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While the weather outside may be frightful, the camping can still be delightful through the frigid winter months if you plan it right.Ìý

With a good cold-weather sleeping bag, winter tent and warm clothes you can experience the silence and simple beauty of the mountains covered as far as the eye can see in white, pristine snow.Ìý

One of my favourite aspects of winter camping is the food options that it affords. Food that would normally spoil or melt in summer is now fine to bring on a backpacking or ski-touring trip since it is being carried through temperatures that you’d find in your fridge or freezer at home.

Another aspect is that winter pursuits burn so many calories that everything tastes amazing after a long day of breaking trail through deep, powdery snow. Plus, you can eat a lot of it. You wouldn’t want to go into a calorie deficit right?Ìý

Below are ideas for what to eat while enjoying winter pursuits.Ìý

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A hot breakfastÌý

A staple food when camping in the cold winter months is always simple instant oatmeal.Ìý

The main reason for this is that the transition out of your warm sleeping bag back into the cold can be a hard. You will want some type of food that is very quick to make and instantly warms you up. Instant oatmeal does this.Ìý

But it doesn’t have to be just plain oatmeal in a bowl.Ìý

A good idea is to bring trail-mix – raisins, almonds for a little protein and hemp hearts for some much-needed fat – that you could also use to add to your oatmeal in the morning.Ìý

Another bonus of the cold temperatures is that chocolate won’t melt on you, so consider adding chocolate chips or cacao nibs to the trail-mix.Ìý

Hot drinks with breakfast go without saying. Think coffee, tea and hot chocolate. If you like milk in your tea you can bring a small bottle of almond milk or a tiny can of condensed milk.

One option if you want to get ready really fast in the morning is to make cream cheese bagels at home and bring them with you in a Ziploc bag.Ìý

To stop them from freezing through the night you can keep them warm inside your sleeping bag. Then, when you wake up, eat right away with a hot drink to warm yourself up.Ìý

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Axe the sandwichesÌý

In general, I’d recommend snacking throughout the day as you will be burning through your reserves fairly quickly when it’s cold out. It is harder work to move through loose snow.Ìý

For lunch ideas, keep it simple.Ìý

For something that feels more lunch-like than an energy bar or a handful of trail-mix consider a link of cooked sausage, including salami, and a block of firm cheese like asiago.Ìý

While out ski touring, I noticed older mountaineers eating this combination all the time and eventually began to adopt it myself. It provides the right mix of fat and protein to keep you inner furnace burning and your energy level up.Ìý

I wouldn’t recommend sandwiches because they often freeze or the bread becomes hard to tear with your teeth.Ìý

If you stay at a hut, the other benefit of meat and cheese is that you can melt the cheese on slices of sausage for an even better lunch. I’ve helped fellow mountain goers thaw out after a cold day with this treat on a number of occasions.

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Beware of freezing barsÌý

In general, snacks are very similar to what you’d eat in summer, although pay attention to which energy bars will freeze solid and which won’t.Ìý

I’ve found energy bars that contain a lot of figs, dates and coconut tend to stay fairly unfrozen and are a good option for winter travels.Ìý

Trail-mix is a winner although, as mentioned, you can add more chocolate now since it won’t melt and become a sticky mess like it does in summer. Mix in all your left-over holiday candies for a good morale booster on cold winter days.

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Don’t skimp on dinnerÌý

You will want this meal to be a good mix of protein, fat and carbs, as well as a replacement for the calories you burned throughout the day.Ìý

Simply standing out in cold weather causes your body to burn calories so don’t scrimp on what you imagine your body needs.Ìý

In general, I will always bring some form of base to my meal that I can rehydrate. This is either a dehydrated or freeze-dried meal packet from a local outdoor retailer or instant noodles/mashed potatoes.Ìý

The benefit of it being winter is that you can bring meat because it won’t spoil in the cold temperatures. So I recommend cooking up some meat and vegetables at home and bringing them with you in a Ziploc bag. Once you’ve rehydrated the base for your meal you can add this to it.Ìý

Try different options for proteins, carbs and fats. With the freezing temperature, you have a lot of options when it comes to dining out in the local mountains.Ìý

Sip on olive oil or hot sauceÌý

Through the night it can be nice to have something close on hand to eat in case you start to get cold.Ìý

Your sleeping bag is only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to staying warm while sleeping in winter. You also want to ensure that your body is pumping out enough heat to keep your sleeping bag toasty. You can do this by always giving your stomach something to digest, which causes your body to heat up.Ìý

An old trick has always been to have a small bottle of olive oil with you to sip on through the night. Your body will work hard to burn this and produce a lot of heat in your core.Ìý

Another trick is to have a small bottle of cayenne hot sauce on hand. This pepper is known to help with circulation by getting warmth to your fingers and toes.Ìý

Another recommendation is to boil water before going to sleep and make a Nalgene bottle of tea to take with you. You can keep this inside your sleeping bag as a hot-water bottle for warmth and then when you wake up you will still have unfrozen water to drink. A personal favourite is mulled apple tea, which tastes as good cold as it does warm. Try it out!

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These are just a few of my food ideas for winter camping and activities, but the options are endless. The main thing is to get out there, try new things and have fun with it. See what you can come up with!