Cold Weather Survival and Winter Camping, with Cabin

When and Where

When: January 2-4, 2026 , 3:00 am — 12:00 pm
Nights: 2

Location: Massawepie Scout Camps, Keymel Lodge, Adirondacks

Overview

Troop 23 is launching a winter skills weekend designed to remove the mystery from cold weather outdoor life. This is a hands on winter program focused on learning how the body behaves in cold conditions, how to regulate heat and energy, how to operate safely in snow, and how to make winter camping comfortable and fun.

This is not a backpacking trip. We are not hauling full packs deep into the woods to sleep wherever we land. This is a cold weather survival and winter campcraft program, with structured instruction, deliberate practice, and access to a cabin for safety, recovery, and warm regrouping.

The event is led by Mr. Steven Magnus, a Troop 23 alumnus, Cub Pack Leader, and a long time outdoor mentor with deep experience and real enthusiasm for winter travel and cold weather systems. Adirondack winter conditions will give us real snow and real lessons, and the program is planned to keep everything safe, controlled, and highly educational.

Core goals

Build winter competence, not winter misery.

Scouts will learn how to prepare for cold, how to stay warm and dry, how to avoid common winter mistakes, how to manage hands and feet, how to read the weather, and how to think like a winter camper. The skills from this weekend are designed to eliminate barriers and open horizons for future cold weather trips, including more advanced winter camping and winter hiking.

What to expect

This weekend blends instruction, skills sessions, and winter activities that require teamwork and patrol execution.

You should expect a mix of:

• Cold weather science and practical technique
• Layering systems and nutrition strategy
• Winter sleep system and long night planning
• Outdoor fire building in snow and cold
• Snow shelter concepts and real shelter builds
• Snow travel skills, potentially including snowshoe hiking
• Patrol cooking projects, including Dutch oven
• Fun cold weather experiments, including outdoor ice cream making

And yes, we will have access to a cabin.

Training plan before the trip

Over five weeks beginning 11 17 2026, Mr. Magnus will attend our regular meetings to prepare participants. These sessions are a major part of the program and they matter as much as the weekend itself.

Session 1, Winter equipment considerations

A complete overview of what makes a winter trip successful, from head to toe and from shelter to stove. This includes clothing systems, boots and gaiters, hand systems, face protection, eyewear, pack organization, water management, and the reality of gear performance in snow.

Photo block, Gear layout and examples

Session 2, Regulating body temperature

How heat is generated, how it is lost, and how you control it. This session focuses on layering logic, sweat management, pacing, wind strategy, and nutrition. Winter is a system, and food is part of the system.

Photo block, Layering demonstrations and nutrition planning

Session 3, The sleep system

How to prepare and get through a long winter night. This includes bag ratings and what they really mean, pad strategy, heat retention, moisture control, nighttime routines, and what to do when you get cold.

Photo block, Sleep systems, pads, and cabin comparison shots

Session 4, Snow shelters and the winter camp

Pros and cons of tents and various snow shelters. This includes site selection, snow quality, ventilation principles, and realistic decision making, when to build, when not to build, and how to use the cabin as the safe baseline.

Photo block, Shelter building sequence

Session 5, Winter weather and snow safety

Wind chill, frozen lake awareness, basic avalanche awareness, and cold related injuries. The purpose is not to scare anyone, it is to teach what to watch for, what decisions prevent problems, and what early action looks like.

When and where

Meeting point

Our Lady of Angels, Brooklyn
Meet time 8 00 AM

Destination

Massawepie Scout Camps, Keymel Lodge
Adirondacks, New York

Notes on schedule

This is a winter event, travel time is meaningful, and weather can shift plans. We will operate with a clear plan but keep flexibility in case conditions require adjustments.

Massawepie Scout Camps and Keymel Lodge

What it is

Massawepie Scout Camps is a long established Scout property in the Adirondacks, built for year round outdoor program delivery. The Adirondacks are one of the most important outdoor regions in the United States, known for deep winter conditions, heavy snow years, and a long legacy of winter travel culture.

Keymel Lodge serves as a winter friendly base for the weekend. It provides warm shelter, a safe regrouping point, and a reliable location for instruction, staging, and patrol coordination. Access to a cabin does not make this a cabin trip. It makes it a winter skills weekend where we can run real outdoor modules, then return to warmth to learn, recover, and reset.

Why it matters for this program

The Adirondacks are the right environment for this kind of learning because snow conditions create real constraints and real feedback. Many cold weather skills do not fully make sense until you have snow under your boots and freezing air in your lungs. That is why this venue was chosen.

Official site: https://scoutsroc.org/camps/massawepie-scout-camphttps://scoutsroc.org/camps/massawepie-scout-camp

Program structure

Cabin based core, outdoor modules as the main content

Think of the cabin as headquarters, and the outdoors as the classroom. We will rotate between instruction and execution. Scouts will work in patrols, and patrol leadership will matter, because winter success is teamwork, not individual heroics.

