Renaissance Adventure Guides

Snow Sports

Winter Backcountry Survival

 

Price: $199/person
7:1 maximum student to instructor ratio
Minimum of 5 students needed to run this lesson

Ease your mind during your winter recreational experience by learning skills to help you survive outdoors during winter extremes.  This winter outdoor survival course focuses on how to deal with many emergencies from creating snow shelters to staying warm and sending for help.  Learn important information on how to be confident, expedient and stay alive in a winter emergency.
We all love to play in the great outdoors and enjoy the beauty of the winter landscape.  Just like any day outdoors, sometimes things can go wrong.  An unexpected medical condition, a skiing accident, getting lost in a snowstorm - any of these scenarios can happen and you need to be prepared for these winter emergencies.  This winter survival course focuses on evaluating, brainstorming, and problem solving several likely winter recreational scenarios.  Learn to create snow caves and other shelters to survive winter storms.   Create emergency survival plans to prevent getting lost and maximize being found by rescue crews.  This class is a must for any winter backcountry user.

Itinerary

Evening meeting: (Tuesday 6-8pm)
 • Introductions
 • Course overview and schedule
 • Winter survival issues
 • Clothing requirements
 • Shelter
 • Nutrition, hydration
 • Snow travel

Field day I: (Saturday 9am-overnight)
Preparation
 • Route plan, navigation
 • Gear check-out/shake-down
 • Load cars – head to field
Travel to campsite
Set up camp
 • Kitchen area
 • Shelters
 • Cook dinner
 • Bed down

Field day II: (Sunday overnight-3pm)
Cook breakfast
Pack for day hike
Day hike
 • Navigation, route finding
 • Avalanche avoidance
Break camp
Return to meeting room
 • Course debrief, evaluation

Recommended Gear

Clothing:
(All clothing must be wool or synthetic fibers (nylon, polyester, capilene, etc.). Cotton or cotton blend fabrics must not be used.)
• Light-weight long underwear top and bottoms.
• Mid-weight fleece shirt (zip tees works well)
• Wool or soft shell pants.
• Fleece jacket or light synthetic filled “puffy” jacket.
• Waterproof/breathable wind/snow shell jacket with hood.
• Waterproof/breathable shell pants.
• Heavy down or synthetic fill insulating jacket.
• Socks: Depending on footwear, activity, length of trip, personal preference and other factors you may want anything from only very thin socks to combinations of thin liner and heavy insulating socks.
• Hand protection: At least two pair of gloves and/or mittens. Lighter fleece gloves are good for dexterity, high activity levels or warmer conditions. Heavy mittens are good for very cold conditions. Multiple pairs guard against getting wet or lost.
• Head protection: A combination of light and medium weight wool or fleece hats is preferable. One of them should be a “balaclava” type that can be pulled down around the face and neck.
• Eye protection: Bring both sun glasses for mild conditions and ski goggles for cold, snow and wind.
• Footwear: This will depend on your activity and mode of traveling over snow. The essential requirement for over night trips is a double boot with a removable liner. For snowshoeing “pack” type boots with felt liners are recommended. For climbing or skiing, double plastic boots are in order.
• Gaiters: These fit over the pants and boot tops to keep snow from going into the boots. If you have ones you use in summer, make sure they fit over your winter boots.
• Camp boots: Down booties or “mukluk” type foam boots may be useful for camp living.

Personal gear:
• Bowl, spoon and insulated mug with lid.
• Two 1 liter H2O bottles, one with insulating pouch. (Don’t even think about trying to use a bladder system – no matter how well the manufacture says it works in the cold).
• Sunscreen.
• Chemical heat packs. Bring enough hand warmer size for one pair a day plus a few large size.
• Two bandanas.
• Minimal toiletries. Basically a tooth brush and travel size tube of paste and possibly a few hand wipe packets.
• Optional: An extra 1 liter bottle with lid for use as a pee bottle.
• Huge back pack: Winter back country living requires much more equipment than summer backpacking and most of it is bulky. A minimum 70 liter (4,500 c.i.) size pack is required for over night trips and larger for multi-day expeditions.

Sleep system.
• Sleeping bag: The temperature rating of the sleeping bag will depend on the coldest expected temperatures and how “warm” you sleep. For Colorado, a bag rated to at least 0 deg. is recommended. For bags of equal temperature ratings, a synthetic filled will be heavier, more bulky but cost a lot less. A down bag will be lighter but will be more expensive and more vulnerable to getting wet.
• Sleeping pad: For winter use, inflatable sleep pads are not adequate. The ideal system is a thin full-length closed cell foam pad with a full-length inflatable pad.
• Ground sheet: If sleeping in a floorless tent or snow shelter, a waterproof nylon or plastic ground sheet or a bivy sack is needed to protect the sleeping bag from moisture.

Travel system:
(Winter wilderness travel requires a floatation system to allow
movement over deep, unconsolidated snow.)
• Snowshoes: These must be of sufficient size. Modern recreational snowshoes only work on packed trails. In order to keep you and a heavy pack from sinking up to your armpits, the snow shoes need to be really big.
• Skis: Skis must be useable with either double telemark or alpine touring boots. Cross country skis do not provide adequate floatation or stability for a heavy pack and the boots are not warm enough for multi-day use.
• Skins: If skis are not waxless, climbing skins will be required. Waxing will not provide adequate traction for difficult terrain or conditions.
• Poles: For both skis and snowshoes, poles are required for balance and climbing. Large “powder” baskets are recommended. Adjustable length poles are preferred.
 
Location and Dates

The first evening will be located in Boulder and the two full days are located in Rocky Mountain National Park

Tuesday, January 12,16-17, 2010
Tuesday, January 26,30-31, 2010
Tuesday, February 09,13-14, 2010
Tuesday, March 09,13-14, 2010

Get 5 or more people together and we will run a private course on the dates of your choice, schedule permitting.

Call 303-988-2943 or email info@raguides.com if you have any questions.

Cancellation (Refund) Policy