Winters in the Natal Drakensberg are generally mild with only short periods of snowfall, and most of the snow melts away quickly. Winter backpacking trips onto the escarpment are for more experienced hikers who are acquainted with cold conditions and have had time to accumulate the appropriate cold weather gear, including that required for hiking in snow. Avoid passes that become dangerous in ice conditions – very few South Africans own crampons or would know how to use them safely.

Veld fires

Of all the risks associated with backpacking in winter in the Natal Drakensberg, runaway veld fires present the greatest and most frequent danger. Please read these posts: Sehlabathebe Veld Fire 2007; Monk’s Cowl Veld Fire 2007.

By law, farmers and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife are required to burn firebreaks on the land under their ownership or jurisdiction. Also by law – at least in theory – the burning of firebreaks may only be carried out during the week, and not over public holidays. This assumes that the burning of a firebreak itself does not result in a runaway fire. Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife is required to display notices that burning is in progress at their entry points. If you hike during the week, please discuss your planned route with the staff at the entry point and adjust it if necessary.

Firebreaks are usually burned in two planned stages. The first stage involves burning trace lines or marking trace lines using chemicals. This starts in April, before the onset of winter. Its purpose is to demarcate the area to be burnt between the trace lines. These trace lines are the width of the planned firebreak apart. In the case of clear burning, where large areas are cleared of combustible material, this spacing may be quite large. Then, in May and June, teams return to burn the areas between the trace lines.

In the past, clear burning in the Ezemvelo KZN Wilderness areas was carried out quite scientifically, with different areas being burned each year.  However, the process of marking trace lines and then returning later to burn the firebreaks in between them is very labour intensive. It seems that Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife has, in recent years, tried to shortcut this process to stay within their limited budget. As a result, very large areas are now being burned repeatedly every year. Unless you are passing through one of these burnt areas, you remain very vulnerable to runaway veld fires, especially during the height of the windy season, which is usually August through November.

To reduce the risk of becoming the victim of a runaway veld fire, remember:

• Always carry a gas lighter in a zip-seal bag on your person. This needs to be easily at hand if you need to burn your way out of a veld fire. Matches are a waste of time in windy conditions. If the gas lighter fails, you can use a self-lighting camp stove as a fail-over.
• You cannot outrun a runaway veld fire. It does not need to stop for a rest, and you slow down uphill whereas it burns even faster. You will also be breathing in its smoke all the time.
• Veld fires can burn against a wind, although this is relatively slow compared with its speed in the direction of the wind. If you are upwind from the fire, beware of flare-ups when the wind drops.
• Beware of wind shifts. Generally, the harder a wind blows, the more consistent its direction will be.
• If a veld fire is hot enough, it will also consume green grass. Do not camp or attempt to shelter from a fire in green grass.
• If you must use a tent during the height of the fire season, camp in the middle of a large area that has already been burned.
• Smoke inhalation is a killer, so avoid it. Be prepared to cover your mouth and nose with a wet towel or cotton shirt so that you can make your way out of any smoke.
• Do not attempt to run through the flames – you cannot be sure how deep they are and you may also run into an obstacle. Synthetic clothing will melt on you and exposed skin could be badly burned. If you breath in the hot air you will damage your airway and lungs, which could result in death even if you make it through the flames.
• If confronted by a runaway veld fire, have a plan. Try to position yourself near a river or stream. As a last resort and only after careful consideration of the consequences, you should burn a clear area in which to stand and wait out the fire.

Hypothermia

Normal body temperature is 37 °C. Hypothermia is a medical emergency that arises when the body loses heat faster than it can generate it, leading to a gradual shutdown and eventually death. Hypothermia is therefore characterised by an abnormally low core body temperature, defined as being less than 35 °C. It is the opposite of hyperthermia.

Backpackers who are properly dressed and equipped for winter hiking in the Natal Drakensberg are unlikely to become hypothermic when they are encamped. This condition is far more likely to occur while on the move, especially when clothing becomes sodden with rain, melted snow or sweat, and a wind chill factor is involved. In extreme cold conditions, it is therefore advisable to remain in your tent or cave.

Hypothermia generally progresses in three stages:

• Mild hypothermia (35 °C to 32 °C): Recognised by shivering, and reduced circulation which results in numbness in the extremities such as hands, fingers, feet, toes, nose, ears and lips. For the hiker, this starts to present as difficulty in walking and talking. Resting pulse will be more rapid and stronger than normal. The victim may also experience dizziness, hunger and nausea. Judgement becomes impaired. 
• Moderate hypothermia (32 °C to 28 °C): A hiker will collapse at this stage. Resting pulse will be slower and weaker than normal, becoming irregular. Breathing will be slowed, and there will be lack of coordination, irritability, confusion and sleepy behaviour. Speech becomes slurred and shivering may cease. Pupils will be dilated. The victim may become combative and want to remove their clothing (paradoxical undressing).
• Severe hypothermia (less than 28 °C):  The victim may experience shortness of breath, coughing and chest pain due to the onset of pulmonary edema (fluid buildup in the lungs). Respiration and pulse become slow, weak or absent. Pupils become unresponsive. The victim becomes unconscious. Cardiac arrest follows.

