has been on the use of canvas tents, wood fired stoves and woollen clothing

Here I hope for the other perspective on tent choice etc, especially on tent size and storm resistance

 

 

[Lester Moore]

If  you ski, are coming to the U.S. and would like to avoid carrying a tent, then you might consider a 5 day trip North of the border to ski the Wapta Traverse in the Canadian Rockies, hut to hut. April is the favorite season to do it.

[Edward John M]

I do ski Lester, not expert tho

It is amongst the questions about gear I will need answered, I still use 75mm NN duckbill and I have no plans to change at the moment

[Jerry Adams]

Make sure you know how to start a fire with one match so your dog doesn’t return without you : )

[Edward John M]

I know that was meant in jest and I appreciate the reference but I hope most of the responses will be in a more serious vein.
To that end should I post a prospective and tentative gear list for you to demolish?

So far nothing is fixed except my old  down parka for sleeping in and my NYCO wind pants

[Link .]

Not that this is what you are looking for but I will link them, the first is Ray Jardines Skiing to the South Pole( it includes his training and gear)

SKIING TO THE SOUTH POLE FIERCE WINDS, ULTRA-COLD TEMPERATURES 58 DAYS 700 MILES

This next one is Andrew Skurka’s with info including gear videos and slides ect.

Alaska-Yukon Expedition .

[Ken Thompson]

Peter V.  is above the Article Circle now. You two should talk when he gets back in a few months.

[Jerry Adams]

sorry, just trying to be humorous

I too have read Jack London and thought about doing a trip there.  That is so different than the lower 48.  I think you’ll have a great adventure.

[Edward John M]

I laughed Jerry because I have a sick sense of humour.

Perhaps I should mention that I am 65 YO and currently waiting on a double hip replacement. A lifetime working as a cook and chef and a lot of walking and running will do that to you/

I am certainly looking for something a little less extreme that anything Andrew Skurka has done.

hould I post a lis of what I already own for demolition>?

[Jerry Adams]

you are an old person.  I am a young 63.  That is shocking!  How did it come to this.  I guess I got at least a couple more years?…

I’m not really into list demolition : )

 

[Edward John M]

I’ve read Andrew Skurkas gear lists and what I own could probably duplicate his in intent if not the specific items

how big is Mr Skurka tho? I have some of the same gear and mine weighs more that his posted weights

I am an XL to XXL in size and I find this makes a big differnce when combined and totalled

[Jerry Adams]

yeah, I’m bigger than average too.  Clothes, sleeping bag, tent have to be a little bigger so weigh more.  More food.

[Link .]

Andrew is a size medium he is 6′ tall and weighs 160lbs a 40″ chest and 30″ waist, here are some photos, from him running the

BOSTON MARATHON.

 

[Edward John M]

Even when I was running marathons I was never a 30 inch waist. Thanks it helps me extrapolate the extra weight for my size.

I want to go somewhat lighter than my hot tenting contacts are telling me is neccessary, for one thing you only get 40 Kilos of luggage allowance on cattle class flights.

Is there a place for woollen pants and shirts in a LW set of gear, not counting merino underwear?

I may be persuded to buy a new down or synthetic parka, My old one does seem to be a bit too specialised for very windy environments compared to what is available now.

[David Thomas]

“I have been warned to expect normal tempertures of around -30C but that I should be able and equipped to survive a possible -55C”

This I don’t understand.  I live in Alaska, I’ve been throughout the state and through much of NW Canada.  Two times in 20 years I’ve seen -40F/C.  Three days of -40 and -41 at home in 1998.  And some -44F/-42C in the Yukon in January 1999.  Mostly we don’t see those temps any more (the Arctic has warmed much more than the rest of the planet).   I know 8 Iditarod mushers who’ve run in twenty different 1000-mile races between them.  Only one time did it get to -50F/-46C in one stretch.  Yeah, that’s deadly cold and you HAVE to have the right gear AND do everything right, and make NO mistakes.  But you’re no longer running a race, your only job is staying alive and you have 20 hours a day to work on that, figuring you get maybe 4 hours of sleep.  I wouldn’t plan for -67F/ -55C – that’s once-a-century, in-only-one-place, world-record-breaking cold.

