The Arctic1000 cuben-fiber mid Jason Geck and I used weighs 14 ounces and I would use that if I was doing your trip, Andy. I'd leave the bivy or sell it to someone else. I'd use it for the whole trip, all seasons, and think that if I was careful that it would hold up.

Not knowing how hard you are on gear, if you are hard on gear (I'm pretty easy on gear as our family of four lived on a single income for 20 year, so I had to make everything last), then a silnylon shelter 'mid, like the Go-lite six-sided thing.

Strict, rectangular tarps are not so good in the cold, rainy windy weather of AK and slower to set up after long days of mega miles.

You'll have enough snow to anchor with little bags filled with snow or sticks buried sideways and your skiis and poles. Shovel snow around the edges to help hold it down.

If all goes to hell, then wrap yourself in your mid and you'll be back to the "minimalist" bivy sack you plan to take now.

> Bivy sack in wind when you need to hydrate (= get a stove going to melt water for
> several hours 'cause it's wicked dry powdery snow with no water content) will be
> impossible in a bivy sack in high wind, blowing snow and cold.

+1

Cheers

it also has a tendancy to gel up when cold (most diesel trucks plug into electrical outlets to keep a small amount of heat in the engine to keep it liquid). i wouldn't count on that for fuel

Hi Andy-

Good luck on your next adventure. I combed through your gear list on your website and (humbly) offer the following suggestions:

VBL Jacket -- consider an RBH Lightning Bug Jacket. I have a hooded one w/ pit zips and pockets for 6 ounces.

> SKURKA: Yeah, I know about that one. I have their original NTS jacket, which weighs in at about 14 oz without a hood. It's "too much" jacket (my opinion about most softshells in a backpacking context). But I'm really struggling to justify a $200 investment when I can get a 10-oz GoLite WP/B for free and then hose it down with McNett Thundershield (silicone spray that will seal the jacket and take the "B" out of WP/B) to basically get the same result.

Skis/Waxes -- unless you're adept in the black art of ski waxing, you might do well to look at a waxless ski such as the Karhu XCD GT. Wax experts make it look effortless, but for mere mortals (myself included) achieving the perfect wax application remains mythical for most conditions. ;)

> SKURKA: The skis are already bought and paid for. I listened to Townsend and others, and reflected on my own personal experience. It's a known fact that waxable skis are faster and more versatile than waxless -- when the user has the skills to do it right. Whenever I've bought gear that assumes I won't have the skills to do it right, I always regret it later because over time I always figure it out and then I need to buy new gear.

Ski Poles -- consider a longer pair of BPL Stix like your trekking poles to save 4 ounces over your Asnes. Will Reitveld and I just used them for a ski tour in the San Juans. They're bomber for skiing if you get the length right.

> SKURKA: the longest length for the STIX is 135, I believe, which is not long enough for touring when you're getting good glide. Plus, they're not available for purchase right now. These are good poles -- I'm happy with them.

Face Mask -- take a look at OR's new "Helmetclava". With the windstopper breathing port, I think they've finally achieved perfection with this update of their Ninjaclava. (65g)

> SKURKA: I think I have figured this out, but I'll start another discussion about it soon.

Shelter -- I'd take a look at MLD's Duomid for Winter instead of a bivy. Its steeper sides should shed snow better than the solomid. I agree w/ Roman's comments about bivies.

> SKURKA: I have both the DuoMid and the SoloMid, so I can use either. I am starting to lean more in the direction of a mid, as opposed to just a bivy. There are some good arguments in favor of them.

Water Bottle -- Instead of a single 3L Nalgene bottle, consider several smaller bottles. For a bit of a weight penalty, you gain flexibility and redundancy. I like to carry two 0.5L bottles plus a larger one to add up to whatever capacity I need. You can make hot water bottles to warm up...whatever body part needs warming. And...drumroll please...you can put the 0.5L bottles w/ hot water in your boots when you go to bed. The hot water will help dry out the boots overnight. In the morning, re-heat the bottles while you eat breakfast and put on toasty warm boots!!! :-)

> SKURKA: That's a slick idea, really like it, especially since I have leather boots and they inevitably will get wet (e.g. from overflow) and will need to dry out. I may do something like this. However, the problem with multiple bottles in really cold temperatures is that small bottles are more prone to freezing, as opposed to just one big bottle. Will think more about this...

Skins -- If you're carrying full-length skins, I'd ditch the kicker skins.

