Winter Outdoor Leadership Series with Richard Chasse - Winter 2021

SESSION 1 - TRIP PLANNING & ESSENTIAL WINTER SKILLS

Session 1 Notes

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Essential Skills

  • Personal Heat Management

  • Personal Energy Management

Everything takes longer in the winter outdoors - making food, using the bathroom, getting ready to crawl in a sleeping bag, even just adjusting clothing layers. Participants new to the winter outdoors will likely have their hands full just learning to manage warmth, keep gear dry, and keep energy up with food and hydration. This should be factored into how much we attempt to accomplish each day.

Trip Planning Considerations

Think Progression - Rather than starting out with a multi-day camping trip, think about a progression that builds participants’ skills to better handle multiple days outside. Can you start with a half day out, followed by a full day, then an overnight in a hut, then one night sleeping outside?

Build In Room for Error - Plan in time for participants to work through trial and error with their own personal care and management. A day trip gives people a chance to see how their clothing layers, packing, and feet hold up to the experience before committing to something more involved. Likewise, learning to build a snow shelter or cook a meal is a great activity for an afternoon in the backyard where staying warm and dry through the process is less critical.

Create Objectives - Even though often the “journey is the destination” when it comes to outdoor experiences, creating an objective for participants to focus on can be helpful. This could be reaching a specific summit or scenic view on your snowshoe day hike, or maybe it’s simply finding a great place to set up a stove and make hot cocoa. What can you introduce into the experience that would help a newcomer find focus as they hike, ski, or snowshoe through the snow for their first time?

SESSION 2 - ROUTE PLANNING & NAVIGATION

Session 2 Notes

Time & Space - Route planning and navigation require thinking about time and space. There are several ways to calculate time (as discussed in the video), but it’s important to constantly re-evaluate your time estimates in the field. It’s also important to go back to baseline with each new group. We can’t assume because a winter hike took a certain amount of time on one day, that it will be the same for a different group on a different day. It can also be helpful to calculate in 10% buffer when making a time plan, and remember that time estimating formulas don’t include stops or breaks. We have to factor those in ourselves.

Pace - Generally we’re trying to move at a “guide pace”, which means we can carry on a comfortable conversation while moving (and should be able to breathe through our nose). This ensures we’re staying in an aerobic zone, burning fat instead of sugar for energy, which is sustainable over a longer time period for most people.

Learning to set a pace can be a powerful experience for participants of all ages. There are a variety of strategies to play with, such as -

  • Having a leader set the pace and then asking participants to try and mimic it as they take turns in the lead.

  • Organizing the group so strongest people are in the front breaking trail through deep snow, while least strong people stay in the middle, and leaders are in the back to keep a sense of pace throughout the group.

Consider the Senses - Navigation is about way more than reading maps and compasses. It starts with tuning into our senses to interpret what we’re experiencing in our surroundings - sounds, smells, sensations, and observations. This can be a more approachable and less intimidating place to start for people learning about navigation for the first time.

Think Progression - When introducing navigation to beginners, don’t just turn to map & compass. Think about navigation as a continuum, starting with the senses, then reading maps & topography, then introducing compasses, and on to more involved levels of technology. Give people a chance to play with each skill set in comfortable surroundings. Familiar spaces make good places to practice using new navigation tools.

SESSION 3 - FOOD PLANNING & EQUIPMENT

Session 3 Notes

Weight vs. Time - When planning food we’re constantly taking into account weight (of food and cook gear) and time (both in terms of prep / cook and travel). It’s important to ask questions like how far are we wanting to go, how tired will we be, and what environment will we be in? A complicated meal might not be your friend after multiple hours of breaking trail in deep snow.

Winter Food Tips -

  • Prep as much as possible before you go out into the backcountry.

  • Constantly ask “how can we reduce waste?”

  • Experiment with meal planning vs. bulk rationing rationing strategies.

  • Hydrate early.

  • At the end of the day people will digest much needed calories more easily if we spread the meal out with a few courses. Try to re-hydrate people early (soups, broth, hot drinks, water), then make the main meal calorically dense.

  • Remember it’s easier to bring refrigerated items into the winter backcountry.

  • Avoid non-stick and pure aluminum cookware, as can have adverse health effects.

  • Warming red spices help people feel warmer at night.

  • Like your first aid kit, you should bring in your cook kit what you know how to use.

  • Bring enough food and fuel to make an extra meal.

Winter Specialty Gear -

  • Leather gloves and / or gloves designated for kitchen use (avoid using the gloves you wear while using the bathroom

  • Lighters stashed in multiple pockets, with child proof tabs removed (easier to use with gloves on)

  • Stove & pot pads - these can be constructed of wood or thin metal on one side, and closed cell foam on the other

Common Fuel Formulas -

  • 8 oz of fuel per person per day (winter camping w/ the need to melt snow for water)

  • 4 to 5 oz of fuel per person per day (sleeping inside or camping outside without the need to melt snow)

Remember, it’s not just about holding the knowledge, it's about sharing the knowledge. Thanks for joining us, and best of luck with all of your adventures in every season!