133
votes
Accepted
My car broke down in Siberia. What do I do now?
When travelling on extremely remote roads, you need to prepare for the worst. This is even more true if you are travelling in a climate where the weather might kill you within days, such as in ...
- 27.1k
74
votes
Accepted
Is it warmer to sleep with an empty bladder?
Humans have a few intuitions about how temperature, heat, and liquids work. These intuitions lead us astray for the specific case of a bladder full of urine.
"Keeping Warm" / "Cooling down"
The ...
- 744
68
votes
Accepted
Mountaineering with a 6-year-old kid in winter
Other people have addressed several concerns that I would have bringing a young child into the mountains during the winter. One concern that I haven't seen addressed is; what if something happens to ...
- 9,668
57
votes
Accepted
What are some common mistakes to avoid when trying winter camping for the first time?
Common mistakes, some of which I've made:
Unfamiliarity with equipment - this isn't specific to winter camping of course, but if you've used all the gear before in milder conditions, then there's ...
- 4,662
52
votes
My car broke down in Siberia. What do I do now?
First, if you go somewhere in a car, take along the clothes necessary to be outside for an extended period.
406 MHz PLB (Personal Locator Beacon)
All the tragedies have one thing in common: they ...
49
votes
My car broke down in Siberia. What do I do now?
Well, I'm from Russia, and I heard that in the most desperate situation like this you can burn your car's tires. The tires are made of oil, so they burn well. Using fire from tires you can use other ...
- 591
40
votes
What are some common mistakes to avoid when trying winter camping for the first time?
Some common mistakes, definitely nothing close to exhaustive, so feel free to edit (I'll make it a community wiki if appropriate). If the point is about what you should do, the mistake is not doing it ...
- 21.7k
35
votes
What are some common mistakes to avoid when trying winter camping for the first time?
To add to the already-good other contributions:
Wearing cotton clothing is a common mistake. When cotton gets wet (from sweat or external sources), it doesn't quickly get dry, and that cold moisture ...
- 740
35
votes
Accepted
How to avoid getting wet when exiting a canoe onto shore?
Getting out is not the hard part. It is getting in and going again without getting wet.
To get out:
If the beach is large enough come in sideways, lean away from shore to as you beach. when the ...
- 30.3k
28
votes
Skis versus snow shoes - when to choose which for travelling the backcountry?
First off, I want to make clear that this applies to skiing and snowshoeing as a means of long-distance travel. It doesn't directly apply to skiing in specifically for the descents.
Skis are better ...
- 5,007
28
votes
How can I find the safest place to cross a frozen river from a map?
The only factor that is going to be important is the speed of the river. Faster parts of a river stay liquid longer, and are going to give you a thinner surface. A surface broken by rocks helps very ...
- 1,831
27
votes
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Summitting Breithorn in the winter?
I do not have much alpine experience
Climbing the Breithorn in the winter is a much different matter than in the spring or summer. Any 4,000 meter peak in the alps is subject to arctic weather ...
- 3,034
26
votes
Accepted
Why did the wolf-pack withdraw from attacking me?
So, first of all there is no alpha male! An alpha male only exists in captive wolf packs but never ever in the wild. Further reading about this topic here for example. The pack you've encountered was ...
- 23.5k
26
votes
What gear should I carry along for winter emergencies?
As usual, skills are the lightest and most effective thing one can carry. From how to bushcraft useful things from natural materials, to clever ways to satisfy needs like signaling or navigation, to ...
- 3,949
25
votes
Mountaineering with a 6-year-old kid in winter
You know that there is a lot of snow already in those heights in Austria? Even in 1500m people not used to it will get problems. Please have a look at webcams and detailed descriptions of the route ...
- 12.1k
24
votes
Mountaineering with a 6-year-old kid in winter
Due to the small volume of the body - risk of rapid hypothermia in children is very high. Do not risk it in the winter.
- 341
23
votes
My car broke down in Siberia. What do I do now?
This is not constrained to Siberia. A snowstorm/blizzard can occur at many locations and throw down so much snow that roads are blocked and people outside the main routes (or even on main routes) get ...
- 909
23
votes
What gear should I carry along for winter emergencies?
Second Edit:
Thanks for all the upvotes. I just want to clarify one thing: I don't think I've done a good job in answering the OP's question. I think cr0's answer is much better for winter hiking. ...
- 981
21
votes
Accepted
How to keep my legs warm in winter?
One thing you can look into are long-legged thermal underwear - this wouldn't effect how you look on the outside as they go under your clothes and create an insulating layer to help keep you warm. ...
- 15.4k
21
votes
My car broke down in Siberia. What do I do now?
I have always learned that when you go to remote areas you should have at least a basic knowledge of car repair and depending on the make of car and the area you go to your knowledge should be good to ...
- 3,499
20
votes
Mountaineering with a 6-year-old kid in winter
In short - No, do not take your 6 y.o. daughter on that mountain in winter in one week's time.
There'll be plenty of opportunities for parent-daughter bonding in the future in less extreme and more ...
- 303
19
votes
Accepted
Why did people rub snow on frozen feet?
Was there any logic behind this practice (rubbing frostbite with snow)? Is this method encouraged /
discouraged by modern medicine?
According to Hypothermia, Frostbite and Other Cold Injuries: ...
- 23.1k
19
votes
What gear should I carry along for winter emergencies?
I have spent significant time in the backcountry in the winter. Last year I did an early season through hike of the Continental Divide Trail, spending months living in the snow.
Below is a list of ...
18
votes
What are some common mistakes to avoid when trying winter camping for the first time?
Winter outdoor recreation can be a place where the margin of error is a lot smaller than in warm-weather/typical camping season. Winter stuff also just takes a lot more overall energy to do anything, ...
- 181
17
votes
Mountaineering with a 6-year-old kid in winter
I don't know the route itself, but according to what I read there are two non-technical routes, one from the "Prielschutzhaus" and another from "Welse Huette". The first one includes one steep section ...
- 21.7k
16
votes
Accepted
What's the best way to avoid slipping on ice?
Yaktrax advertises products intended to help with this, which might be less damaging to interior surfaces than crampons. You can find some SE discussion on those kinds of products here.
Keeping a ...
- 740
16
votes
Accepted
What are the different stages of frostbite?
First I will describe the stages of frostbite focusing on how to detect them and what are the implications of each. Secondly I will address handling frostbite.
Classification
Stages of frostbite are ...
- 21.7k
16
votes
Mountaineering with a 6-year-old kid in winter
The normal track to Großer Priel involves some smaller climbing sections, so even in summer it isn't that easy. Total ascent is around 2000m and about 24 kms, so definitely a serious climb. Do you ...
- 161
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible