Each winter, South Korea’s numerous mountains are blanketed in a substantial layer of snow. This creates a winter wonderland for those passionate about winter sports, but for avid hikers, it comes with mixed feelings. On the bright side, embarking on a winter hike opens up a diverse range of unique experiences as you navigate through the snow-covered terrain. But, without proper preparation and suitable equipment, winter hiking can turn into a downright unpleasant or even perilous endeavor.
After hiking 44 of the 100 mountains in the Blackyak’s 100 Mountain Challenge during the winter – I have learned a great deal about winter hiking and trail conditions here in South Korea. To help share my knowledge, I’ve written the following article which contains 7 winter hiking tips and 5 recommended pieces of gear to help you have a safe and fun winter hiking adventure.
Skip to the recommended safety products
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7 Tips for Safe Winter Hiking:
- Double check the Korean National Park Website that your trail is open: Every year there are numerous hikers who make the journey to one of Korea’s national parks, only to discover their trail not open due to fire closures. There are two fire closures time periods for Korea’s national parks: winter (mid Nov – mid Dec) and Spring (Feb or March to May). The specific dates can be different for each year and for each park. In addition, intense snow falls, or high winds will close the trails as well. The closures tend not to affect the whole park, but rather specific sections. For example, Jirisan National Park tends to close its ridgeline trail during the winter and spring but keeps some of the trails to the peaks open.
- Check Instagram’s recent images for trail conditions: Weather reports are an incomplete resource for determining trail conditions as they often tell you about lower elevation regions and don’t consider upper elevation snowfall/build up. While firsthand accounts and live cameras are the best, these resources are often not available. Recent images on social media sites, such as Instagram recent photos, can give you a rough approximation of current trail conditions. I would advise you to search for the name of mountains in Korean to get more search results. This is not a perfect system but a helpful resource when planning.
- Always bring your campons/spikes and poles: Carrying your crampons is like putting a rock in your bag. A really heavy rock. So, it’s easy in the early spring or late fall months to not want to bring them with you, especially when all the online photos show no snow on the trail. But you should bring them anyways. All you need is a 50-meter shaded patch of the trail to potentially ruin your day. There’s nothing worse than thinking they are unnecessary, but desperately needing them on the trail. I have stories… be better than my former idiot self.
- Keep in mind that solo hiking in more dangerous in winter: As a frequent solo hiker I’m not saying, ‘don’t ever solo hiking in winter’, because I’d be the first to not follow this advice. So instead, I would recommend that for your solo adventures, try to stick to more populated trails.
- For hikers with little to no winter hiking experience, I wouldn’t recommend jumping into this activity without a companion. This isn’t just about you and your safety, if something goes wrong you put other people at risk as well.
- Layering with a thinner outermost jacket: Thicker/bulky jackets are nice when you are in town and need to be outside without a lot of energy being expended. But if you’re hiking in a thick jacket, you are likely to overheat more quickly and need to take it off. This means you likely are quicker to start sweating, and this dampness puts you at risk when you remove your jacket, and the wind is more directly felt. Keep in mind that the chill you feel at the start of the hike will fade as you progress. I would recommend coming prepared for that beginning cold (and chill at the peak) but select a hiking outfit that best suits the majority of your time on the mountain which will have your body moving, heating up and not needing all those layers (unless it’s a very windy day!)
- I would recommend effective layering with a thicker, warm zip up + thinner windy breaking jacket layer, to give you the flexibility of removing either the inside thick layer or the wind breaking element without compromising your cold / wind protection.
- Additionally, it’s a pain in the butt to attach a big bulky jacket to your bag once you get too warm and need to take it off. But a thinner jacket is more easily packed away. ** Bonus tip: you always need more space in your bag in the winter with all the extra gear and layers – consider this when buying your hiking bags **
- Wear Snow Guards and Carry Extra Socks: In winter, wet feet on the trail are a recipe for disaster. Wearing snow guards while trekking in snow, especially deep snow, reduce the likelihood of snow getting into your hiking boots and keep your feet and ankles more insulated by blocking wind. If your feet do manage to get wet, new socks can make a significant difference in stopping you from entering the beginning stages of hypothermia.
- Carry and Wear Sunglasses: Skiers and Snowboarders are very familiar with the damage snow can do to your eyes if goggles /sunglasses aren’t worn on the slopes. Save yourself from the risk of temporary or permanent blindness and put sunglasses in your bag for sunny day hikes.
If you want to support my blog or get yourself some cool Korean national park swag, please consider checking out my Etsy shop! I make Korean camping and hiking souvenirs!
5 Recommended Safety Products
These five products aren’t the basics ones that everyone knows to bring when you go outside for long periods of time, such as gloves, hats and warm clothing. Instead focus on those you might not consider, or think are worth the weight but could make the world of a difference on the trail.
