Winter camping?

If you're building a quinzhee gather a collection of sticks around 1' long and stick them at regular intervals into your snow pile as soon as you have it tall enough.Then when you hollow out the shelter, the stick ends will be markers so you can be sure the wall is a consistent thickness for structural integrity.
Sleep in your boot liners to keep them warm.

The best piece of winter camping gear I have is a Marriott rewards card.

winter camping for fun is stupid. It’s always wet and cold, nothing dries out, everything is heavy. Generally you’re only doing it to get closer to some objective so you end up waking up before 3:00am after a shit night on a shit bed and your knees and back still hurt. Odds are your boots are still wet and cold, put those motherfuckers back on, and continue on.

then when you get home utterly exhausted you need to air everything out because it’s wet but it’s still winter where you live and raining with 100% humidity so nothing drys out for like three days and your house/garage smell like mildew.

I’m living at 8400 in Colorado. Things dry out pretty quickly at home, especially with a wood stove.

I want to get into wilderness areas that are tough to get into on a day tour (e.g. gore range).

cobra_commanderThe best piece of winter camping gear I have is a Marriott rewards card.

winter camping for fun is stupid. It’s always wet and cold, nothing dries out, everything is heavy. Generally you’re only doing it to get closer to some objective so you end up waking up before 3:00am after a shit night on a shit bed and your knees and back still hurt. Odds are your boots are still wet and cold, put those motherfuckers back on, and continue on.

then when you get home utterly exhausted you need to air everything out because it’s wet but it’s still winter where you live and raining with 100% humidity so nothing drys out for like three days and your house/garage smell like mildew.

Pee bottle. You don't want to leave/open the tent at night.

Boil water and put it in small Nalgene bottle at feet, in your sleeping bag. The warmth from that will help you sleep (at list it does me, it's very comforting) and legit keeps your feet warm for hours.

I put my boot liners at my feet in my sleeping bag. If I'm sleeping in a liner then I keep them in between my liner and bag. That way it's less moisture by my feet. Sometimes I do wear them to sleep.

Don't short yourself on socks to save on weight. Underwear comes second to that. And crusty shirts/leggings are whatever. Dry and comfortable feet help me so much mentally and who wants blisters when you're packing camping gear on skis?
I have a campsite pair that keeps pretty dry and rotate 2 touring pairs.

If you can spare the weight, I love my little lantern: https://www.rei.com/product/137939/goal-zero-crush-light-lantern
You just attach it to your tent ceiling (most tents can) and use that at night. It's nice to have something to quickly turn on and off that lights up the whole tent. I always fumble around to find my headlamp and it's not as easy to find stuff in the tent with that kind of light. So the lighting from this lantern is just far better, makes it feel more cozy too since it has different settings. It collapses flat, so easy to pack. Best of all, leave it outside at the campsite on on your pack during the day and it'll charge up enough for the night. I've had mine last no problem on 3-day trips. And it's easy to charge quickly with a power bank.

Having a solid tinderbox/ fire starting equipment, and budgeting your time for collecting firewood is key. Starting a fire in the snow, can be quite challenging, having a good tinder box will make a big difference.

Also having twine, for making a clothesline is nice.

Essential items for me are a quality jetboil, a solid 0° sleeping bag and a clothesline to hang and dry socks and liners. Make sure your water is in a container that won't freeze over. I'm also heavily reliant on my mr buddy heater. Stick dry, crumpled newspaper into your boots after they get wet; it will absorb most of the moisture from your liners.

SkiingNinjaFor all you sadists out there, what is a piece of winter camping gear or a technique that goes beyond the typical REI type list?


I’m gearing up for some deeper missions into the CO backcountry this winter. I’ve got the standard stuff but am curious if there are any tips beyond that.

Hey OP. I'm curious what zones you are looking at for some winter camping/backcountry? I am in CO as well and looking to do the same. So far we were thinking about camping at the summer trailhead for Torreys and doing some skiing up there.

One thing I did instead of getting one of those expensive sleds that attaches to your pack - I just bought a one-man inflatable raft from walmart to haul gear.

I did an overnight on New year's day in the Eagles Nest Wilderness in the Gore. It was -6 so a true introduction to winter ski camping. It was more of a shakedown trip.


Might have gotten a cold injury on a few toes. Definitely learned some stupid lessons, like making sure your sleeping bag is not touching the tent wall for condensation or having the right fuel type for cold temps (out rocket canisters started kicking out).

We got a nice view from near camp though! Hopefully going to Cameron Pass soon. Torrey’s would be a cool cirque. Would like to get into the San Juan’s, maybe Montezuma, etc.

Lots of base layers, thick socks only for sleeping, maybe some toe/hand warmers. Lots of fuel for melting snow for water assuming there's no flowing streams. I have a 17 degree "magma" rei bag I use at any temp. I just layer up more the colder it gets.

SkiingNinjaI did an overnight on New year's day in the Eagles Nest Wilderness in the Gore. It was -6 so a true introduction to winter ski camping. It was more of a shakedown trip.


Might have gotten a cold injury on a few toes. Definitely learned some stupid lessons, like making sure your sleeping bag is not touching the tent wall for condensation or having the right fuel type for cold temps (out rocket canisters started kicking out).

We got a nice view from near camp though! Hopefully going to Cameron Pass soon. Torrey’s would be a cool cirque. Would like to get into the San Juan’s, maybe Montezuma, etc.

Canister fuel sucks in super cold temps.

Throw down on a whisper light or dragfly from MSR. Pressurized, runs on white gas which is available everywhere in the US.
Coleman makes a white gas suitcase stove but it’s pretty bulky. Not ideal for backpack traveling, but if your traversing with a towable sled would be solid.

If the weather is good just sleep under the stars. Wall tents are rad when a stove is included and you can heat up inside. When there’s no constant heat condensation happens and things get wet within a confined space.

Snowmobile with a skimmer, wall tent, stove, chainsaw, axe.

-sleeping: throw all your extra clothing into the sleeping bag with you, less airspace = more efficient heat and insulation
-cooking: save some water to pour into the bottom of your pan when melting snow. If you dont, you risk burning the snow/pan. No canister stoves unless you have winter-specific fuel.
-clothing: Bring as much wool as possible. Socks get wet quick, so bring 2-3 pairs/day.

**This post was edited on Feb 3rd 2022 at 3:39:05pm