Important Notes on Winter Camping & Travel

Because of the nature of winter trips you must bring the required items from the equipment list or let us know if there is an item that you cannot obtain.  Failure to have the correct equipment will result in forfeiture of your participation in the trip.

These trips are designed to be an educational and meaningful group experience.  All have contingency plans and options for extreme winter weather.  While the trips may be challenging, please be assured that they are not a test of conquering harsh winter conditions.  All of the trips are led by competent and well-trained leaders.

Frequently Asked Questions About Clothing, Equipment & Food

• What type of clothing do I to bring? 
• Can I bring my favorite cotton t-shirt? 
• Can I borrow clothing & equipment? 
• Where can I purchase my own clothing & equipment? 
• What type of group gear does Unity provide? 
• What kind of food can I expect? 

In winter activities, one of the greatest threats to our well being is “hypothermia”—a condition characterized by a decrease in the body’s core temperature.  We will introduce practices and techniques to assist you in staying warm and dry during winter activities. These include the following:

1)  Dressing properly – proper layers for activity level
2)  Eating a lot of high caloric food
3)  Staying well hydrated
3)  Keeping active

Clothing
Staying warm in winter environments takes a bit of strategy.  The clothing layers and the material in those layers play a key role in helping your body retain its heat.

Base Layer
Also know as long underwear.  This layer keeps the moisture away from you.  Your body produces moisture in the form of water vapor when you are exercising—even in the winter.  Because of this, you need to pay special attention to the fibers your clothing contains.  Look for synthetic or silk fibers that “wick” moisture away from your skin.  Cotton holds on to moisture so is NOT APPROPRIATE for this type of experience.

Insulating Layer
These layers tend to be bulky (wool, fleece, down) which helps them to trap the heat that your body produces by just being alive.  Again, cotton must be avoided because once it is wet it will loose its insulating capacity.

Outer Layer
Also known as a snow/rain/wind layer.  This is the layer that is closest to the outside world.  It helps to keep the wet out and break the wind.  Wind and water tend to accelerate how fast your body loses heat.  Good wind/rain layers will allow moisture produced by your body to escape while maintaining a barrier to wind and rain from entering from the outside world.

Can I bring my favorite cotton t-shirt?

Cotton is not an insulating layer.  Cotton loses its ability to insulate when it becomes wet (e.g. perspiration, rain) and takes a long time to dry.  For this reason, other than a T-shirt or two, cotton is not advised for Nova trips.  The best alternative is to wear polypropylene long underwear for insulating and a nylon layer (wind jacket and wind pants) for an outer layer.    

Can I borrow clothing & equipment?

Unity College maintains an equipment supply room for students.  In addition to group gear such as tents & stoves, we can provide students with limited quantities of:

Please request the gear you will need from the equipment room when you send in your trip request form.

Outdoor clothing and equipment can be very expensive.  Thrift stores and army surplus outfitters often have reasonable prices.  There are a number of discount outfitters including:

Please call us at (207) 948-3131 ext. 293 if you have any questions or problems obtaining gear or clothing.  The Nova staff are experts at finding reasonable deals on quality clothing and equipment.

What type of group gear does Unity provide? 

• All items listed below are provided by Nova and shared among all expedition members:

What kind of food can I expect?

We provide all food during NOVA trips. Please make sure to note dietary preference on the registration form.  You will be preparing the food that you eat.  Typical menu items in the past include,

• Dinners: Pasta, chicken quesadillas, beans and rice, calzones
• Lunches: Peanut butter and jelly, meat stick, cheese and crackers, granola bars & assorted trail snacks
• Breakfasts: Oatmeal, hash browns, granola

We can accommodate any dietary preferences (meat-vegetarian–vegan) if you let us know ahead of time.

If you have any questions please call Nicole Caruso at
207-948-3131-x293 or email ncaruso@unity.edu