Leading hikes in the winter is \u201cexhilarating,\u201d said Lisa Kleiman, who lives in Bucks County. But she said there are mistakes people can easily avoid.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re not familiar with hiking in the cold, you may not know that you might not be able to go as far, it might be a little more strenuous, you might be exerting more effort,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/winter-hiking.jpg\")
Members of the Appalachian Mountain Club\u2019s Delaware Valley chapter are outside all year, including in the coldest months of the year. The chapter holds day and overnight trips for hiking, backpacking, biking, cross-country skiing and more all throughout the Northeast and in urban areas like Philadelphia. (Provided by Lisa Kleiman)<\/p>\n
The best way to get started is by going out in a group, said Joe Nanfara, another member. \u201cSafety in numbers,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Trained volunteer hikers can guide groups through easy, short trips of just a couple miles with no elevation as well as longer, more strenuous trips of 12 to 14 miles with 3,000 feet of elevation.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re headed out into the back country in winter, Nagara said it\u2019s crucial for hikers, backpackers or skiers to share their itinerary with others and let someone know exactly where they\u2019re going and when.<\/p>\n
For those longer trips, hydration and calorie intake is key, said Steven Campanelli, who serves as backpacking chair for the organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven though you think, \u2018I\u2019m not hot, I feel fine,\u2019 every time you exhale, that is moisture that\u2019s exiting your body,\u201d he said. \u201cSo, you want to make sure you\u2019re conscious of that and you would drink fluids and replace that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bringing extra food and water is necessary, Campanelli said, because some people tend to burn more energy in the cold. Participants might want to consider eating up to 3,000 calories while outside in the winter and as much as 7,000 calories for extremely cold, extended excursions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a lot of calories and your body would definitely use it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Other things to pack include essentials like light sources, first aid, a navigation tool, a fire starter and extra layers of different weighted clothing to adapt to temperature and weather conditions, Kleiman said, including additional gloves and socks in case others get wet, which can be dangerous to wear.<\/p>\n
Also, be ready to pivot and change plans.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re not feeling it or if something doesn\u2019t feel right, it\u2019s a little more strenuous than you anticipated or it\u2019s if it seems like it\u2019s taking much longer than you anticipated, it\u2019s a good idea to be cognizant of that and be willing to backtrack,\u201d she said. \u201cThe priority should be safety as opposed to achieving \u2018X\u2019 number of miles or whatever your goal was. You just want to make sure you\u2019re safe doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The winter Olympic Games take place through Feb. 22.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Winter hiking and cross-country skiing: Safety in numbers Members of the Appalachian Mountain Club\u2019s Delaware Valley chapter are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[13980,69,71,70,9653],"class_list":["post-115182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-exercise","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-winter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}