Your body loses heat in five ways:

• Radiation – Most body heat is lost due to heat radiated from exposed skin, like the heat you feel standing next to an oven. 40-45% of body heat is lost this way through exposed head and neck due to increased blood flow in these regions compared with the rest of the body.
• Conduction – Body heat is transferred to anything colder than you when you come into contact with it. Water conducts heat away from your body 25 times faster than dry air. Heat loss is therefore much faster if your clothes are wet from rain or sweat, or if you fall into a river. Being in contact with snow or the cold ground drains heat away even faster.
• Convection – Even if were standing stationary in still air, warm air rising from your body would be replaced by cooler air from below, helping to cool you. Wind can remove body heat even faster by also carrying away the thin layer of warm air that would otherwise be trapped in your clothes if you were wearing something windproof over them.
• Evaporation – Body heat evaporates sweat, cooling the skin. This cooling effect is enhanced by wind, which constantly replaces the humid air above your skin with drier air. Water also evaporates from wet clothes, producing the same cooling effect as sweat. In a wind, if clothes are wet or you are sweating, evaporative cooling will lower your skin temperature to well below that of the air itself. This effect is called wind chill, and increases dramatically with increasing wind speed.
• Respiration – Body heat is also lost to the cold air that you breath in through conduction, convection and evaporation. The very cold, dry mountain air often encountered at high altitude can greatly increase this loss. Some alpine instructors insist that you breathe in through your nose, not your mouth, because this route allows more time for cold air to warm up before reaching your lungs, which form part of your core.

Physical exhaustion and trauma increase one’s susceptibility to hypothermia, so pay particular attention to the least fit members of your hiking group or those who may have injured themselves. Hypothyroidism, diabetes and certain antidepressants and narcotic pain medications can also affect the body’s ability to regulate its temperature. Alcohol causes blood vessels to expand, resulting in more rapid heat loss from the surface of the skin, so it should be avoided in extreme cold.

The key to avoiding hypothermia is to stay warm and dry, so:

• Keep yourself well-covered. Wear a beanie, balaclava and/or Buff or scarf to prevent body heat from escaping from your head, face and neck. Cover your hands with mittens rather than gloves – mittens trap more warm air around your fingers, which can also be flexed more to improve blood circulation through them.
• Avoid overexertion to avoid sweating a lot. Rather proceed at a much slower pace without stopping than get all hot and bothered and then stop to rest. The combination of sweaty clothing and cold weather can cause you to lose body heat more quickly. Wear inner layers that wick sweat away from your body.
• Wear loose-fitting, lightweight layers with good thermal insulation properties. Do not wear cotton garments – cotton is referred to as a “death fabric” because it can absorb many times its own weight in water. To avoid wind chill, wear a wind-resistant jacket as your top layer. Only wear a waterproof jacket if there is precipitation or heavy mist, because even “breathable” waterproof garments encourage sweating.
• Stay as dry as possible. Get out of wet clothing as soon as possible. You will lose more body heat because of wet clothing and wind chill than if you moved around scantily clad for a short while.
• Do not gulp down cold water or energy drinks, or eat snow. These go straight to your core, draining heat from it. If you over imbibe, you will start shivering almost instantly. Rather take many small sips over a long period of time, so that each fluid intake has time to warm to your core temperature. In camp, if you want to finish a left-over energy drink, rather heat it up a little first using your camp stove.

If someone in your group starts to show signs of hypothermia, such as shivering, excessive stumbling and having difficulty talking:

• Assess the situation and try to determine the cause. They may be physically exhausted or wet from the rain, mist and/or sweat.
• Get them to change into dry clothing, particularly their top. If they are fumbling because of numb fingers or are uncoordinated or confused, they may need help getting dry clothing out of their backpack and changing into it. It may be quicker and easier to lend the person some dry clothing instead of trying to find their own. If it is raining and there is no shelter around, two other hikers can hold a groundsheet open over them while they change. If there are enough hikers, they can even form a wall around the person to provide more shelter and privacy, facing outwards of course! 
• If it is possible to find temporary shelter, someone can be tasked with making some coffee or tea for the hypothermic person. There is no point in doing this in exposed conditions because someone else might start becoming hypothermic.
• A marginally hypothermic person could worsen on reaching camp because they are no longer active. Help them to pitch their tent and get them into a warm, dry sleeping bag in fresh, dry clothing as soon as possible. Give them something warm to drink and monitor their recovery. Do not leave them unattended – if they worsen overnight they may not wake up in the morning.
• If someone takes an accidental plunge into a river in winter fully clothed, they should remove all their clothing immediately and change into dry clothes and/or climb into a dry sleeping bag if it is not raining or shelter is available.
• If someone is moderately to severely hypothermic, it may be necessary for warm hikers to make body contact with them by huddling around them under some dry sleeping bags set out in a cave or tent. Everyone should be wearing as little as possible to achieve the best heat transfer. Thick clothing will insulate them from the victim and achieve nothing.
• Severe hypothermia is life-threatening and will require a speedy evacuation by helicopter. Specialised equipment and treatments are usually employed to slowly bring the victim’s core body temperature back to normal.

