During January and February 2013 I cycled for three weeks in Lapland in the middle of winter with Helen Lloyd ( her thoughts on winter clothing can be found HERE) We cycled and camped at temperatures between -10 and -30 degrees C.
Rather than write a long boring story about the theories of clothing in cold climates and pro’s/con’s of various theories, I’ll just share my real experiences of the gear I used, what worked for me or didn’t and how I’ll do things next time( though its still a long boring story). My original packing list for the Lapland trip can be found > HERE<.
Base layer:
X-bionics energizer shirt – This shirt was perfect and I wore it for 24 hours a day for up to 5 days straight. I couldn’t used anti perspiration deodorant because it froze, but by cleaning the armpits with baby wipes (best to dehydrate them or they freeze!!) twice a day, the shirt only started to smell after 4-5 days despite the intensive activity.
Marmot lightweight bottoms- Started fairly comfortable but after a couple of days the seems started rubbing on the inside of my legs giving a very painful rash. Apart from that they were a great base layer.
As I used a VBL in my sleeping bag and slept in my base layer, they were damp from sweat in morning and I would leave my sleeping bag steaming, usually within minutes all dampness had evaporated and the base layer was dry, very impressive really.
Head and neck:
Generally I used a combination of a Mountain Equiptment Powerstretch balaclaver, Buff and Manfur (© Evolution). This worked well to keep the wind off my face and my head warm. I also had a spare fleece hat in reserve in case my balaclaver got wet.
The only serious issue here was the build up of ice in or on the outside of the Buff, sometimes the ice would even build up on the zips of my fleece and goretex jacket making them impossible to open. On the coldest days I would put the buff on the outside of my jackets so that most of the ice would build up there instead of on the zips (its all about that dew point, freezing point thing…).
The buff is also handy to wear at night as this can easily be pulled over your nose when it starts getting cold.
The above photo is taken after cycling at -28, Ice has formed on the outside of the Buff and in the zips, sweat had formed a layer of ice/snow on the inside of my Goretex jacket and my eyelids freeze together when blinking.
For Canada I invested in a cold avenger face mask which wasn’t very nice to put on in the morning as it was frozen but once warmed up it was nicer than a buff would of been.
Eyes :
Apart from the risk of snow blindness, thanks to windchill at about -25 my eyelids started to freeze together and my eyes got sore from the cold. It was time for eye protection.
Sunglasses proved useless as they would instantly steam up and the steam would freeze soon after that. Double lens goggles were also far from perfect but about as good as it gets I suspect. I had a pair of “cheap” €25 goggles, I’m not sure if the €80 version would of been much better. With the extreme cold its very difficult to stop condensation on the inside or breath on the outside from freezing over the lenses, especially when snowing.
Legs:
Generally while cycling and also in the evening I wore my base layer plus a pair of ski pants with a thin fleece lining. Sometimes this was too warm while cycling and generally just fine in the evening while sitting around. Some days I tried cycling with base layer plus Mountain equipment Powerstretch Salopettes, this was actually more comfortable than the ski pants as they breathed more, though once setting up camp I wanted something waterproof to keep the snow out, the ski pants worked better at keeping the snow out of my boots too.
Upper body while cycling:
A big issue whilst cycling in the cold is rather surprisingly heat and moisture management. Sweat will freeze at some point between or on the outside of layers. The ideal situation being when the sweat freezes outside the outer layer so you can just brush it off.
I always cycled with my base layer shirt and a light fleece often adding my Marmot Vars hoody or my fancy Mountain Equiptment Kalanka goretex Jacket depending on how cold/windy it was. I prefered to just use the hoody as it ventilated well, the goretex was great for keeping the wind off but below -20 stopped breathing as there would be a layer of snow on the inside(frozen sweat). The underarm zips on the goretex jacket proved very handy for heat management. The hoody was also a nice addition during breaks to keep warm, that little extra insulation from the hood is quite nice I always kept it handy when not in use.
Its worth considering having each layer as a separate item, Helen had a Paramo jacket that had two layers and started to get ice build up between the layers. It is essential that one of the inner layers has pockets (in my case the thin fleece) these pockets are needed to put socks etc in to dry during the day, or for keeping your lunch defrosted.