>”Is there a place for woollen pants and shirts in a LW set of gear, not counting merino underwear?”

Sure, you could.  It’s not as UL as a down puffy, but it is a LOT tougher.  Against trees.  Around a fire (wool is the most fire-proof, followed by cotton).  My wife’s go-to -30C/-22F ski outfit is heavy army-surplus wool pants over med- to expedition-weight polypro long underwear.  And wool is the least stinky clothing after you’ve been wearing it for weeks.  An old Woolrich wool shirt might be $8 at a thrift store.  Used wool sweaters are even cheaper.  Northern-europe army surplus wool pants can be very functional for $40-50.

Don’t rule out fur – a few million years of evolution have made for some pretty light, warm furs.  A lot of mushers go with beaver-fur mitts.  Any canine (fox, wolf, coyote, dog) fur makes a good parka hood ruff because it doesn’t ice up from your breath.  And you want a ruff, absolutely, and IMO a tunnel hood (sunburst patterns work too, but I think a tunnel hood with a good ruff is more versatile).

Then there are all the little tricks: you tie cords to your mittens and lace the cords through your parka sleeves, so you can shake them off to do fine work with only your liner gloves on, but never lose them.  Learn how to poop and pee quickly, exposing as little as possibly, while not making a mess.  Camping 20-30 feet higher will get you out of the coldest of the inversion layer at night – that can be 15F warmer.  How to prime your stove in severe cold.  How to stay hydrated (haven’t peed in 2 hours? chug a liter!).  Don’t sweat.  Don’t ever sweat.  Remove clothing layers before you get to that point.

[Edward John M]

Thanx David

I wasn’t planning for -55C

I was just told I need to able to survive if it got down to that. My planning minimum for comfort was -35C

It would however be just my luck to have it occur while I was over there. If my sleeping combo of the WMKodiak and down clothing + half bag was comfortable at -35C i could survive a cold night by using my Big Mother parka on top and adding an extra warm layer of Polartec Thermalpro I think.

Both my beloved wife and I sew, we were going to make up a set of Thermal-Pro, 3/4 pants and a hooded pull-over as a mid layer. I have a lot of gear here but most of it geared to Australias Wet-Cold conditions and my unused Everest gear is 30 YO now so no longer state of the art in terms of weight

 

[Edward John M]

Some advice on weights here, I have sled hauled up to 130 kilos for short trips into a basecamp but even in good conditions I cannot imagine long days pulling even 70 kilos.

What would be considered a reasonable weight limit? Over here my winter pack load for 3 or 4 comfortable solo nights out ski touring would be 17 kilos plus food and fuel.

I can shave 2.2 kilos from that by taking a smaller tent [ Fairydown Plateau Vs Macpac Minaret] and another kilo by not taking a set of dedicated sleeping clothing.

 

Realistically how much extra gear would  need to cope with arctic conditions? a third warm layer and a dedicted wind suit comes to mind  but that is it really unless it does get to -40 and lower in which case I am propping until conditions improve

 

[Edward John M]

Well I’ve got a bit closer to my goal.

I have put aside some money in a safe place where I can’t access it for 12 months, enough for my airfares etc.

Any recommendations for winter guides in and around the Brooks Range?

Gear has developed to a point where I feel comfortable with being safely insulated even if it gets way down in temperature

[Edward John M]

I have started putting gear aside. I now have a -50C sleeping bag and I just bought a MH Absolute Zero parka to substitute for my old Everest parka which no longer fits my shoulder width. I have a mate who wants to climb Denali in winter and/or visit the Brooks range who has all the right gear.

He can afford a guided trip but I can’t.

Have a new Arctic tent about which I have posted. My hip replacement surgery went well and I managed to do skiing last season

Things are looking up and I am looking to buy a cheap and large van to sleep in while I travel around

[Author]

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