are people listing temps as the inside the tent temp, or outside the tent temp? Because the inside the tent temp could easily be 10-15* warmer than the outside the tent temp.
One frigid winter in 1981 or '82 (maybe '83) when I went skiing at Snowshoe in West Virginia. It got balmy at -5dF during the day at the top of the mountain, with windchill down around -50dF. It was truly bitter. I spent half the day in the lodge.
That night after dinner with some friends at a restaurant, we went to a very drafty old log cabin with no electricity. It had a woodstove, but it was late so we just pulled out our sleeping bags and went to sleep. It got down to -27dF.
My sleeping bag was rated to -20dF, and I was toasty warm all night. But getting dressed in the morning was a bitch, and our car wouldn't start at first till we got a jump.
That said, the "coldest" I've ever been was in July. We'd been hiking ther Bartram Trail along the Chattooga River in the rain all day. At 5:00 or so, when we couldn't control our shivering anymore, we made camp. Stripped wet clothes, into dry ones, dove into sleeping bags, made some hot cocoa then soup...and two hours later were good to go.
I walk the line.
The balls off a brass monkey, that's how cold.
I was 18 years old *sigh* and skinning, hiking and very occasionally skiing with group over Swiss border, a goodly part of it along glacier. 1st day gorgeous; liquid blue sky, etc good night, huts fine... 2nd day seriously unforeseen front comes in towards afternoon grinding us to a crawl and night spent sodden, stiff with cold and despite urgings I was too tired to eat (I know! I know!), in alarmingly dilapidated and precipitous hut. Morning no change in weather we're beyond cold but mostly dry, wet booted we set out up west-facing slope...have to say at this point me recall has gotten a bit fuzzy but our group ended hunkering underneath 'space-blankets' while two of us got air-lifted out due to hypothermia and one fractured shin. The rest made it down and out almost safely and were, in the end, the stronger for it but (and I've omitted the glut of panic-edged sniveling that took place for your benefit) after that I was convinced that if there was a Hell then it was ice, wind and snow rather than fire, smoke and ash. Toe-nails fell off due to frost-bite.
Was mighty cold.
Adding to the Boy Scout theme.....Three chilly winter nights camping at Starved Rock, Illinois. The high each evening averaged around 10 degrees. "Thanks mom," that quilt you unknowingly added to my gear really helped out!! :-)
Spent the coldest night of my life in Overmountain Barn in January '08. I would find out later from the weather almanac that it got down to -5, without windchill. Made the mistake of not keeping my boots in my sleeping bag, and they froze. Putting them on the next morning was most difficult.
I thought I had good gloves and mittens, but I was wrong. The next day, the wind was howling and I got frostbit fingers and toes going across Little Hump and Hump. By the end of the day, I had blisters on my fingers and toes, some the size of small grapes. They eventually turned black. I was worried that I might lose part of a couple toes, but fortunately I did not. Needless to say, I invested in good mountaineeriing gloves, and have learned to keep my boots from freezing. It should come as no surprise that my fingers are much more sensitive to cold now. I have to wear gloves any time the temp dips much below 40.
Gladiator
Close to -20 at Kinsman Pond in February. Not a thru, not a section, just an overnighter to cure me of cabin fever. My Whisperlite stove stuck to my fingers when I tried to light it. Luckily I was able to blow on the affected area and get free.
As I live, declares the Lord God, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn back from his way and live. Ezekiel 33:11
We try to do a extreme cold weather camping trip with the Scouts every year. It's called a freezeree. Even in NC you can get down to 15 and then add the windchill. Had some enterprising boys this year who scooped out a depression under their tent and then filled it with warmed rocks from the fire and then leveled it with the dirt and put their tent back on top. They said it really worked for a few hours.
Digging frozen ground to bury hot rocks????????Originally Posted by manderle
Have the Scouts ever heard of hot water bottles??????
As I live, declares the Lord God, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn back from his way and live. Ezekiel 33:11
About -10* in late November during deer season in the UP of Michigan. The next day it got even colder as the front continued through and with the wind chill it dropped to -60* and we decided it was time to go home. It was so cold that you could actually hear spit crackle as it froze in the air, ala Jack London.
“He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature.” –Socrates
Sleeping in the car at the Arapahoe Basin ski area one Spring vacation, probably in the 0 to 10F range.
Mountain hiking trips, probably 10 to 20F.
Much time spent in the woods at -10F or lower, mainly in Upstate NY, but not camping.
I twice came pretty close xc skiing bushwhacking a new route. Once in NY, storm approaching, no light, no emergency gear, I made it down to the RR bed I skiid on regularly just as it got dark and had to ski 2 miles to home. It would not have been a good night.
-15 Winter survival school for the Air Force at Fairchild AFB. Too much like winter if you ask me.
Lake Placid Feb. 1992 -30 F that spring I moved to Florida.
The journey of 10,000 miles, begins with the first step.
Nepal Himalayas -22F.
Happy Lifetime Sectioner!
It's good to see this thread come back to life, especially as a distant winter approaches, but the posts won't have any teeth in them until we're hit once and for all in a medulla-squirting deep freeze. Hold your breath, boys, and pray for cold.
Yes, Walter, cold weather soon; I can't wait.
The leaves are starting to change here. It'll probably break 40* in the good direction by Friday. There has been frost in northern New England. Here's a few October photos from the White Mts to get you in the mood:
http://www.mountwashington.org/photo...year=2004#1300
-27 in the day, by the Snake River, Idaho in February
Up in the mountains of Northern Wyoming in February, not sure how cold it was- we were on a good foot of snow, I had a 20 degree bag, but it was much colder; low singles or negatives. Had some nice issues up there too. My sorrels got wet inside from the snow, friend put them next to the fire to dry... I didnt have any extra footwear and they shrank so much I couldn't put them on. Had to use my friends extra tennis shoes! Fortunately we didn't hike in very far, but it was a cold night.
I don't think I've camped below zero and probably not the single digits. Not having a thermometer, I'm not sure when of many cold nights over the years was the coldest but it was probably camping in a Algonquin wigwam in Quebec while on a dogsled trip in January '07.
I saw 47 below zero in an unheated tent in Labrador in 2002. People who were in the area saw 54 below one night earlier.
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