Cold Weather Climbing

Climbing in colder temperatures presents its own set of challenges that you wouldn't usually worry about in warmer weather. Having recently returned from our first mid-winter climbing trip, we picked up a few tricks to help regulate temperature in cold weather and take advantage of good winter climbing spots.

Base Layer

Probably the most critical aspect of the cold weather climbing outfit is a warm base layer. For climbing conditions between around 40-60°F, a mid-weight Under Armor-style compression or fitted shirt works great. Depending on the temperature, it can be enough to have just this and a light sweater or jacket while on the wall. Unless you are climbing in literally freezing temperatures, a heavy wool base layer is probably overkill (I'm not sure if can have much fun sport climbing in freezing temperatures anyway...). For legs, mid-weight running tights/leggings are amazing - and yes, this is true for both women and men. The climbing pants I tend to wear (e.g. Prana Zions) are pretty lightweight and do not keep me warm on their own. Leggings fit perfectly underneath them and provide a lot of warmth.

Other Layers

Aside from the base layer, dress pretty much how you would for any winter outdoor activity - something along the lines of sweater-puffer-windbreaker layering is ideal. The one thing I'd recommend is to aim for lighter, compressible layers rather than thick, bulky coats. You'll need to change layers and unpack/repack your bag frequently, so the easier this is to do the more efficient you'll be. Pictured right: Victoria modeling the essential puffer jacket.

Hand Warmers

One tip we read about which proved to be very effective was using hand warmers. When your fingers start to freeze from pulling on cold rock, it makes climbing both unpleasant and very difficult since you lose feeling in your fingertips. The best way we found to combat this while on the wall is to pop a hand warmer or two right in your chalk bag. This warms up the chalk and creates a nice little pocket of warm air you can dip your hand into whenever you find a little rest. Another trick is to put one in each shoe while you are belaying to keep them warm (also - clipping the shoes to yourself while not climbing keeps them warmer through body heat).

Hot Beverages

Maybe the greatest perk to climbing in cold weather is that you can drink hot coffee and it will help keep you warm (rather than causing overheating in warm weather). Even if you are not a coffee person, fill a thermos with the hot beverage of you choice and sip on it when you are feeling a bit chilled, it will warm the heart.