Getting snowed in

It does happen from time to time in the Natal Drakensberg that hikers get marooned by an unusually deep snowfall and/or icing conditions. This might prevent them from proceeding further or exiting their overnight accommodation. Over the years, several groups have been trapped in Roland’s Cave, for example.

Backpacking through deep snow without snow shoes or cross-country skis is incredibly difficult. As a rough guide, you can count on an additional 10% effort per 10 centimetres depth of snow. This means that in waist-deep snow of about 1 metre depth, you will have to expend double the amount of energy that you would over clear ground. This is physically exhausting for those breaking the path and could easily lead to hypothermia, especially if the weather remains poor. It helps to have two or three of the tallest and fittest team members take the point in short sessions of less than 5 minutes at a time, while the others immediately behind break down the snow walls between his/her footsteps so that the remainder of the team can walk on clear ground.

To avoid this situation, check the weather forecast carefully and try to assess the likelihood of deep snow. If it is forecast, rather postpone your hike. While the forecasts are generally very accurate for winter snow, the depth of snow predicted is far less so. The forecasts seldom predict summer snow though. One New Year’s Day, a group of hikers was marooned at the top of the Amphitheatre by waist-deep snow.

Frostbite

According to this chart, the onset of frostbite occurs around -28 °C, so it is very unlikely in the Natal Drakensberg. If it does occur it is going to most likely be caused by ignorance or negligence.  You will experience a related pain when you wash dishes in icy water, but this goes away once your fingers are warm again. The biggest problem at high altitude in winter is chapping of your lips, as well as the cracking and bleeding of your knuckles. Be warned that gloves made of wicking fibres such as polypropylene and bamboo exacerbate the latter problem. Remember to include lip balm and skin moisturiser (e.g. Ingram’s Camphor Cream) in your winter hiking kit, and use lots of it. Vaseline or Vicks VapoRub also work well but are very messy.

Snow blindness

Snow blindness is something you need to be aware of.  It is caused by ultraviolet radiation from the sun reflecting off the snow into your eyes and is akin to arc-eye caused by welding. Conditions for snow blindness are common in the Natal Drakensberg, because after a day or so of snowfall, the weather usually clears to a bright blue sky.

Snow blindness is a very painful condition which feels like grit in your eyes, but damage to the corneas eventually causes temporary blindness as well. It is easily avoided by wearing polarising sunglasses. If you don’t have any with you, pull your cap down low over your brow, pull a scarf or Buff up just below your eyes, keep your head low, and squint.

Ice falls

Every year in winter, people living in cold climates around the world are killed by icicles falling from roof tops. During winter in the Natal Drakensberg, water trickling over rocks freezes and then starts to form icicles. These are usually not a problem – unless you are climbing or descending a pass with a narrow gully. Even on a wide pass, you can hear ice cracking and falling on a warm winter day. The danger is that if you don’t get hit by the falling ice itself, it may dislodge rocks which can do even more harm. Be careful and very alert if you find yourself in this situation, or better still, avoid narrow gullies that are iced up in winter.

Avalanches

The conditions that favour the formation of deadly avalanches are not common in the Natal Drakensberg. The snow is seldom deep enough and the slopes are seldom long enough. The snow usually melts before the next snowfall so there is seldom more than one snow layer. Most slopes are covered in very tufty grass which tends to anchor the single, thin layer of snow on top of it.

However, the melting and re-freezing of the surface of deeper snow is common, especially on slopes that get very little winter sun. Quite often, the hard ice surface that results can be thick enough for a light backpacker to walk on, much to the frustration of the heavier people in the group who break through it at every step. Should this hardened layer break loose, a “slab avalanche” might possibly occur. It makes sense, then, that it is not a good idea to provoke this slippage by cutting a path horizontally through an ice layer near the base of a slope. If even a small portion of the ice layer does break loose, it could sweep you over a cliff. Rather traverse on the ridge above the ice layer if you can, or make use of terraces and exposed rock ledges.