The following 5 products will help you keep you warm, save you in a crisis or and/or make the hiking itself safer and more enjoyable.
1. Emergency Survival Blanket
For less than $10 dollars you can save not only your own life but the lives of the people around you. Not carrying an emergency blanket, especially in winter, is an emergency you need to address. This small piece of safety equipment will keep you warm in an emergency situation such an increased snow, an injury, getting lost etc. This is an item that I take with me everywhere in all seasons just to be safe. I’ve never needed it, but it’s like buying a car without an airbag. I don’t intend on getting in a car accident but that doesn’t mean I’m willing to not have the protection. Buy this set of 4, give one to your friend and hopefully you never need them.
Perfect for emergency situations where warmth or protection from all-weather conditions is required. Helps prevent hypothermia and shock by retaining/reflecting up to 90% of a user's body heat. These blankets can help block rain, snow, and moisture to keep you dry in damp, wet, cold, rainy environments
2. Crampons
Crampons go on the bottom of your hiking boots – or sneakers – and allow you to walk over icy and snowy patches without a worry of slipping. There are two mainstream kinds for hiking crampons, the ones that have thick plastic that wrap around the boot like a sock (which I recommend you purchase, and I personally use) and the more lightweight ones that only attach at the front and the back and have one or two set of spikes. The later kind are the older fashion type that are more prone to breaking a slipping off.
Wearing crampons make all the worlds different on the trail. I typically attach them on the front of my bag so I can put them on and take them off as I need while hiking.
Durable and Safe Spikes:
Sportneer Campons give you the best grip and traction for you, the Sportneer crampons for hiking boots are made of 19 high quality stainless steel spikes, double chain design makes the crampons more durable and stronger would not rust. You’ll always have high stability and a secure grip when you’re out on the ice or unstable terrain, always keep you safe and injury-free.
3. Carbon-fiber Hiking Poles
There is no shortage styles of hiking poles to choice from – ranging from heavier aluminum poles to the ultra-light and ultra-expensive trail running poles. This isn’t an item to go cheap on (but at the same time you don’t need to be breaking the bank either!)
Thats why I recommend carbon fiber poles, such as the Cascade Mountain Tech Trekking Poles. Carbon fiber poles are the middle ground between pretty lightweight and strong – both are big priorities while having to carry them long distances but also needing to rely on them to handle your weight during a fall.
These carbon fiber poles are both lightweight and strong! Adjustable and foldable so you can transport them easily and adjust them to the perfect height for you or your trekking experience.
These carbon fiber poles made by Cascade Mountain Tech come in a number of color combos and are adjustable. Adjustable poles offer additional flexibility such as sharing them with others on the trail as well as being able to adjust them between your descents vs ascents. I find I want longer poles on my descent to offer additional stability as I’m stepping down – adjustable poles let me make these personal adjustments on the trail.
4. Snow Guards / Gaiters
This is not an obvious thing to buy for a winter hike, but now since I own these, I never do a winter hike without them. While gaiters are most know for keeping your boots from getting wet and cold from the snow – they can be also a game changer on the mountain by keeping your feet and legs warm by blocking the aggressively cold winds!
This leg gaiter is lightweight, breathable, tear resistant, and durable!
-> Durable 600D Oxford Fabric prevents water, snow, dirt and debris from getting dirty or stabbed by cactus needles, briars, thorns, etc. Designed with a metal buckle to keep it secure to your boots!
These are a must pack for me!
5. Zippo Refillable or Rechargeable Handwarmers
Zippo handwarmers are a recent discovery for me but I love them – I own two (one in hunter orange and one that’s black) and I gave my boyfriend two silver ones for Christmas this year. While this is a winter hiking post, these bad boys rock for camping, hunting, and all sorts of winter activities.
They are refillable with lighter fluid – its straightforward process that you can check out on YouTube. They last for the full 12 hours and come with a little sleeve. Using that sleeve, you can regulate the temperature by taking them in and out of the sleeve / in and out of your pockets as need be.
Say goodbye to disappointing disposable handwarmers which never last as long as they claim on the package.
The Zippo refillable handwarmer is:
- Perfect for all cold weather activities
- Flameless gentle warmth
- Sleek, thin design fits into the smallest pockets
Zippo also makes an electric version – these are a bit more expensive than the refillable kind but are more straight forward to use and offer additional functions, such as being a small flashlight and working as a power bank. But they are not as effective as the refillable ones, offering only 6-9 hours of heat with a full charge – which still beats the crappy single use ones you get at Daiso.
- Charges up to (2) compatible USB devices
- Integrated LED flashlight
- Dual sided heat up to 120°F / 50°C operating temperature with (6) heat settings
- Rechargeable 5200 mah lithium-ion battery - up to 9 hour run time
Happy Trekking
-Aurora
