How to Prepare for a Hike (Winter & Summer)

Me on Elk Mountain summit

Generally speaking the more a person develops their passion for hiking, the more adventurous they become with their ambitions and the more they need to plan and prepare anytime they head out, especially if going into the backcountry, and even more so if going out in winter. New hikers will usually stick to well established routes, with lots and lots of information available about the trail. As these routes are simple, the level of preparation required is lower, since in all likelihood you can just follow a defined trail, and the impact of something going wrong is typically lower than somebody going on a more challenging outing. 

When I first began hiking, I really paid little to no attention to where we were actually going. I’d quickly look at how challenging the hike was, what the views were like and where the trailhead was. I’d pack some basic supplies, show up at the trailhead and usually put all my faith in a defined trail or someone more experienced than I that the hike would be a success. 

As you progress your hiking ambitions beyond these straightforward frontcountry hikes, you really need to begin preparing for your hikes with a lot more forethought, especially if you advance to solo hiking like I did, and even more so if you are hiking in winter. 

Here I’m going to discuss the process I go through when preparing for a hike in the winter, because winter hiking is the most demanding, especially when it comes to planning. Summer hiking is really no different, only you won’t need to worry about avalanches and you’ll no doubt carry less gear.

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Me on the Empetrum Peak ridge with Black Tusk behind

Researching a Hike

The first stage of preparing for a hike is discovering & researching a trail. For frontcountry hikes this is usually very easy, you just go onto an app like AllTrails, select your filters of difficulty, distance, elevation gain and see what it spits out. You probably read a few reviews about the hike to corroborate how challenging it is, confirm it’s a good time to go, and that’s about it in terms of research.

Once you progress beyond simple frontcountry hikes, your research needs to be more in-depth. Many hikes are not found on AllTrails anymore, they’re instead found by playing an active role in an experienced hiking community, or potentially researching on more specialized blogs / websites dedicated to backcountry adventures. Thankfully the community is very open to sharing their trips and experiences, in fact it’s only by doing so that the community succeeds, so it’s a good idea to begin by keeping a close eye on where people are hiking and when. This not only tells you what is a good hike, but when is a good time to go. Oftentimes in the backcountry, conditions can change quickly, sometimes you only have a very small window of when to do the hike before conditions (like snow) change. 

After I think I’ve found a good option, I would then either ask the person if they have a GPX, or if the person writes a blog or tracks their hike on something like AllTrails where you can download the GPX, I will download it from there. You should also read their trip report which should give indications of how technically challenging the hike will be. If it sounds quite technical you might want to ask the person specific questions to see if it’s beyond your level of comfort.

Once I’ve got the GPX I will upload it to AllTrails to quickly review the hike stats (distance, elevation) and also note any particularly steep / technical sections of the hike. Generally speaking if the gradient ever hits 50%+ I’ll know that part of the hike is extremely steep and might require scrambling/climbing, at which point I’ll want to know more for sure as I don’t want to get into a situation where the scrambling is beyond my comfort level. 

Next I’ll upload the GPX track to a mapping software like FatMap or Google Earth to try and get an idea as to what the terrain is going to be like. Usually the person whom you got the GPX off will have noted the terrain in their trip report / blog anyway, but sometimes reviewing the route on a map like this can help. I tend to like FatMap for the amount of map overlays it provides, particularly the gradient overlay, the aspect overlay and the avalanche overlay. These overlays put a shading over the entire route to signify how steep the terrain is throughout the hike, which direction the face of the mountain is facing (important in winter), as well as potential areas of avalanche risk. 

By now you should have a solid understanding of the entire hike. You know the hike distance, elevation gain, terrain, how steep every section is, any potential avalanche risk and the aspect of the approach. You should also have up to date information on the trailhead access from the trip report of the person who went, so you’ll know if you need a 4×4, or whether there are issues with snow / parking on the FSR.

If I’m not intending to go on this hike soon I’ll keep it in my catalogue of possible hikes, which is a long list of hikes I eventually intend to do. If hiking in winter I’ll also make a note as to whether it is a low or higher risk avalanche route, which allows me to plan my weekends around avalanche conditions. Over time the list of potential hikes I have to do just keeps growing as people share their experiences and as I research them. Usually I’ll get to a weekend, review my catalogue of possible hikes, and just pick one that seems to match what I want to do that weekend. I generally have a long list in a variety of regions, so there’s usually something that fits the bill.

Planning & Preparing for a Hike

The research above is the most time consuming part of hike planning, and once you’ve done it you should have a good idea as to what to expect on the hike. The next stage is deciding when to go and what gear you will need. This can be done pretty quickly in the summer as you generally don’t need to worry about avalanches, gear selection is usually simple, and frequently the snowline isn’t a concern either (but not always if you’re reaching high elevations).

