December 2021

LifestyleDecember 30, 2021December 30, 2021 by Ian Standard

5 Tips for Staying Warm on Any Winter Adventure

Hiking in winter can quickly turn south if you don’t head out prepared. Sometimes you feel warm and happy until you’re miles from your car and the deep, bone-crushing chill starts to settle down.

A successful winter camping trip, or any winter outdoor activities, rely upon staying warm.

No matter the conditions, it’s possible to keep warm for a long time. You only need to know-how. Here are five time-proven tips for staying warm on any winter adventure. Happy snow days!

Best Winter Activities for Families in Colorado Springs

Get your body moving

One of the greatest fallacies of all time is that you can stay warm if you throw on the largest puffy jacket there is and sit still. The truth of the matter is that clothes don’t produce any level of heat. All they do is trap the heat your body produces.

The more you move, the more heat your body makes.

During winter outdoor activities, your body becomes a furnace. You’re making the heat that will help to keep you warm. Plan a trip that will have your body constantly moving. You want to use all the energy you’ve stored over the holiday season and put it into productive, heat-blasting movement.

The catch is, you must be careful with how intensely you move. Moving uphill quickly, or putting high cardio levels into your day, can soon lead to sweat. In the winter, sweat is no longer your friend; it is exactly the opposite. Getting wet will increase the speed at which your body enters hypothermia. So, keep your movement consistent, but pace yourself and stop before you start to break a sweat.

“Be bold, start cold”

The way you dress is also incredibly important for winter hiking. It will always be tempting to start hiking in a puffy jacket and thick fleece pants.

Why not, right?

It’s cold out, so you may as well be warm. Unfortunately, this is one of the quickest paths towards making yourself drastically cold.

Experienced hikers and winter campers like to say, “be bold, start cold.” What they mean is, if you start hiking with fewer layers, while a bit cold, you’ll quickly warm up and thank yourself for dealing with the cold for a short period.

Starting cold will help you to manage the sweat situation. When you stop, remember that all of the heat will be quickly sucked from your body to the cold air around you. Have a jacket handy that can be tossed on as soon as you stop moving to help trap the heat. Before you get going again, throw that jacket back in your bag, and then can you start hiking again.

Eat… a lot

Every furnace needs a fuel source. The more you feed the furnace, the more heat it can produce. What we’re saying is, here is the perfect excuse to load up on as many calories as humanly possible while hiking.

Foods with high fat and calorie counts are optimal for winter camping. Butter becomes your best friend. Extreme mountaineering trips rely on a hearty stash of butter worth every ounce that it adds to a pack. If you aren’t into eating butter without pause, try eating a spoonful of peanut butter before sleeping and reap the warmth and benefits.

Do your best to take a break from any eating restrictions you may have while at home. Hiking in general demands that you eat far more than normal. Hiking in winter means doubling the daily calories, not worrying about sticking to your New Year’s resolution. This is where brownies become an acceptable and encouraged breakfast food.

Does Broadmoor Outfitters Run Tours in the Winter?

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate

The outdoors can quickly make you tired of hearing people tell you to drink water over and over. It seems to be the only solution to every problem you encounter. People are telling you to drink water to avoid overheating, drink water if you’re sick, drink water every time you breathe, and so on. That being said, if you want to stay warm, drink water.

The trickiest part of drinking water in the winter is wanting to. It seems counterintuitive to drink cold water while it’s cold outside and you want to stay warm. There are a couple of reasons why dehydration can be even more dangerous in the winter than normal temperatures.

First, your blood relies on hydration to help move heat from your core out to your extremities. With less water in your system, it struggles to move heat around the body, resulting in cold fingers and toes that you may not even feel anymore.

Not only do you need it to stay warm, but it’s also essential to drink water because you may not even realize that you’re getting dehydrated. Most people associate dehydration with sweating profusely. Contrary to popular belief, we lose most of the water in our bodies through breathing. In the winter, the steam that leaves your mouth is precious water quickly leaving the body.

One of the most helpful tricks to staying hydrated and warm is to bring a Thermos. It’s heavier, but it can often be a game-changer. Warm drinks like tea or hot chocolate will work to hydrate you and provide a separate heat source. It’s one of the few things that makes it easy to forget about weight.

Guided Hikes

Bring extras

Extra socks, hats, and gloves should be in every winter camper’s backpack. These are some of the easiest pieces of gear to misplace or get wet. The moment your beanie is gone is the moment you start to lose a considerable percentage of heat.