> SKURKA: I am going to carry kicker skins for the first 850 miles (flat or rolling terrain, cold) and then I'm going to trade them out for some full-length skins (AK Range, longer and steeper climbs, spring snowpack -- melts during day, freezes at night). It's hard to show this in the gear list -- they are both grouped under "winter."

Ski Strap -- My favorite is the velcro one from Swix. Carry at least 4. You can use them to hold on your skins if they get finicky. You can also lash on a branch under your skis to make them into snowshoes if you get into un-skiable conditions. (Thanks to Mike Clelland! for this one.)

> SKURKA: Good idea, thanks.

Ski Repair -- Consider bringing a Gimlet (tiny hand screw drill) to repair bindings. If your binding rips out of the ski, just drill new holes an inch away from the old ones and re-mount the binding. (Thanks to Chris Townsend for this one.)

> SKURKA: I have not figured this one out entirely yet. I do need a screwdriver that fits my binding screws (my multi-tool screwdriver doesn't fit well) and some extra screws. What's the likelihood of yanking an entire binding out of the ski? Is it so rare that it'll be better just to carry duct tape? I looked up a gimlet -- had never seen one before. Worth carrying I guess if it's a reasonable concern that the binding rips out.

PFD -- *IF* you want to go w/ a non-approved PFD, you need 7L of air capacity to get 16 pounds of floatation.

> SKURKA: Got it. 2 x 1L Platys + 2 x 2.4L Platys = 6.8L, or close enough.

Packraft Repair -- consider a bit of Tyvek tape for repairs.

> SKURKA: Yes, I need to pick some up, thanks for the reminder.

Leukotape -- After our tape disaster last Summer, I've had great success repackaging Leukotape onto FedEx mailing label backer paper. It doesn't kill the Leuko glue, and you can cut out funky-shaped "stickers" to tape whatever needs taping.

> SKURKA: I need to update that section of the gear list -- it's stolen from a trip that occurred before we figured out the Luekotape trick.

GPS -- Let me know how my old Geko works for you. BTW, it's a 301, not a 201. ;)

> SKURKA: Oops...

Have a great trip, my friend!

> SKURKA: Thanks for the feedback. Very helpful.

-Mike Martin

Edited by askurka on 02/16/2010 21:40:14 MST.

"Shelter -- I'd take a look at MLD's Duomid for Winter instead of a bivy. Its steeper sides should shed snow better than the solomid."

The inherent two pole set up of the SoloMid should allow better snow loading than the DuoMid unless you add fairly long extenders to your poles with the DuoMid. The SoloMid is also lower profile, which should do better in the wind.

Mike Martin has lots of good suggestions --

One water bottle vs two? I like his idea of two little ones. That way you can also rotate them at your feet when it's cold.

Not sure what kind of sleeping pad you have settled on but that can also help as a floatation, under the jacket. It also adds warmth better than the Platypusses will and you will get cold in your packraft. So, closed cell foam pad works as frame for pack, insulation for sleep, insulation for paddling, and PFD flotation as well as splint for broken/tweaked limb. One of the best multi-use pieces of gear in AK IMHO (not so humble, though, really!).

I am with Mike on the waxing skis thing too. Honestly, I bet you do a lot of slogging on the flats without bothering to wax. That's why longer poles are better: they make double poling and skating so much better, even if your skis weigh a ton with metal edges.

Back to the stove issue....I'd agree with Roger (who's THE stove expert as far as I can tell) that Whisperlite is better. Stay away from Diesel like the plague. No doubt you'll find gas -- wherever there are towns there'll be snowmachines and they do ruin on gas (very expensive -- like $10/gallon in some villages). Fires are easy and fast to make in the spruce woods especially in winter when everything's super dry.

Start making fires when you reach wood and you'll get really good at it really fast and find out that after a foam sleeping pad, camp-fires are the most multi-function thing (besides your brain and body) out there.

Really enjoying this last minute stuff!

I think enough has been said about shelters and stoves. I want to move to winter headwear.

Here's the system I have (in order to layering, inner to outer, assuming I'm wearing everything):

- Mid-weight polyester balaclava with a brushed/fleece inner
- VBL balaclava (sil-nylon, homemade)
- Hoodie on base layer shirt
- Peruvian wool hat
- Hood on VBL jacket
- Insulated hood on GoLite Parka
- Googgles or sunglasses

Man, that's a lot of layers, now that I look at it like that. I wonder if I could get away with leaving one or two of those layers at home...

But that's not my concern. My concern is that I don't have anything to cover my cheeks, nose, and mouth -- that area is not covered by any of the layers I've mentioned.