Suggested high level flow

Friday, travel, arrival, winter camp setup, evening module
Saturday, full day winter skills blocks, patrol cooking projects
Sunday, wrap up modules, pack down, travel back, optional stop if feasible

Outdoor skills and activities blocks

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Fire building in cold weather

This block focuses on preparation and repeatable success.

Key ideas we will cover
Bring a well stocked fire kit, preparation is key to success
Where to find dry wood, or how to make wood dry enough to burn
Prepping wood before you need it, preparation is key to success
How to prep a surface on snow and what to consider
Camp firewood realities, what the camp provides, what we should supplement

This is one of the most important winter modules because fire is both heat and morale, and winter mistakes here multiply fast.

Snow travel and snowshoe hike

Snow changes how you move and how you plan distance. If conditions support it, we will run a snowshoe module, potentially including a short hike.

Key ideas we will cover
Footwear and gaiters, managing snow intrusion
Pacing and sweat control
How to stop and not freeze
Hydration in cold air
Navigation and visibility considerations in snow

Shelter building, quinzee

A quinzee is a classic snow shelter built from piled snow that is later hollowed out. It is not quick, and that is exactly why it is educational. It teaches snow structure, ventilation awareness, and the difference between warm looking and safe.

Key ideas we will cover
Snow selection and timing
Ventilation and safety
Tool handling and roles
When a quinzee makes sense, and when it does not

Shelter building, trench shelter

A trench shelter is simpler and can be fast, depending on snow conditions. It is a useful model for emergency thinking, because it forces scouts to focus on insulation, wind control, and basic survival logic.

Key ideas we will cover
Site selection, wind, drift, and exposure
Roof strategy and collapse awareness
Ground insulation and heat retention
The difference between shelter and comfort

Winter camp systems

This module is about the camp as an operating system.

Topics include
Camp layout and traffic flow
Keeping gear dry, keeping gloves functional
Managing water, thermos strategy, freezing prevention
Stove use in cold weather, including stove pads and stability
Hands and face management, preventing numbness and injury

Patrol cooking blocks

Cold weather cooking is a skill and a morale multiplier. We will lean into it.

Dutch oven cooking

A winter feast built around one pot meals and dessert, executed as patrols. Patrols will plan menus, execute cooking, and share results.

Key ideas we will cover
Heat management in winter
Clean execution, especially when water is limited
Meal planning that supports warmth and energy
Patrol roles, leadership, timing discipline

Ice cream making outdoors

This is fun, but it is also a learning lab. Patrols will develop their own formula and learn how temperature, salt, and timing affect results.

Key ideas we will cover
Patrol experimentation and iteration
Cleanliness and food safety
Learning through controlled trial

Optional experience blocks

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Dog sled ride

If feasible, a dog sled experience can be an unforgettable way to connect winter travel history with modern outdoor recreation. If we do it, we will frame it as a winter movement lesson, not just a thrill ride.

The Wild Center

The Wild Center is a major Adirondack education institution focused on ecology, wildlife, and the natural systems of the region. It is a strong complement to a winter skills weekend because it connects our cold weather practice to the broader environment we are operating in.

A potential highlight is a night light show style experience, which could work well as a Friday night program element if logistics align.

Official site: https://www.wildcenter.org/

Lake Placid Olympic Museum

Lake Placid is one of the most iconic winter sports locations in the United States, with deep Olympic history and a culture built around snow, ice, and endurance. A museum visit can anchor the weekend with a broader story of winter mastery, showing how training, discipline, and technique turn harsh conditions into performance environments.

Fort William Henry

Fort William Henry connects Adirondack region travel with early American military history, frontier logistics, and cold weather realities of earlier centuries. A scavenger hunt format can make the visit active and Scout friendly while still keeping the experience historic and educational.

Official site: https://www.fwhmuseum.com/

Packing list for the brave explorers

Touring setup

Wicking layer top and bottom
Upper body layers, insulating, 2 to 4
Lower body layer, insulating, 1
Wind shirt and pants
Warm hat
Neck gaiter
Glove or mittens, shelled
Sunglasses and sunscreen
Socks
Boots
Gaiters
Daypack
Shortie pad
Water bottle and Thermos
Food
First aid, emergency gear
Map(s)
Goggles

Camp setup

Heavy parka
Insulated pants
Extra socks, 2 to 3
Extra gloves and mitts, 1 to 2 each
Bootie system, optional
Overboots or mukluks, optional
Brush for snow, optional
Sleep bag rated zero degrees
Ensolite pads, Therm a Rest, 2
Stove and stove pad
Lighters and matches
Pot and pot pad
Fry pan
Utensils
Cup, bowl, spoon
Food bag
Fuel
Headlamp
Candles
Pack and shed
Tarp and tent
Beefed up repair and first aid kit
Toothbrush etc
Ziplock bag for organization
Lantern
Extra hat
Pee bottle

Safety and expectations

All activities will be safe, supervised, and operated with winter specific awareness. Winter is not dangerous when you respect it and prepare correctly, it becomes dangerous when you improvise.

Expectations for participants
Attend the training sessions
Bring required gear, do not guess
Listen to instructions, winter mistakes are preventable
Operate as a patrol, winter success is teamwork
Ask questions, this weekend is designed for learning