Having extras will allow you to keep warm and, more importantly, stay dry. If you get extremely cold feet, try changing socks halfway through the hike to get rid of all the sweat and cold that comes along with it.

individualsDecember 23, 2021December 23, 2021 by Ian Standard

How to Set Up a Tent in the Snow

A winter camping trip brings about a massive list of perks and small adventures. A short, mile-long trek can quickly turn into hours of tromping through deep snow and laughing with each other as you posthole your way to camp. It’s a trip to be remembered, and if you want to remember it fondly, you need to come prepared.

Your general skills and knowledge will go a long way when you try to get comfortable in a winter wonderland. If you’ve already figured out how to dress for winter hiking, it’s time to continue adding to your toolbox.

One of the first steps in the entire process is setting up a tent in the snow. It’s a task that becomes drastically different once the snow hits, and you’ll be developing a brand new set of skills than those you need in the summer.

Site Selection

Once you’ve arrived at camp, it’s time to look around for the best tent site imaginable. The snow brings a lot of new elements you need to navigate to stay safe while asleep at night. In the summer, it’s watching out for bears or other critters, while in the winter, you’re watching for avalanches.

Pick a site as far as possible from any slopes, and therefore any avalanche potential. Even a lower angle slope can be triggered at night, leaving you to wake up partially or fully buried. A safe winter camp is far away from any possible avalanche terrain. Even if you’re planning on going up the mountain in the morning, basecamp should be a safe distance from any potential slides.

Another hazard you need to watch out for in the winter is snowfall from trees. If you’re below the treeline, pay even closer attention to what’s above you. Dead trees are less obvious to spot in the winter, and you now need to watch out for trees that may break under the weight of snow and ice. Even the snow sitting on those branches can be dangerous if it’s filled with ice.

If you’re sleeping in an area with a large amount of snow, you’ll need to consider what’s underneath you. At higher altitudes, you’ll often be sleeping multiple feet above small trees and bushes that have been buried. The plethora of landscapes you can find below the snow can lead to one major issue.

Depending on how the snow has packed down, you may be on top of some voids that are waiting to collapse inward. If this happens while you’re sleeping, you’ll wake up a few feet lower than where you started and probably covered in a decent amount of snow. To avoid this nighttime disturbance, probe around and try to find a spot that seems like it’s above flat ground rather than rocky terrain.

How to Dress For a Winter Hike

Pack it Down to Put it Up

Now that you’ve found a spot, it’s time to make the footprint. If you’ve been hiking in snowshoes, you’ve got the best tool for the job strapped onto your feet. Using the snowshoes, stomp around and flatten out the ground where you will soon put the tent. This will help create a more stable, flat surface where you can sleep.

Expand the footprint out a bit past where the tent will go. This will give you some more stable ground to walk around on. Be careful when you get out of the tent at night for the bathroom, as it’s easy to forget you’re in the snow and will soon be up to your waist in it.

The snow shouldn’t pack down any further when you start to walk around on it. Remember, this is where you’re sleeping. You don’t want to start sinking while you sleep.

Once your area is fully packed down, you can set up your tent.

Tent Setup

In general, a freestanding tent is better than relying on a staking system. With a freestanding design, you don’t need to worry about staking out the tent without access to solid ground to hammer a stake into. Snow can be tricky to work with, but it can also be incredibly useful. If you’re looking to use a tent that requires staking, look at snow tent stakes.

These stakes are ingenious. First, you dig a small hole and place the stake horizontally in the snow. After you’ve attached your tent line, you will pack the snow down onto the stake firmly to cement it into place.

The only drawback to this kind of stake is that they can be difficult to remove in the morning. If there has been any level of melting and freezing overnight, they may be inside a solid block of ice that you’ll need an ice ax to get through.

Set up Your Dream Camp

According to Leave No Trace, snow is the most durable surface you can travel on. This is because it will melt and disappear without a trace of you present. This means that you can do just about anything with your camp in the snow, and you won’t be creating a huge impact.

With enough snow, time, and shovels, you can create benches, tables, and full-blown snow castles to enjoy your time in. Whatever you can imagine, you can create. This is one of the best things about winter camping. You’re able to create an entire kingdom in the snow without needing to worry about ruining the campsite. It also makes winter camping a fun-filled activity to do with kids. They get to create their winter wonderland, where they can stay overnight.

individualsDecember 17, 2021December 23, 2021 by Ian Standard

Can You Mountain Bike in the Snow?

