Editor’s Note: One of my favorite aspects of splitboarding is the ability to get away from it all, camp in a remote location and ride uncrowded lines with our friends. As we all know winter camping can be a lot of fun, it can also be miserable, or some combination of the two. For many of us our winter camping set-up is ever-evolving. Check out the tips below from an informative thread on winter camping started by member Powpowpow. Cut the trial and error out of dialing in your winter camping kit, and see what your fellow splitters have done. Don’t forget to add your own two cents in the forums or comments section and you could see your tips added!
Editors Editors Note: We remind our readers these are general tips and we encourage you to find your own tips and tricks that work well for you. Many factors such as location, time of year, goals , group, etc will play into what gear you bring for a specific adventure.
Pro tips and photos from forum member Firstlight
Here’s some hot tips given to customers on our overnight MRBC trips.
- Down booties with Neos over-shoes. Take your snowboard boots off when you get to camp, put the down booties on for in the tent, and use the over-shoes for outside chores.
- Exped Mat. I rock the Down Mat 9. A well rested guide is a happy guide! You can also put a closed-cell Thermarest mat underneath for added protection from the cold.
- Thermarest Z seat. Great to pack all day as a seat for having lunch and for sitting around camp.
- Snow anchors. I’ve made these myself. These are a life saver in high winds and rain.
- Tent rule. Always subtract one person from the rating on tents, 2 man = 1 man, 3 man = 2 man etc etc.
For tents it’s a personal preference, I just started using single wall tents and love them! I like the optional vestible on the single wall tents. Great for storage of wet stuff and you can dig a pit for cooking, putting your boots on, etc.
Single wall – Nemo Tenshi, North Face Assult 2
Double wall – Mountain Hardwear Trango 3
Keep smiling also helps!
Forum member Acopafeel added his very thorough packing list as well to the thread. Check it out below.
What do you think? What’s in you’re winter camping kit, what would you add or leave at home. Tell us in the forums:
Here’s a couple of bcrider’s thoughts.
While down booties are a nice creature comfort and can really put a smile on your face at the end of a long day, they’re also one more thing to carry. To save weight and bulk I typically leave them at home. At the end of the day I like to put on two pair of dry socks and use my snowboard boots tied loosely for around camp. This helps dry your boots for the next day as the socks wick away the moisture and your body heat dries your liners. When I do take my down booties, I like to remove my liners from my snowboard boots and use the shells as overboots, similar to Firstlight’s tip above.
For snow anchors. We’re definitely guilty of using our splitboard skis, poles, axes as anchors too but we’ve also found that can be troublesome when you want to go ride if you plan to leave camp set up. It’s hard enough getting up at 4am to go splitboarding…digging all your gear out of the ice in the dark doesn’t help! I like to use sticks if I’m near tree-line or rocks if I’m above it. Stuff sacks full of snow work great too.
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