Of course, the problem with covering your nose and mouth is that you SOAK any layer you put over it, and in the temps I'll see a soaked layer is a FROZEN layer. What to do???

One idea is to have multiple facemasks. Let one freeze up, tuck it away and start thawing/drying inside a layer, bring out the other one, repeat.

Another idea is to use some of the masks that have built-in breathing devices, like those from Talus. Anybody have experience with these? I ordered one from REI and am disappointed with it -- it's basically a conventional fleece facemask with hole-punched rubber cup sewn into it.

Finally, and the idea I like best, is a "flap" that I adhere to my goggles with velcro. A lot of the polar guys seem to do something like this. I will post some photos of Eric Larsen in the next post. It provides enough protection without suffocating you, and if it freezes up it's no big deal because it can be made of sil-nylon and the frozen moisture can just be rubbed off. The setups I've seen are permenatly sewn into the bottom of the goggles, but I think it'd be better to use Velcro so you don't always need to wear if it you're using your goggles. And then I can install a neck lanyard in order to help keep it in in place and so it doesn't fly away if I take it off.

Thoughts?

Edited by askurka on 02/16/2010 22:13:14 MST.

An example of a "flap"





And here is a picture of my Peruvian-style hat:

Edited by askurka on 02/17/2010 00:05:11 MST.

OK,

On the "Frozen Whiskey and the Taste of Death Expedition", where it never got above zero for three weeks, here's what i wore from inside out:

1. A balaclava, mid-weight polypro (today I'd use Smartwool)

2. What Peggy calls an "ear-bra" -- a two-inch wide, synthetic head band. This goes around the ears and the NOSE (mine always get's nipped, so big it is). The headband/ear-bra will get damp from breathing but you can rotate the wet spot around for drying and wear it around your neck at night in the bag to dry it out for the next day. You only need one of all these things I'm listing, BTW.

> SKURKA: This is an interesting idea, hadn't heard of this before. This could work really well -- I will play with it a bit this weekend.

3. Not sure these are that popular anymore but it's a pile insulated hat with a short brim and ear muffs that wrap around and under the chin with velcro. If it's really cold and/or windy, wrap it around the ears and under the chin; if it's just cold wrap it behind the head. If it's not so cold but windy wear it without the ear bra and balaclava

> SKURKA: See the image of the Peruvian hat I posted above. Very similar.

4. Carnivore ruff (like wolf, wolverine or polar bear) on the wind shell hood. This, of course, is really nice. It doesn't ice up and keeps your cheeks warm when pulled up and neck warm and so body at other times. There's a reason everyone in the north who goes outside has one. Maybe you can buy one in Kotz -- sew it on before you head out. It's worth the price. Just 4 inches all the way around will be enough. It will last the rest of your life, if you take care of it. Ask Seth Kantner if he knows anybody with some scrap wolf for you. $50 should give you what you need. You don't need the full on super ruff, Just some belly fur will be better than nothing. WHoever sells it to you will show how to sew it on. I sewed my rough on in a shipping container out of the wind in Kaktovik the day we skied out. So glad I did.

> SKURKA: Yes, the ruff seems like a must. I found a great website, GlacierWear.com, from which I can buy ruff-specific pelt cuts. They also have a great assortment of other heardwear if I wanted to look as cool as this guy:



5. I also had a hood on a layer I wore of pile. It was Patagonia Borglite Pile (not fleece and it had a hood.

My rule of thumb is one additional layer (usually of increasing thickness) for every 20 degree drop in temp, so four layers and a ruff on your hood will be adequate to -40, assuming you wear your first layer (balaclava) at +20 F, balaclava and hat at 0, add on the ear bra below zero, pull on an insulated hood at -20, and the ruff at -40 (makes like a tunnel) -- you could go to -60, just watch your cheeks.

Do not go with multiple face masks.

When it's cold do face exercises, wrinkling your nose and making faces. When it's windy (blowing snow) and wicked cold (i.e. below zero) cover every bit of exposed flesh, if possible, or if not make camp, or better yet stay in a village.

Edited by askurka on 02/19/2010 14:06:34 MST.

Here's the kind of hat I'm thinking of

http://www.prospectoroutfitters.com/istar.asp?a=6&id=82050!OR

BTW -- the nose flap the guy has in the video is not as ubiquitous as the ruff he's wearing.

> Stay away from Diesel like the plague.
I agree - it is awful stuff, BUT in emergencies ...