The appearance of snow on the ground often covers the dirt tracks that we live to ride during the rest of the year. The disappearing trails will move most to put their mountain bikes away for the season and pull out skis or snowboards as a replacement. What many people can often look past is the joy of mountain biking in the snow and how it brings an entirely different level of enjoyment to the sport.

Winter mountain biking can be challenging for those who struggle with the cold. Many recent trends point towards needing a fat tire bike to go out biking in the snow. Fortunately, you don’t need to make a considerable purchase to go out riding all winter long. With the right precautions and winter biking tips, you can spend beautiful snowy and bluebird days on your bike doing what you love most.

Keep a good attitude

First and foremost, keep your spirits high. Of all the winter biking tips you read, keeping a smile on your face and a resilient attitude will be the most important.

Your winter ride will be slower and most likely filled with a fair number of falls and slides that will get you cold and wet. Regardless, this can be the most fun you’ll have all winter if you remember to keep smiling and focus on the positive.

Lower your tire pressure

If you’re feeling strapped for cash or want to try mountain biking in the snow without spending a huge amount of money on a fat tire bike, you can start by letting some air out of your tires. Take a look at the sidewall of your tires and find the lower number on the pressure range, then drain the tires to that level.

You’re going for more surface area and contact between your tires and the ground. One great way to do this is to lower your tire pressure and let the tires sag a bit more, and hug the ground.

The biggest thing to look out for when flattening your tires is pinch flats. A great way to avoid this easy problem is to go tubeless. Tubeless tires are relatively new, and replacing the tube with a sealant makes getting a flat much harder. Not only is that great for lower tire pressure, it means you’re much less likely to get stranded on a snowy trail in the middle of winter!

Guided Mountain Bike Tours

Widen your tires

Winter mountain biking may be your next big sport, and you may feel that it’s worth it to invest. In that case, buying a fat tire bike is the best way to truly enjoy the snowy drifts that the winter months have to offer.

The wide tires on these rigs allow for more surface contact between the bike and the snow. That way, you’re able to float on deeper powder and slide less. It’s pretty much guaranteed that you’ll slide around a bit while biking in the snow, but this way, you can control it some more.

That being said, fat-tire bikes are expensive. They aren’t totally necessary, and you can bike without them. They’re also incredibly fun to ride and shift the experience to a much easier ride.

Opt for flat pedals

Clip-in pedals aren’t the best option for cruising on slippery trails. You’re going to do some sliding, which means you’ll need the option of throwing a foot down for stability much more often and faster than normal. With flat pedals, you can get a foot in position quickly and keep yourself upright.

Steel-pin flat pedals allow for the extra grip that is mighty helpful in the slick and icy winter. They’ll give you plenty of traction and the ability to dismount. They also allow for a lot more space, which means the potential for bigger, warmer boots is there. Even riding at your hardest, it’s likely to result in cold extremities if you’re tackling trails in the dead of winter.

Pay attention to trail conditions

One of the most important parts of riding in the snow is getting to know what you’re riding. True, you can go out and check the trail conditions firsthand, but you may want to save yourself some time and choose the right trail from the start.

With winter mountain biking being one of the most popular winter activities in Colorado Springs, you’ll be able to find loads of trail information on the web. Mountain biking forums and Facebook groups will certainly have someone on them that has checked out the trail before you have. Use their experience to your advantage and look around before throwing your bike on the car and heading out.

What you’re looking for is a beautiful snowpack that either allows easier access to the ground or a hard pack of snow. In the middle of winter, you’ll be more likely to find the latter.

Two to three inches of powder is ideal for biking in the snow. It gives you a nice layer of snow to cruise through but allows some interaction with the ground. As it starts to warm up or the snow gets too soft, you may spend more time picking yourself up than biking. The softer the snow, the more your bike turns into a sled.

Trails that take you on a cruise and slightly hilly rides are much better than those that demand steep climbs and fast, aggressive descents. You’ll find your tires slipping as you push to climb, and the moment you hit an icy patch on the descent will be the end of your riding for the day. Choose a moderate trail that will let you stay on flatter terrain.

Does Broadmoor Outfitters Run Tours in the Winter?

