Winter Camping Course For Those Who Know How to Camp in Summer
✘ Not available for 2023/2024 winter. See Nuuksio hot tent winter camping for winter experience.
⌘ Details
Destination: Nuuksio National Park near Helsinki
Group size: private, 1 or 2 plus guide
Availability: in winter, December to March
Duration: 2 days
Transport: pickup from your accommodation anywhere in Helsinki Metropolitan Area, travel time from Helsinki is around 30 minutes
Start and end time: when you want
Daily hiking distance: according to your wishes, from 1 to 20 km
Food and drinks: includes everything you need on the trip (inform of allergies or diets when booking)
Hiking gear and clothing: includes all the gear and clothing for every weather (fits approx. 150-195 cm tall, shoe sizes 36-47)
What you need to have: clothes against your skin, toothbrush, personal medication and hygiene products
€ Prices
For one: 290 €
For two: 380 € (190 € / person)
Includes VAT
Partner of Metsähallitus, Parks & Wildlife Finland
❤ Who’s This For
You’ve hiked in summer season and maybe down to freezing, and now you want to hike in winter and on snow.
You want to try if winter hiking could be your thing, or absolutely not, without buying all the expensive winter gear.
You own three season gear and you want to know how you can use them in winter, or can you? (Own gear not required for the course.)
You don’t want to go to the middle of a forest in winter alone, in your summer gear, to see what will happen.
You want to start practicing winter camping safely in forest and maybe later go to more difficult environments, once you’re certain of your skills and gear.
Hiking and camping in winter is surprisingly straightforward, if you know how to go about it.
The biggest challenge of winter camping is the coldness and how everything is frozen. Every hiker will freeze as well if they just sit still. Where in summer you can just hang around and see how the day goes, in winter you have to know what to do and how to do things to stay warm and happy.
This course is about how to do things while moving and when camping. The goal is for you to be able hike and camp in winter, in a forest like Nuuksio National Park, by yourself after buying what you’re missing.
Snow conditions permitting we can do the course with snowshoes.
Temperature limit for the course is around -15 C. It’s about comfort, not to make your first winter camping experience too demanding.
Two Ways to Do the Course
You can take this course in two different ways:
- Borrow all the gear from me.
- Take your own three season gear and we’ll go through how you can use them in winter and what limitations they have, and you can borrow what extra you need from me, like down jacket, another sleeping bag or sleeping pad.
If you borrow the gear from me, everything will work and you’ll get to enjoy the benefits of lightweight backpack, even in winter.
If you use your own gear, you’ll learn how to use them in winter and what kind of things you’re missing that you’ll need to buy, if you want to start camping in winter.
★ Course Program
Notice there isn’t a strict schedule on the course, it’s over when we’ve dealt all the topics. We’ll spend two relaxed days in nature.
Transport to course destination, I’ll pick you up from your accommodation.
Borrow outdoor clothing and gear
Hiking and camping gear for winter conditions and extra clothing. All you need to have are clothes you can walk to my car in, but I do recommend using your own winter clothing you’d use to hiking by yourself. You can change clothing in a warm place.
Gear and clothing you can borrow:
- Sleeping bags, pads and a tent for winter conditions.
- Backpack.
- Snowshoes and poles.
- Insulated bottles and a hot water bottle.
- Warm jacket, fleece, trousers, socks, mittens, beanie and scarf.
- Waterproof jacket and trousers, shoes, gloves and a hat so that you’ll stay dry.
- Headtorch, towel etc.
Walk into nature.
Do things in ways that work in winter to keep warm during the day.
Everybody winter hikes, so:
- Hikes in wintery forest.
- Takes breaks without freezing.
- Notices differences to hiking in the same places in summer.
- Sets up camp.
- Gets water.
- Gets to the safety of tent and sleeping bag.
- Cooks dinner.
- Makes preparations for the night and next morning.
- Makes breakfast without getting out of the sleeping bag.
- Takes down the camp and packs their backpacks.
We’ll go through all the winter gear and what’s important in every piece. All the important bits you’ll later find in my gear list.
Learn meta skills so all the small things that make hiking enjoyable and safe.
Ask all the time about everything you have on your mind about winter camping.
Transport back to your accommodation.
After the course:
You’ll get a winter gear list and a calculator for two sleeping bags combined warmth in email.
Buy the winter gear you’re missing with my gear list and you can ask me for help and opinions on WhatsApp or email.
✔ What You Get
- Learn the basics of winter camping.
- You get to try winter camping without buying lot’s of new gear.
- Knowing how to do things is really important in winter and you get to lear those without freezing yourself.
- Learn how to stay as warm as possible.
- You’ll know what to do if you get cold at night.
- If you have three season gear you’ll learn how you can use them in winter, what limitations they have, and what you need to buy if you want to camp in winter.
✘ What You Don’t Get
- Common hiking basic skills, this course is dedicated for the challenges of winter.
- Practice different ways of moving in winter, like skiing and pulling a pulka.
- All the necessary skills for polar expeditions, this course’s goal is to get you camping in forest in winter.
Ask Anything About Winter Camping Course