There are a few moving parts to this, but most importantly I like to know where the snowline is, how challenging is the trailhead access, what the avalanche risk is (if any) and what the weather is going to be like. 

Where is the snowline? What condition is the snow in?

A question you will see asked frequently in many hiking communities is something along the lines of “do I need microspikes/snowshoes?”, and this is mainly because the person is unfamiliar with where the snowline is and what the conditions will be like. These questions are more common in the shoulder seasons when the snowline and condition are changing rapidly. Playing an active part in the hiking community gives you a good idea where the snowline might be at all times, but unfortunately it varies significantly from region to region. The snowline inland can be wildly different than the snowline on the coast, for example.

Still, knowing not only where the snowline is but what condition the snow is in can be difficult for even the most experienced of hikers. The only real way of knowing where the snowline is is by asking someone who has been in the area very recently, assuming there hasn’t been any subsequent snowfall.

The condition of the snow can also change quickly, largely depending on the freezing level. If it hasn’t snowed for a while and there is a deep overnight freeze, followed by a cold day, it’s common for the snow to be hard and crusty, only requiring microspikes. If heavy snowfall has recently fallen and temperatures are warmer, there could potentially be several inches or even a few feet of deep powder to traipse through. 

You also have to factor in how busy the trail will be. If it’s a popular trail that is frequently traveled, like Dog Mountain, the snow will be packed down to the extent microspikes are usually fine the entire season. If it’s a rarely traveled summit, there’s no chance of a heavily packed trail and you’ll likely need snowshoes.

Overall, if you are unable to get an accurate idea as to where the snowline is or what the snow condition might be like, play it safe and take both microspikes and snowshoes. The worst that will happen is you carry the snowshoes all day without using them (I did this on Empetrum Peak for 32km, so I’m sure you’ll manage).

Can I get there? How close to the trailhead can I get?

For simple frontcountry hikes, accessing the trailhead is often not a concern, it’s just a paved road to a parking lot, usually without snow to worry about. Unfortunately the more adventurous you get, especially if hiking in the winter, the more you have to worry about whether you can even get to the trailhead. 

The first consideration is your vehicle, naturally. If the trail requires off-road driving over cross ditches, and you have a low clearance 2WD, you will never get to the trailhead no matter the conditions. Many people aspire to hike Cheam Peak, but very few have the right vehicle to get there, so they never will unless they can find someone to take them.

The winter makes matters even worse, with the snowline frequently lower than the trailhead, either making the hike completely inaccessible, or requiring a much longer hike in. It’s therefore important to understand where the snowline is (see above) and realistically how long the hike will be if you have to park significantly lower than the trailhead. There are several hikes on this site that are much easier the further you can drive up the mountain, some examples being Anif Peak and Cloudburst Mountain. If you have to park way down at the bottom of the FSR, you can expect a much, much longer and harder day, which you need to account for before getting there. 

So hopefully you have a reasonable idea where the snowline is so you know where you might be parking, and therefore how long your hike will be. Hopefully you also know the general condition of the FSR and whether your vehicle has the ability to make it (and if not and you have to park earlier, you need to leave enough time to complete the hike). 

Sometimes though it’s simply not possible. If you are going on a backcountry hike without any information from somebody who has recently been there, and you’re not sure what the condition of the road is going to be like, you might have to risk it and have a backup hike planned as well if you can’t make it. This is why recent trip reports are often so valuable, it confirms a lot of unknowns for people. 

What is the avalanche risk?

There are entire courses you can take to understand avalanche risk, and I highly recommend doing so if you intend to hike in snow. At the very least you should take the free, online Avy Savvy course provided by Avalanche.ca. I am not in any position to teach about avalanches so I am not going to discuss the nuances of avalanche risk here, but I will say the more you understand avalanches, the less scary it is to hike in the winter. Many people are often scared of avalanches even when they are not even in avalanche terrain, simply because they don’t know anything about them. 

While I won’t discuss avalanches, I will discuss how I review avalanche conditions and also analyze my potential hike for avalanche terrain, as these are simple steps everyone should take when venturing out in snow. There are tools out there to help you decide what is and is not avalanche terrain, and reviewing your hike against these tools is important anytime you intend to hike in snow. 

Avalanche.ca is the obvious first place to go to check the avalanche forecast for the day you intend to hike. They provide day by day forecasts for avalanche risk by regions using the Avalanche Danger Scale, below. It’s important to check the risk the night before your hike, and ideally the morning of, as the risk can sometimes be updated overnight if conditions change.

