by Buck Tilton

Once, in the youthful spirit of adventure and immortality, I camped several days in winter when the temperature, I read later, stiffened mercury in thermometers at 100 degrees below zero F. Little comfort awaits the winter camper when it's that cold, but being outdoors in the frozen months remains a favorite pastime of mine . . . for the solitude, silence, beauty, freedom, refreshment of spirit . . . and it's possible to stay safe and warm, most of the time, whether skiing, snowshoeing, hiking or camping, by keeping a few guidelines in mind:

• Let someone who cares about you, or has a deep sense of responsibility, know where you're going and when you'll be back. He or she can summon help if you don't return.
• Travel with someone experienced with the outdoors in winter, or take your first trip with a training program . . . or, better yet, do both. Experience can be a cold and heartless teacher, a teacher best avoided when your health is at stake.
• Talk with someone who knows the area you intend to visit about the conditions you might meet, and prepare adequately for the worst possible conditions. If the temperature dropped to 100 below only once in the last 100 years, expect it to drop that low while you're there.
• Carry a first aid kit, and, if it contains specific medications, remember they might be deactivated by freezing. Consult your physician or pharmacist.
• Choose a sleeping bag rated to preserve body heat at a temperature lower than you expect to encounter.
• Remember, while sleeping most of your body heat will be lost into the ground. Carry a thick, insulating sleeping pad, or, even better, carry two pads.
• Wear boots designed for winter use. Stuffing extra socks into summer-weight boots reduces healthy circulation making your feet colder and offering frostbite a chance to sink its teeth in.
• "Dress like an onion," advises Dr. Murray Hamlet of the U. S. Army Research Institute for Environmental Medicine. Your inner layer should be a material that wicks moisture away from your body (polypropylene, for example). Middle layers are for warmth, and they should be adequately large. No tight-fitting clothing when insulation is your goal. A final outer layer should repel wind and water while allowing body moisture to pass through (Goretex, for example). Peel off layers as you warm up to prevent wetness from sweat, and add them back on as you cool down. "Staying warm," says Dr. Hamlet, "means staying dry."
• To help maintain dryness, pace yourself. Overexertion means over-sweating, and it burns up energy required for warmth.
• Keep your head and neck well-insulated. Heat rises via the "chimney effect," making the top of your body the part where heat escapes most rapidly. Wearing a scarf ranks high as a healthy idea. Scarves can be pulled up over your mouth to pre-warm the cold air you're breathing.
• Wear mittens, not gloves, to keep your hands warm.
• Drink lots of water. Your internal thermoregulatory system is water-based. The water need not be warm and, in fact, cold water keeps you as warm as warm water once it gets inside. Do not wait until you feel thirst, but drink as an act of discipline at regular intervals. As an indicator, your urine should flow clear.
• Eat lots of food. Food burns inside you to produce heat and energy . .. . and both are needed for outdoor winter health. The foods burned most easily for maximum heat production are simple carbohydrates (sugars) and complex carbohydrates (starches). Fats work for the long haul and are best eaten early in the day and late in the day.