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We're pretty well set with equipment except I have some concerns about
maintaining warmth sleeping in a tent on packed snow. What are the best
alternatives for insulating sleeping pads that are light enough to carry
on skis ?

With a really warm bag the thin closed-cell foam pads are good enough.
However, with a more reasonable bag a Thermarest (or similar
inflatable foam-filled) makes a very noticeable difference. With one
of the thicker Thermarests the bag is what limits the temperature
range, not the pad.

That said, I have been out in some moderately cold weather (near -30 C
in a -35 C rated bag) with a thick closed-cell pad, to no ill effect.

The Thermarest + closed cell pad combo Gary proposes has the benefit
that if you get a hole in the Thermarest (a Thermarest with no air
doesn't isolate much) the other pad is adequate for emergency use.


Martin
--
"An ideal world is left as an exercise to the reader."
-Paul Graham, On Lisp