The wax in the diesel fuel is there in the summer time, but typically in winter time the suppliers change the contents of 'diesel' to be a bit more volatile and to get rid of any wax. That makes it a wee bit dearer to distil, but the refineries just average that out. So if you buy 'winter diesel' in the snow country it should not gel up with wax - he says hopefully.

How do I know? I learnt this the hard way when I parked my diesel Landcruiser on a high snowy pass in mid-winter for a week while we went touring. The fuel filter was a bit blocked when we went to drive home. Oh Dear!

The immediate cure, according to the road service guy, was to pour boiling water over the fuel filter - to melt the wax. The long-term cure was to buy at least half a tank of diesel fuel deep in the snow country. Needless to say we do this now. Since then I have never had any trouble getting the LC to start.

Cheers

Andrew mentioned that his multi-tool did not fit his ski binding screws. That is because the multi-tool typically has a Philips head (+ head for Japanese) and the binding screws typically require a Posi-head driver, which is shallower. If your multi-tool is otherwise right for you, get the Philips head on it and grind it down to be about 20% flatter (less sharp). Then, it ought to fit the binding screws.

The chances of completely blowing a binding depend on who mounted it in the first place. Before using skis on the first long trip, I would always back the binding screws out and apply industrial epoxy, then re-insert the binding screws and heat cure the epoxy. After that kind of treatment, I never lost a single binding screw in 25 years. Otherwise, I've seen lots of lost screws and blown bindings that had been "professionally" mounted.
--B.G.--

Andy,

I would not presume to try to tell you anything about dressing for the cold -- you've far more experience with time in extended cold than I do, and different people react differently anyway. My cold weather trips were days at a time, not weeks/months.

That said, have you considered a plain headband, probably wool but perhaps synthetic?

If you are anything like me, there will be times when you need *something* up there -- both to keep the ears warm and to cover those prime heat radiators -- but you will find a hat uncomfortable. It is surprising how cold you can go with just an earband, a good head of hair, and as it gets colder your shell parka hood. Besides, if you start to overheat, just pushing the headband up off your ears is surprisingly effective at temperature regulation.

I don't know about you, but the less I can have on my head and still keep it adequately insulated the better.

-- MV

> - Mid-weight polyester balaclava with a brushed/fleece inner
> - VBL balaclava (sil-nylon, homemade)
> - Hoodie on base layer shirt
> - Peruvian wool hat
> - Hood on VBL jacket
> - Insulated hood on GoLite Parka
> - Googgles or sunglasses

> Man, that's a lot of layers, now that I look at it like that. I wonder if I
> could get away with leaving one or two of those layers at home...

Reckon. Even when it is very cold all I wear is a ski hat and an EPIC hood. I might have a buff around my neck - maybe. The thing is, my head does get hot when I am working! However ... having a cold head is really dumb, so a little safety margin is a good idea.

Goggles may be needed in bad weather - my wife prefers them. However, in recent years I have just pulled my ski hat (full neck and ear cover) down my forehead to my large wrap-around sunnies, and that has been quite enough. I don't have a good pic of me (I hold the camera), but this shows my wife's GoreTex/fleece ski cap and here fleece bed cap, to show the general idea.


> But that's not my concern. My concern is that I don't have anything to cover my
> cheeks, nose, and mouth -- that area is not covered by any of the layers I've mentioned.
I have never used a rebreather face mask, so I don't know about them. However, the problem of condensation is real. What experiments I have run suggest that most cases can be handled by covering all my face EXCEPT for my nostrils. I keep my cheeks covered, and I have even tried a bridge over my nose, but I always left my nostrils clear. Seems to me it would have to be a bit dire for the tip of my nose to freeze while my cheeks are hot. Under such dire conditions - which would have to be a severe gale really, I might seek shelter instead. By way of example, the OR Gorilla and Sonic offer this feature.

Not sure, but my 2c.

Cheers

I agree with Roger's comments -- my experience is much like his.

I, too, have never liked something wet on my face in those conditions. I always carried a Navy felt facemask, but the times I actually wore it were few (like above treeline, 40-60mph winds, sub-zero F). I'm intrigued by that goggle flap you show -- I'll have to play with it and see what I think (though now I am in California I no longer get out in the severe cold I used to back in the White Mountains).

By the way, my favorite hat (perhaps because I can be a bit contrary at times), for those times I actually needed to wear one, was what I called my "sleeve hat". I carefully unsewed the sleeves from a lightweight wool sweater. That gave me two hats and a pullover vest.

The sleeve hat was quite light, low bulk, and warm to wear. Also, the shape of the armhole end of it meant that It was naturally contoured to be a good height in front while covering the ears and coming nice and low in the back of my head.

