hi i climb mountains for fun and i enjoy sleeping on glaciers - quick thread on what goes through my mind while keeping myself warm in the most arctic environments:

1. throw the cotton in the trash

seriously if you are wearing cotton to keep warm you are doing it wrong

lose the sweatpants, hoodies, socks, underwear - it’s all got to go - nothing but pure non cotton polyester and down layers touches your body

seriously yeet that shit into the sun if you can

2. insulation (loft) retains heat - it doesn’t “generate” heat

seriously get in your sleeping bags and down comforters - stop letting all that warmth you’ve generated go to waste

every snack, every movement, all of your energy goes into your insulation and retaining warmth

3. pee

stop what you’re doing and pee - water retains warmth - which means everything you’re doing is heating up your pee instead of you - pee - now - even if you don’t have to

4. move

there is a saying in alpinism “be bold start cold”

i summited mount rainier in a butch lesbian tank top and booty shorts and crampons - i assure you - the largest glacier in the continental US isn’t THAT cold if you’re exercising

you can double down on moving an insulating and peeing - if you get up to pee knock out a few jumping jacks and jog in place and count to 100 - then pee - then grab a snack (cold at first then warm longterm) - THEN enjoy your nice warm insulating sleeping bag

zip your bag up after you get out

5. make it a game

i was stuck at camp muir in winter and developed HAPE - i survived by beating my last “high score” while i waited for avalanche conditions to settle

6. loft

if you have goose down (or synthetic down) anything puff that shit up

the tiny pockets of air in between the feathers is what retains heat - a down jacket or down sleeping bag will never work if it’s 1. wet or 2. squished

big down energy!