Online Winter lecture series #1: Winter Backpacking Basics with Michael

Join Michael Rohani, a winter backpacker enthusiast, nature lover, meet up organizer, author, and designer for a discussion on how to add winter backpacking to your briefcase of outdoor activities. Idaho Hikers and Backpackers will be doing an in field ‘winter skills’ practical this winter and this will give you a good knowledge base. I actually enjoy winter backpacking more than other seasons. Hopefully, with a little knowledge and practice you will too.

Michael states "When I think of winter backpacking, I am looking at it from the perspective of modern light-weight gear. Meaning there is a gear revolution that has made what we are doing possible. It is no longer essential to have a polk full of heavy gear or to be a top athlete with incredible cold-weather endurance. That’s not an argument against polks, but rather an acknowledgment that it is now possible for most people to backpack in winter conditions. In this context, we are pioneering something new. In the process, we have the opportunity to create and advance a safety culture for this activity. "

Topics Covered (~ 45 minutes)

• What is winter backpacking and how has modern gear revolutionized it?
• Safety considerations: Weather and terrain assessments, essential gear and skills, and group dynamics.

Participants will have 15 minutes at the end for questions.

Biography:
Michael has been organizing winter backpacking trips in Washington State for more than 10 years. He basically has written the book on winter backpacking. He hosts a winter backpacking Meetup, a Facebook group page, and provides winter backpacking information and gear reviews on his website and blog at WinterBackpacking.com.

A little about Michael and me:

When I moved to Seattle in 2019, it was the dead of winter. I had only backpacked a handful of times but never in the winter. Was that even possible? That is when I discovered Michael’s Winter Backpacking group. I bought all the gear Michael recommended and showed up. Over the next two years, we would go out on ten trips in some nice and downright nasty weather ; my skill and comfort level increased. Not only was winter backpacking fun but it was a new challenge. I was able to backpack year round. I left the group, incorporating some of the knowledge and skills that Michael imparted and did a 4 day winter ascent of Mt. Whitney.

Requirements:
-Zoom account
- A little patients with the technologically challenged. LOL

*Cover photo by Nathan Kreuzman*