Avalanche Danger Scale

Understanding this scale gives you a good idea of what the current conditions are like on avalanche terrain. However, and this is important, this information is only useful if you are on or beneath avalanche terrain. And this is where most people really have no clue. 

Now I am not some expert on avalanches by any stretch of the imagination, it takes years and years of experience and education to really understand snow, but the simplest way to avoid an avalanche is to know what avalanche terrain is and to avoid it (if that’s your risk tolerance, many people are happy to hike in avalanche terrain in the right conditions and with the right preparation, myself included). 

Luckily Avalanche.ca also provides maps for many of the most popular hiking regions, with an avalanche terrain rating for specific areas. The three potential avalanche terrain ratings are:

Avalanche Terrain Ratings

They also provide maps of specific regions on their trip planner. Here you can see your potential hike area and the terrain rating. Here is an example of the hike to Hollyburn Peak, with the trail in yellow:

As you can see, most of the terrain is simple, with the last hundred meters or so on challenging terrain. Avalanche.ca also has an Avaluator card, below. 

This graph maps out avalanche risk against two axes, the avalanche danger rating and the avalanche terrain rating. When combined, these give you an idea of the overall risk of an avalanche on a scale of Caution, Extra Caution and Not Recommended. 

For Hollyburn Peak, most of the trail is simple with a very brief section considered challenging. If the avalanche rating were moderate for that day, you can see the overall recommendation is to hike with caution (as you always should). If the avalanche danger rating was considerable, the simple terrain section of the hike would still be “Caution” but the challenging section at the very end would be “Extra Caution”. If the avalanche rating was high or extreme, travel would not be recommended. What you do with that information is up to you as everyone has different comfort levels for avalanche terrain. I know people who would never hike in even the simplest of avalanche terrain, and I know others who will hike challenging and even complex terrain.

So overall Avalanche.ca is an excellent resource that you should always refer to when determining what the avalanche danger is and what kind of terrain your hike will cover. Unfortunately though, the site doesn’t map every possible place you may want to hike, it’s only the most popular places. Sometimes you will be unable to see the terrain rating of your intended hike, at which point I will usually resort to using FatMap.

FatMap allows you to upload your intended route so you can visualize the hike, then you can turn an avalanche layer on, that shades the entire map to signify avalanche terrain based on the angle of the slope. In general it is commonly accepted that an avalanche is unlikely to occur on a slope angle below 30 degrees, with most avalanches occurring on slopes between 35-50 degrees. Here is the hike to Hollyburn Peak on FatMap, note the shading scale at the top including all slope angles from 25 degrees up to 45+ degrees:

Practically the entire hike to Hollyburn Peak (in bright green) is not on a slope angle of even 25 degrees (no shading at all), with the final steep ascent touching on 25 degrees very briefly. Avalanche.ca states most of the hike is simple avalanche terrain with the very end being challenging terrain. FatMap gives an even lesser impression of avalanche terrain, saying the entire hike is not generally considered avalanche terrain if you agree that a slope angle of 30 degrees is needed to be considered an avalanche risk. 25 degrees is still steep though, so a person should take some caution for the brief steep section at the end.

Generally I like to use FatMap either way when reviewing a hike for avalanche terrain, it gives a much more detailed analysis than Avalanche.ca, allowing you to see exactly where the trail gets steep enough for a potential hazard. 

Please do not think this is all you need to know for traveling safely in the winter though, this is just my quick pre-hike planning to determine what kind of avalanche terrain the hike goes through and the current risk of going on that hike. As mentioned, it takes years and years of experience and education to understand snow hazards, and really you should be capable of evaluating avalanche terrain while in the field, as that is where it really matters.

What is the weather going to be like?

Many people underestimate the possible changes in weather from the trailhead to the summit. In general, for every 100m you gain in elevation you can expect the temperature to fall 1c, so your hike can feasibly start at 10c and fall to 0c by the time you’re at the summit, if you’re climbing 1,000m. This may not be a big deal in the summer, but in the winter it could be a difference of hiking in 5c vs. -5c weather, which requires drastically different clothing.

Lots of people also make the mistake of checking inappropriate weather providers for their given hike. Websites like the Weather Network and Weather.gc.ca might be great for checking the weather in an urban area, but hopeless for checking weather at the top of a mountain. Admittedly if your hike is at low elevation and close to the city those resources might be fine, but if you’re ascending hundreds or thousands of meters, you’d better check a more reliable source of weather. 