Very cheap, too -- just visit your local Goodwill / Thrift / Salvation Army store and get a light dress sweater with sewn-in sleeves. Not sure where I got the idea -- might have been reading, or it might have been NOLS.

-- MV

Edited by blean on 02/16/2010 23:59:57 MST.

However, the problem with multiple bottles in really cold temperatures is that small bottles are more prone to freezing, as opposed to just one big bottle. Will think more about this...

Small bottles work well because you can also stash one of them in your jacket and keep it from freezing that way. I use three bottles in the sub-zero winter temperatures like Michael does, and always carry one of them inside my jacket. I also carry a 500 ml pet pee bottle for when it's impractical to get out of the shelter in storms. May not be necessary in a floorless shelter, though.

> - Mid-weight polyester balaclava with a brushed/fleece inner
> - VBL balaclava (sil-nylon, homemade)
> - Hoodie on base layer shirt
> - Peruvian wool hat
> - Hood on VBL jacket
> - Insulated hood on GoLite Parka
> - Googgles or sunglasses

> Man, that's a lot of layers, now that I look at it like that. I wonder if I
> could get away with leaving one or two of those layers at home...

Man, that IS a lot of layers! Wouldn't it get really tight and restrictive if you wore them all??

I kept thinking about the Inuit and how they deal with the cold... and they traditionally usually only have one or two layers (in less severe cold one layer with the fur to the inside against the skin, in colder temperatures another layer on the outside with the fur to the outside) I don't know much about the traditional clothing, but wouldn't a fur nose mask, if there is such a thing, be quite resistant to freezing up?

You could emulate the Inuit-style clothing by getting two layers of pertex-pile hood (Buffalo DP Hood or, if you can get it, the hood from the Montane Extreme Jacket) and have a very light weight, highly water-wicking, and warm system without overdoing the layers. You could sew or velcro the hood to one of your other outer layers. I use my Montane Extreme Smock hood (I prefer the Montane hood to the Buffalo hood because it has a built-in nose mask) on several other pieces of clothing because it is so soft and warm. With two layers you'd have no trouble dealing with extreme cold.

In fact, I'd even look at the pertex-pile system (see the BPL article by Chris Townsend) as a possible consideration for what you plan to do. Erin and Higg used the system in part for their journey.

Edited by butuki on 02/17/2010 00:13:22 MST.

+1 on mid for all the reasons listed. Good protection, can dig out the floor, provides wind break when melting snow, etc.

+1 multiple bottles which can go into inside pockets, fit into boots, etc. Consider taking extra fuel on the edge seasons so you can do hot water bottles if need an extra boast.

-1 diesel fuel... avoid if possible. I would also go with the WI if you are sure you don't need diesel.

In earlier days I did a lot of very cold trips. My hat approach back then was very similar to Roman's: polypro balaclava (around neck and then pulled up as it got colder), insulated flap hat (windproof shell, insulation, fleece lined), wool scarf around neck and over mouth, hood of winter parka that had an integrated muff. Never got frostbite. Used down to regularly to -25F, sometime below that, though when it got that could we were typically retreat into shelters.

I typically don't have extreme cold anymore. My system is similar though, I have switched to a cloudveil 4 shadows beanie with a balaclava around my neck, then the hood from my vapour trail goes up, followed by a Seirus balaclava getting pulled up that covers exposed skin and puts neoprene over my nose and mouth + goggles, and finally I would pull hood off, add a GoLite Snow cap, and put the hood back up.

Shovel? I would vote for something with a handle (e.g. leverage). Was not pleased with with snowclaw.

I notice skis but no other snow traction / safety devices. No need for ice axe, etc?

> SKURKA: I'm planning to carry Kahtoola crampons for the AK Range portion. I'm not also going to carry an ice axe. If I'm on slopes that are that sketchy, I already made a mistake.

--Mark

Edited by askurka on 02/17/2010 00:15:57 MST.

Shovel - Andrew has the option of doing doing the same thing that Erin and Hig did.. use his Sawyer packraft paddle as a snow shovel. The adjustable length carbon fiber shaft can provide the required leverage.

Yes, true, if I was carrying both my packraft and skis at the same time, which I won't be. If I'm needing my packraft to cross open ocean water like Erin & Hig were, then I'm in big trouble...

There's been some criticism of the SnowClaw, but the fact is that it weighs 6 oz whereas the lightest backcountry shovels weigh about 20 oz. Tough to beat that...