LifestyleDecember 10, 2021December 23, 2021 by Ian Standard

How to Dress For a Winter Hike

When the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and the breeze cools your skin, it’s easy to get outside. Hiking in the winter can be a completely different game. The cold, snow, and often the wind can all come together and make it difficult to motivate yourself to shut Netflix down and head out on the trail. If you are a beginner, be sure to check out guided winter hikes and get a feel for what it’s like before heading out alone!

Your biggest key to success in those cold dark months is learning to wear hiking in the winter. A wardrobe that keeps you warm and dry can be a complete game-changer. It turns a cold and miserable day into a pleasant tromp through the wilderness with breathtaking, snow-capped vistas every way you look. Winter hiking is personally one of my favorite things to do, incredibly as the trails clear of their typical summer crowds and the world seems a bit quieter altogether.

Dressed in the proper attire, you will end up barely noticing the cold, and soon it can be just you out there trekking through the snow back to your cabin with a warm mug of hot chocolate waiting.

Layer up

Layering for winter hiking is an absolute must if you want to do it right. Layering allows for temperature regulation that you don’t get from wearing your heaviest coat with a t-shirt underneath. The goal is to add and remove layers as you like. When you stop, it can be easy to want to sit and cool down, but immediately throwing a layer will help trap all the heat your body is producing.

It helps to think about your body as a furnace. The more you move, the more heat it will produce. When you take layers off, it’s like opening up all the windows. When you’re moving, it’s okay because the furnace is still pumping at its top-notch. Once you stop, the furnace stops, and the heat starts to disappear through those open windows. If you shut them too late (adding a layer after cooling down), your furnace is still shut off until you start hiking again, and it will be tough to warm back up.

In all honesty, dressing for winter hiking isn’t that different from prepping for some other seasons. It can be similar to what to wear hiking in the Fall, just with a few more mid-layers and remembering to take extra precautions all around.

Does Broadmoor Outfitters Run Tours in the Winter?

Get the right shoes on

When the winter comes around, tire shops rejoice because everyone is prepping and putting brand new winter tires on their car. Hiking in the winter should be no different than driving. You need the right shoes for the job. Snow and ice interact with the bottom of your feet much differently than dry dirt or mud. I strongly recommend against going out on a trail with your summer sneakers or even summer hiking boots. They simply don’t have the proper insulation or traction.

One way to add traction is through additional traction devices designed to dig into the snow and ice rather than interact with the surface. YakTrax and other versions of microspikes act like a lighter version of crampons used for mountain climbing. There are great traction devices for hiking, trail running, or running in the city.

Not only is traction a completely different game, but your feet are also prone to getting much colder, much faster, in the winter. The ground is essentially a heat vacuum, sucking all of the warmth through the soles of your shoes away from your feet. Winter boots have a thick insulating layer in the sole that helps to reduce this heat loss. They also are better insulated all around, ensuring that the heat your feet make stays in the boot.

Protect your extremities

Boots are one way to help your feet stay happy and healthy during winter hiking. Feet, toes, and fingers are often at the highest risk of developing frostbite due to the poor levels of circulation and presence of fat in them. That means we have to take extra steps to protect all of our extremities.

To protect your feet, wear wool socks, or at the very least, wear synthetic socks. Thick wool socks help provide a huge amount of insulation, even if your feet get a little bit wet. Make sure that the thick socks don’t make your boots too tight, as that can quickly lead to a cutoff in circulation and a faster route to frostbite.

Pack at least two extra pairs of socks, and change them halfway through the hike to make sure your feet are dry. In the winter, dry means warm.

Fleece or wool mittens with an outer waterproof layer are the best moves for the hands. I also bring an extra pair of mittens if the interior layer gets wet while I’m out there.

Included on the list of extremities will be your ears and nose. These spots are also highly susceptible to frostbite or at least frostnip. They can be easily forgotten when dressing, but you’ll feel them get cold quickly on the trail. You can wear a neck gaiter with a fleece layer that covers your nose and cheeks with a hat or headband to take care of your ears. An easy cover-all is a balaclava, but I like to wear these in the extreme cold and add a layer for more ears over that.

Guided Hikes

Everything else we’ve all forgotten

Other items to check off your list before hiking would be:

Sunglasses and sunscreen: The sun can be brutal in winter, especially when the snow reflects it.

Gaiters help keep snow out of your boots and, therefore, keep your feet dry.

