re: Cold weather gear

quote:

---

Merrino wool is the best.

---

I've been living/working in cold weather for close to 30 years. I taught skiing for close to 15 years, 10 at a major ski resort you'd recognize if I told you the name. Polypropylene is just as good, and not nearly as expensive. So if it's a once off activity, a wicking synthetic fiber like polypro might just do the trick.

The wild card here is if you are going to be hiking in snow. Water changes the equation significantly. While I've done it, I wouldn't recommend hiking in jeans, in snow no matter what you've got as a base layer. The moisture will eventually wick all the way up and you'll be cold. This goes for keeping your socks dry too. I usually wear my snow pants when winter hiking even if there's only a few inches of snow on the ground. A pair of good gaters might offset this, but I've found that there's more practicality for snow pants for most folks.

My usual set up is 1 or 2 pairs of poly pro long johns, depending on the temps. 35 deg F and above and I'll wear 1 pair of long johns, 10-25 Deg I'll wear 2 and below 10 degs I'll wear 1 pair with a pair of fleece pants. I'll wear my snow pants on top of that.

For my core, it's 1 poly pro undershirt and a micro fleece. It's it not that cold 30ish, I'll wear a thin shell waterproof or a light puffy depending if precipitation is expected. If it's colder I'll start adding thicker layers and take them on or off depending on how heavily I'm exerting myself or not.

Do not forget a nice warm hat. Most of your heat is lost in your head/neck area. Always have a change of clothes in the car. Changing your socks after hiking is the best way to rewarm your feet.