JAK - (welcome back, by the way - haven't seen you post for a while!)

Have you ever read The Worst Journey in the World, by Apsley Cherry-Garrard? It's an account of his experiences with the Scott expedition in the Antarctic. He and a couple other guys took a side trip on skis for weeks in winter, sleeping in bags of caribou fur (if I am remembering correctly) that got heavier and stiffer with frozen condensation each night (temps got down to -77F). Every time I am cold in the mild SF bay area, I think about that book.