For my next trip I would consider a light windproof jacket as an outer layer, something to keep the worst of the wind off but still very breathable or a proper soft shell jacket.
As well as the base layer, thin fleece which I always had on, in the evening I would add either my PHD down vest or Cumulus incredilite down jacket or both, on the coldest evenings even adding the hoody. I found having two thin down layers rather than one thicker one gave me a lot more flexibility. Apart from the night in the crazy house I rarely was cold in the evening despite being outdoors down to about -25( though I had a routine of spreading work out over the whole evening and going for a walk or run every 20-30 minutes).
I love how compact and warm the down jackets are, but was very concious not to wear them while cycling to make sure no sweat go into the down.
Playing chess at -15.
Hands:
Potentially a big problem while cycling but thanks to my Hotpog Arctic Poggies (handlebar covers) I rarely had cold hands while cycling (see the review >HERE<). Whilst working and cooking around camp I used an old pair of Goretex gloves that worked reasonably well, the important lesson was to always put them inside my jacket if not on my hands as they were generally wet from sweat/soup/coffee/water and would freeze within minutes. For dry work or reading in bed at -15 I found my Marmot Fleece gloves very nice. The North Face Meru mitts proved too bulky and fairly useless for anything other than sitting around but as you never really get the chance to just sit around, they where just over kill really.
Next time round I’d consider a pair of silk glove liners to protect my hands when doing fiddly work and for use inside my Poggies so I still have grip.
Feet:
Feet, the problem area. I wore Sorel Caribou 2 sizes too big to allow for lots of socks if needed and an extra insole(from a pair of trainers and put inside the boot liners) for more comfort and insulation from pedals/ground these are snow boots which are rated to -40, this rating though is based on active use and not sitting around camp or almost motionless feet on ice cold pedals.
Because the boots are fairly open at the top, by the end of the first evening snow had gotten into the boots while setting up camp in the snow which of course melted making the insulation liners wet. I quickly learned to put my ski pants on before getting off the road when camping.
Sweat from my feet also accumulated in the liners which also froze. I had spare liners with me but our campfire the first couple of evening was a failure so I never really got them dry. The first week was quite miserable with almost as much time walking as cycling as this is the best way to warm the feet up.
We quickly learned that a VBL(vapor barrier layer) was needed in our boots. By placing plastic bags on the outside of the first layer of socks all sweat stayed there leaving another pair of socks and the boot liners to do the insulation work. The only downside of this in combination with a VBL in bed is that you feet can be damp for 24hrs a day which causes its own problems.
In the second two weeks of the trip I rarely had cold feet thanks to the VBL system and making sure snow didn’t get into the boots. To help keep my feet dry at night I wore sealskinz breathable socks, though it was difficult to dry these in time for the next evening.
For the next trip I’ll get some kind of VBL socks rather than plastic bags that get holes in them quickly.
Other stuff:
Gents: Put a sock, spare glove or buff in your underpants, its an extremity you don’t want to loose.
Ladies : Put a sock, spare gloves of buff in your bra or have a thick enough sport bra (though that comes with drying issues). Your nips are another extremity which can have issues very quickly.
Zips are difficult to use when you have gloves on, consider adding a piece of cord to the zips you use often.
Jogging/walking or doing some kind of work around the campsite every 20-30 minutes is the best way to stay warm in the evening. Pushing the bike during the day now and again is the best way to re-warm feet, in extreme cases as much as 500m to 1km might be needed.
General winter theory states that you should try to be slighty cooler than normal rather than warmer while cycling to reduce sweat etc. If you’re having feet/hand issues this is (in my opinion) bollocks and go for slightly too warm rather than cool, excess sweat and dehydration can be dealt with, cold extremities are dangerous. The warmer your core is the warmer your feet will be.
At night I put my boot liners in a plastic bag between sleepingbag and bivvy so they would stay defrosted. Wet gloves etc in a dry sack together with toothpaste and moisturizer and placed this in my sleeping bag so they wouldn’t freeze( some folks do this without the dry sack to dry stuff but I don’t want my down getting wet).
Gloves will get wet, have a plan and a spare pair.
Think about how you will stop snow getting into your boots while camping, ski pants/gators/boots with gators?
Consider buying outer layers in a size larger than usual because of the bulk of the inner layers.