Batteries die much faster in the winter as the cold will drain them. Bring spares and keep the ones you have close to your body.

Headlamp: Daylight is sparse in the winter, and it will sneak up on you if you aren’t ready for it. Always have a headlamp, so you don’t get stuck in the dark.

individualsDecember 3, 2021December 7, 2021 by Ian Standard

Is It Safe To Hike in the Winter?

Blankets of snow are starting to cover the ground, tucking the world in for a long winter break. Getting out on the trails we have become familiar with over the summer and fall automatically becomes a much more difficult task. Not only are they harder to find, but it can be tremendously difficult to motivate yourself to get out and hike in the winter. There are many steps to getting ready, and the experience is entirely different.

With the right winter hiking safety tips, you can step outside with the same confidence you take in the summer. A lot of people talk about seasonal depression happening over the winter. Still, the real secret is, getting outside and hiking in the winter is a magical experience that will keep you fit and happy.

This guide to winter hiking will bring all of the safety tips you need to get up and out with a completely different attitude about winter.

Winter Hiking Safety

For starters, it’s important to point out that some aspects of winter hiking are the same as going out in the summer. You need to go prepared, check the weather, bring all the proper gear and follow the trail you choose.

While the general ideas are all the same, some specifics make hiking in the winter a completely different game.

Check the weather

Winter weather is a tricky beast that can sneak up on you anywhere, especially in certain parts of the mountains. You are cautioned against lightning storms and heavy rain in the summer, but the winter brings whiteout snow blizzards that can sometimes last for days.

Don’t only look at the weather that’s coming, be aware of what the past few days have brought as well. If there was a fresh dump of several feet of snow, it might require taking extra gear or precautions before hiking. A huge snowfall also means increased avalanche risk, so adjustments need to be made to your hiking route.

When you look ahead at the weather, it can be incredibly tempting to get excited about the first sunny and clear day that winter has brought you after many clouds. What can easily go overlooked here is that clear skies often bring frigid temperatures. Those clouds you hated so much we’re holding the heat in, and now it all has gone.

So, while the sun can feel like the greatest gift possible, it can also bring some dangerously low temperatures along with it. Don’t forget to pay attention to all the aspects of the weather, not just the little emoticon they paste in by the day of the week.

Time your hike with the sun

Colorado is chosen by winter lovers all around because of the number of bluebird days it gets. The snow seems to magically appear overnight and leave by the time you wake up, leaving you with fresh snowfall and a bright blue sky to enjoy it under.

As we get closer and closer to the winter solstice (December 21), the days are getting shorter and shorter. Colorado’s shortest day of the year will see only 9 hours and 21 minutes of sunlight. This is a drastic difference from the longest day of the year, where we see just under 15 hours of daylight every day.

On top of the fewer hours of sun, the snow can make things a little trickier as well. As the sun sets, there can be an onset of “flat light,” which makes it much more difficult to see the texture of the snow and where there are bumps and grooves, making hiking in the snow a bit more difficult.

Timing your hike with the sun in the winter is incredibly important. Start your hike right when the sun comes up, and make sure you can get off the trail before the sun comes down. It will limit the length of your hikes, especially as you tend to move much slower while trudging through knee-deep snow than you can in the summer.

Stay hydrated

One of the more challenging winter hiking safety tips to follow is to stay hydrated. No one in the world wants to drink the cold water from the cold water bottle on the exterior of your pack when hiking in the cold. Everything at this point is simply cold, and we’re trying to avoid that.

Well, yes, we’re trying to keep as warm as possible when hiking in the winter. The problem is, you need to stay hydrated to stay warm. Proper hydration allows for your blood to flow around your body smoothly. Your fingers and toes need as much blood as they can get in the wintertime to avoid getting dangerously cold.

If you’re hiking in the extreme cold, you’ll run the risk of a water bottle freezing while you’re moving. Try wrapping your Nalgene in a wool sock to insulate it. Also, remember to buy an insulating hose cover for your water bladder. Otherwise, the water may freeze in the hose and make drinking is impossible.

One way to stay hydrated without having to sip on one giant ice cube is to bring a thermos. They may weigh a bit more, but hot liquids will help warm you and make hydrating much more enjoyable. A cup of hot tea on the trail is one of my favorite things about winter hiking. My thermos becomes one of my best friends, going everywhere with me, even into the deepest parts of the winter backcountry.

