r/hiking • u/Sufficient-Rooster-7 • 10m ago
Question Nepal trek - layering advice
Hi all, have a Manaslu trek coming up in a few months (Mid October) and just preparing the gear.
My question is what to pack for the extreme cold days (La Larkya pass for example). I haven't got much experience with snow hiking in colder climate. Where I am it gets to maybe negative 5 at worst and never been out for hours in that weather hiking.
A lot of the guides and equipment recommendations recommend something like:
- Merino base layer
- Fleece jumper
- Down jacket
- Water proof layer
That's well and good but what sort of ratings for each as merino baselayer, fleece and down come in a wide range of thicknesses meaning it's a huge range to consider. I have a 220gsm merino base layer, 160 gsm fleece and 650/73g down jacket (also have a much heavier 600/205g one too), and an external 3L jacket. Is this typical or are there layers I should have thicker/thinner?
Also not sure what the standard is with pants, typically I have just used snow boarding pants on snow hikes but keen to hear thoughts. The snowboarding pants aren't great to walk in and are pretty heavy. I have 220 weight merino base layer pants and need to buy some proper water proof pants. I have a packable rain pant but not sure that's going to cut it.