I use a couple of weather resources for checking weather, noted below:

  • Mountain-Forecast.com – This resource provides the weather specifically for mountains, and allows the user to select a variety of elevations to see what the weather is like at each elevation. It’s particularly useful for seeing how warm it might be at the base of the mountain versus the summit, and it’s also great for providing the freezing level, which is important to note in the winter but not so much in the summer. It doesn’t have every mountain on the site by any means, but it’s easy to pick a nearby mountain to where you are hiking and it shouldn’t be too different to where you intend to go. While this gives a great weather indication for a specific peak, it’s not the best for understanding the entire weather picture for the region as a whole, so I combine it with other weather resources. 
  • Windy.com – Windy is an extremely powerful, highly visual, weather resource with so many different options it blows my mind. While it doesn’t provide elevation specific weather like Mountain Forecast (to my knowledge anyway), I’ve found it to be the best resource for understanding the weather across a large region. I find Windy to be excellent for understanding clouds and rain, so I like to turn on the cloud layer and play around with the time scale to see how the clouds are moving throughout the day. Being able to visualize the weather across such vast areas allows you to plan where to hike quickly. It’s easy to see if it will be better to hike in the Fraser Valley versus Whistler, for example, just by zooming out the map, turning on the cloud layer, and playing around with the timescale. It takes some getting used to but it’s very user friendly and very useful for understanding weather on a more macro level. 
  • SpotWX – On the opposite end of user friendliness is SpotWX. This website is a bit technical but it essentially is a weather aggregator. You are able to click anywhere on a map and SpotWX will pull reports from a variety of weather sources across North America. You can then select one of the reports, such as NAM, and it spits out a bunch of graphs with a huge variety of information. I haven’t played around with it too much, but it’s certainly a powerful tool, and the ability to pick an exact spot on a map and get a weather report for that exact location is unique. I still prefer a combination of Mountain Forecast and Windy, but I’ve been reliably informed that SpotWX (or something similar) is the future of weather forecasting!

That’s about all there is to say about predicting the weather, it’s more of an art than science at times though, and people use other resources no doubt. Just please don’t rely on a generic regional weather report while you’re hiking up a mountain.

An example of Windy.com. The yellow represents no clouds, and the white represents clouds.

What gear do I need to bring on the hike?

By now I’ve thoroughly researched the hike, I’ve checked the snowline, I’m confident I can get there in my car, the avalanche conditions (if relevant) look reasonable and I’m aware of the weather, especially at the summit. All that’s left to do is to pack my bags and get going. So what gear do I take?

Well obviously the gear you take is totally dependent on all your prior research and the time of year you’re going. I’ll try and summarize what I generally take below:

All Hikes:

    • Hiking Backpack – 28L in summer, 40L in winter
    • The 10 Essentials – Not always all of them, but usually most of them
    • Hiking Poles – Definitely in winter, more optional in summer
    • Satellite Communication Device – Garmin inReach
    • Downloaded Offline Map – AllTrails & Gaia as a backup, also downloaded to my watch and satellite communication device
    • Power Bank – To recharge my phone if needed
    • Bear Spray – Not in winter or if I’m hiking in a group, but that’s a personal choice, bears can still be active in winter
    • Bug Spray / Net – Mostly during the end of spring and start of summer only
    • Camera – I like nice photos
    • Helmet – Only if there is a falling hazard i.e. scrambling
    • Hydration System – Not in winter if the temperature is going to be below 0 for most the hike as it will freeze
    • Rain Coat / Pants – Only if there’s potential for rain 

Winter Hikes:

All of the above, plus:

    • Snowshoes – If I’m hiking on snow that has the potential to be deep, which for me is most winter hikes
    • Microspikes – I’ll usually carry these anytime I carry snowshoes, sometimes you can get away with only microspikes if there hasn’t been a lot of recent snow and the trail is well traveled
    • Avalanche beacon, shovel and probe – If hiking on avalanche terrain and with people who have avalanche gear
    • Ice axe & mountaineering crampons – Depends on the hike, only really necessary if the slope reaches a steep enough gradient (40 degrees or more) 
    • Gaiters – I’ll usually just wear them the entire day if there is snow around
    • Gloves, mittens and warm hat – I typically carry a lightweight set of gloves for general use, and a heavyweight set of mittens more so in an emergency if my hands get really cold. I’ll always carry a warm hat too
    • Hand warmers – Lifesaver in the winter for me
    • Additional layers – Not only will I wear more layers in the winter, I’ll carry more as well

I’ll always pack my bag the night before, and double and triple check the key pieces of equipment are there. In winter with all that gear it’s so easy to forget something important, and doing so can sometimes make or break the hike. 

And that’s it! All that’s left now is going on the hike and hoping all your planning and preparation paid off. Usually your success rate for a hike correlates pretty strongly with the amount of preparation you put in. Not to be cheesy, but failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Can’t believe I just used that phrase…