Try bringing tea, hot chocolate, spiced chai, or hot cider. The drinks that bring warmth along with calories are a bonus.

Guided Hikes

Load up on Snacks

Working through the cold, your body will need to use a significantly higher number of calories to stay warm. That means that hiking in the winter is the greatest excuse this world has ever seen to snack like it’s the last day on earth. Bring all kinds of snacks along with you, especially those you don’t usually let yourself have.

Calorie-dense snacks that you can eat while you hike are optimal for winter hiking. You can get the 280 calories that a Cosmic Brownie has to offer while on the move. Stopping often means letting your body cool down, especially if you’ve followed the old-time rule of “be bold, start cold.”

Not only will you feel much colder if you stop more often, but it’s also harder for your muscles to start warming up again after you’ve stopped. That means making your hike even harder on yourself. Eat on the go and forget about whipping up a trailside feast while hiking in the winter.

Dress the Part

The clothes you choose to wear out are one of the most important parts of winter or any hiking. Knowing what to wear hiking in Colorado is a skill that needs to be mastered all year round but becomes even more important when the cold sets in.

Utilize the layering system to prepare yourself for the stop-and-go moments of a winter hike. You can throw another layer on quickly when you stop, doing so before you start to feel cold, and take it off right when you start hiking. Layers allow for more controlled temperature regulation while hiking, and that’s an essential aspect of being outside in the winter.

The main difference in dressing yourself in the winter is that you need to remember to dress your hands and feet. The cold can make your toes and fingers highly susceptible to injury, and wearing the best socks, shoes, and gloves can be a lifesaver. Wool is the winter hiker’s best friend, as it won’t hold sweat and keeps you warmer than most other fabrics.

Winter-Specific Safety Risks

There are some specific risks that you will inherently take by being outside in the winter. This is one of the biggest reasons we highly suggest going on any guided winter hikes before setting out on the trail by yourself. If you’ve never hiked in the winter before or maybe want some more experience at it, these guided hikes are one of the best ways to get the knowledge and skills you need.

Avalanche Risk

Snow-capped peaks are stunning to see and photograph, but they can also be unforgiving. One of the more dangerous aspects of winter hiking is entering into avalanche terrain without knowing it. Avalanches are widespread in Colorado, and the past couple of years have been considerably more dangerous than others. This is only one of the many reasons everyone who goes out in the winter should be well-versed in avalanche safety.

If you choose to go without a guide, we highly recommend taking an AIARE (The American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education) Level One course before heading into the mountains. This course teaches you how to identify avalanche terrain, what factors increase the risk of avalanches, and how to stay safe in the backcountry. It also is a great resource to learn how to use avalanche safety gear to save yourself and the partners you hike with.

One of the best things you can do is check conditions before heading out. Avalanche.org is a fantastic resource that shows you the level of risk in particular areas. The trick here is knowing what you are looking for, which brings us back to taking an avalanche safety course.

To attempt to provide you with enough information about avalanches to provide the level of safety needed. What I can say is, be careful and stay out of avalanche terrain unless you genuinely know what you are doing. There are plenty of beautiful places to go with little to no risk of avalanches.

Does Broadmoor Outfitters Run Tours in the Winter?

Hypothermia and Frostbite

Cold injuries are much more common than we give them credit for. Hypothermia and frostbite are the most common and most well-known cold injuries, but conditions such as Chilblains can happen more quickly and more often. Chilblains is the inflammation of blood vessels that results in swelling, pain, and itchiness from cold exposure. While it isn’t as “serious” as frostbite, the more our bodies are exposed to the cold and not appropriately treated, the easier it is to get more injuries.

Hypothermia is any time your body temperature starts to drop below 95 F. There are a couple of sure-fire ways that you can distinguish hypothermia from other issues while in the backcountry.

The main signs of hypothermia will start with uncontrollable shivering that slowly moves towards slurred speech and lethargic movements. Keep in mind that this only describes mild cases of hypothermia, and when your body continues to get colder, you will experience worsening symptoms.

Preventing hypothermia and frostbite is all about dressing appropriately, staying dry, and keeping your body fueled with food and water. Learn more about treating and preventing these two common cold injuries by taking a wilderness first aid or first responder course.

5 Tips for Staying Warm on Any Winter Adventure

Get your body moving

“Be bold, start cold”

Eat… a lot

Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate

Bring extras