Once experienced the exhilaration of winter travel will enslave you whether your indulgence is for the annual hunt in which you are responding to the issue of the Red Gods calling for snowshoe or ski trips across the waste places, or, again you may follow the trail of the Far North trapper in which case your frequently moved camps necessitate mushing behind a trail sled drawn by huskies or breaking a trail ahead of a bush toboggan propelled by your own power. Again perchance some get rich quick frenzy pushes you into the frozen regions in exploratory reconnaissance for precious metals.
Just what causes most people to refrain from outdoor life in winter is the fear of cold. Yet properly regarded the winter is the healthiest time of the year. Physically greater exertion is necessary in winter to enable the body to generate heat sufficient for protection against cold and this is compensated for in the usually increased difficulties in travel over road or forest snows. Pure tramping methods and kits for summer must be modified to suit new conditions for doubtless you will not have ground to walk upon hence you must take to snowshoes or to ski for the snow work, the body covering must be adequate for additional protection against the elements, and the shelter and bed must be especially adapted to your needs.
Snow-shoeing is becoming more and more popular among lovers of outdoor life. Without them northern bush travel in winter would be impossible because in dense forested areas the brush grows close and the ground is filled with fallen trees and rocks and the snow lies loose and powdery. Snow-shoeing is really at its best after the middle of January when the early snows have packed down and the weather is pretty constantly freezing.
So much has been written of the great tournaments of ski jumping by the Scandinavian experts that one may lose sight of the fact that ski running for the amateur is an unparalleled winter sport in any snow covered section and is a necessary part of the equipment of mountaineers whose journeyings take them far into the wilderness probably with a pack outfit on their backs.
In this country the winters are as a rule mild and pleasant yet the average American does not appreciate the benefits to be acquired from the use of the ski or the exhilarating and exciting sport to be had with them. The ski (pronounced “skee”) is used for walking (really toboganning or skating) over the deep snow, protecting the walker from breaking through and becoming immersed in a fleecy bath. In regions where the snow gets to the depth of 5 to 7 feet the ski is intensely utilitarian, being a real necessity for travel as otherwise travelers would become hopelessly buried in the drifts and perhaps perish. In this country it is becoming more popular each year and in many sections it is replacing the snowshoe for winter travel.
With ski one may slide down hills of snow or ice, he can walk over drifts without fathoming their depths and if sportively inclined and trained he can speed downhill so fast that the sense of motion is lost and the scenery is verily “snatched” past in rapid panorama. Where the country is reasonably open and not too rough the snow becomes fairly solid. Ski are superior to snowshoes and travel is far faster than with the web shoe.
In our mountainous regions there is good snow-shoeing and skiing at elevations of from 200 to 3000 feet from December to April. The climate here is commonly mild with days of continual melting—a temperature of 20 degrees or below being a rarity. The mountain snows are deep, forcing our summer cruising methods to a matter of reminiscence, and this depth increases very quickly as altitude is gained. At 5000 feet elevation the Frost King’s mantle may be found to be 20 or 30 feet deep but at this altitude few cabins for camp use can be depended upon.
Special cold weather clothing requirements are imperative for keeping warm in camp and on the trail. Body warmth depends on several things. First, the body’s ability to make heat, hence our attention to heat forming foods. That this heat may reach all parts of the body and especially the extremities which are so susceptible to cold, the circulation of blood must be absolutely unimpeded by such things as tight shoes, constricting waist bands or tight clothing anywhere. Secondly, the surface of the skin must be insulated by a loosely woven fabric covering (best of animal origin) which retains the heat in its meshes yet allows an egress of moisture which is constantly imperceptibly emanated by the pores of the skin and to a superlative degree during exercise. Successive thin layers are found to be more efficacious than one thick layer owing to the dead air interspaces.
The skin and its covering must be kept dry else freezing will ensue. Aside from what moisture may come from the body, wet may come from accidental immersion in streams or the air itself may be very humid—the reason for our greater sensitiveness to wet cold than to dry cold.
A large factor of success in Arctic exploration has been the choice of proper clothing. These explorers have followed down to the last detail the natural clothing of the Eskimo modeled after the protective covering of Arctic animals consisting of the impervious integument itself next the body or with silk intervening. This fits loosely at the knee, waist, and wrist, enabling the evaporation of constant perspiration to the open air, especially during exercise of any kind. The body is thus kept dry and no energy is lost in heat making.