- Destinations
What to Pack When Visiting Alaska in Winter
Imagine this. You book the trip of a lifetime to Fairbanks, Alaska to see the Northern Lights. You find flights, and a cute Airbnb, and begin booking tours like dog sledding and seeing the ice museum. Everything is falling into place, and then you look up the weather forecast….-40 Degrees. You panic a little, try to reason, and then stare blankly at your closet trying to identify every warm article of clothing that you have available. Or at least that’s what I experienced. Well, I got it all together to figure out a packing list when visiting Alaska in Winter.
This article has everything I brought on my four-day Northern Lights Trip to Alaska as well as some helpful information about renting winter gear as well. Some of my clothes are no longer in production or have since been updated, so I am linking to the closest match if that is the case!
So, let’s get to my packing list for visiting Alaska in Winter!
Just a heads up! This post contains affiliate links which means I could earn a small commission at no cost to you. Thanks for your support!
Everything I Packed for Four Days in Fairbanks, Alaska to See the Northern Lights
If you’re traveling to Alaska in Winter, chances are you’re trying to find the warmest gear possible. But an important thing to note is that it is also about having the proper layers.
Winter layering includes:
- Base Layer: A wool base layer will wick away sweat to keep your body dry and warm.
- Mid-Layer: Your mid-layer should be your insulating layer. In Alaska, you will wear multiple mid-layers.
- Outer Layer: The outer layer is your first defense against the weather. It should be rain-proof and water-proof. It does not need to be insulating.
In this guide, I will share some things to consider when creating your own packing list for Alaska in Winter, a list of clothing items grouped by purpose, and some gear. If you don’t own all of your own gear, which can get expensive, there are some options for renting winter gear in Alaska that I will share as well!
Visiting Alaska in Winter Quick Links
Flights: Find your affordable flight to Alaska here!
Hotels: Check out deals on Hotels in Fairbanks, AK!
Car Rental: Book your rental car here
Travel Insurance: Purchase travel insurance for peace of mind!
Everything I Brought: Here is the link for my gear closet!
Packing Considerations
When packing for your trip to Alaska in winter, there are a couple of things to consider when gathering your clothes: current temperature, weather, and planned Activities. While you will want your warmest clothes, knowing what you’ll be doing and the expected weather conditions will be helpful.
Average Temperature in Winter
The temperate in Fairbanks, Alaska which is a popular destination for seeing the Aurora Borealis, has an average temperature range in the winter months from the positive single digits during the day and the negative single digits at night. To view the current conditions, click here.
The temperature during the day is going to help you determine which layers you’re going to need for insulating purposes.
Average Weather in Winter
Checking the weather will help determine which outer layers you will need. When I visited the average temperature during the day was -20 degrees and at night it was -40 degrees before the wind chill. There was no precipitation which was nice!
With Fairbanks averaging about a foot of snow each winter month, a shell or wind/waterproof outer layer will keep your clothes and you from getting wet.
Winter Activities
The activities you choose to do, will largely determine what layers you’ll want to bring. Do you need to be in layers that allow for a lot of movement like cross-country skiing? Or do you just need warm enough layers to stay out into the late evening for aurora lights viewing?
When you put on all of your layers, make sure there is some air circulation between your shell and your body. This will help keep you significantly warmer. It is also why your feet will get cold if there isn’t enough space in your boots.
Clothes
When I said that I packed just about all of the warm clothes I had, I was not joking. I brought my warmest base layers, mid-layers, and outer layers when I created my packing list for Alaska in Winter. For each of the items I packed, I described them below and included them in the printable packing list below.
Base Layers
Base layers are one of the most important articles of clothing that you can wear in the winter. If you do not have a good base layer, I cannot stress enough how important they are for keeping you warm and dry.
The base layer will wick sweat, because, yes, even in negative-degree temperatures you will sweat. Sweating in this cold weather is extremely dangerous because it can bring your body’s temperature down to extremely cold temperatures. What you want is a layer that will keep you warm and pull that moisture away from your body.
Merino Wool is one of the best materials for this task.
The Smartwool Classic Thermal Merino Base Layer Bottoms are one of the best Merino wool base layers on the market. They’re thick, warm and comfortable. Great for winter backpacking or car camping in extremely cold temperatures.
Just like the Smartwool bottoms, the base layer top is a solid favorite. I own the base layer top in two colors. They’re excellent for every winter occasion.
The REI Base Layer Bottoms were intended as a backup just in case my Smartwool and Stio tights weren’t enough, but I ended up using them under jeans for a “cute outfit” during the day.
Again, brought as a backup, I wore it on our site-seeing day around town under a sweater.
The STIO wool tights are perfect for activity. They fit snuggly and feel thin, but are really warm.
Mid-Layers
Mid-Layers act as the insulating layer for your winter clothing. If you need help with winter layering for hiking, check out this blog post.
With the singular purpose of insulating you, there are so many options for the Mid Layer from a pullover fleece, down jacket, or synthetic puffy. With puffy jackets, down or synthetic, it is important that the fill does not become compressed during the layering process. It is the air between the fill to help with insulating.
My new favorite winter clothing item is these Stoic Puffer Joggers. They’re perfect over your wool base layers and under your shell pants or just around camp on a chilly evening.
The Patagonia Better Sweater Fleece Jacket is my favorite mid-layer for hiking. Be warned…it is extremely warm. You might think a fleece zip up isn’t super warm, you’d be mistaken with this one.
This mid-layer is very light. I wore it on the days we were really active. It still did a good job of keeping me warm, but it was not warm enough when I stopped moving.
This casual fleece pullover by Stio is spectacular. It is so warm and cozy. It layers well over a wool base layer and is thin enough to also be layered underneath a jacket.
This puffy jacket was used as both an insulating layer and an outer layer. The downfill is “certified dry fill” meaning it is resistant to moisture. It also is a little more styled so it was a great addition to my “casual around town” outfit.
Outer Layers
Outer Layers should protect you from the weather. They should protect against wind chill and damp conditions, either rain or snow.
I brought these rain pants as a backup outer layer. I love the gortex in them and have worn them hiking in rain and snow.
While I did not ski when visiting Alaska in winter, my bibs were the perfect piece of outerwear for the trip. They help protect me from the chill and fit perfectly over my wool base layer and puffy joggers.
Just like the bibs, I wanted a shell that would be large enough to wear over all of my base and mid-layers. My shell was large enough to not compress my down jacket and had enough pockets for hand warmers, gloves, an extra hat, etc.
This is the parka that I brought. It is the warmest coat I own. You’ll definitely want a jacket that covers your butt.
Shoes
Shoes might be the toughest item to pack of a winter trip to Alaska. There are very few shoe options that were built for the extreme cold. These are the shoes that I brought, but you can also rent boots from Alaska Element that were built to keep your feet warm in these conditions. I’ll talk about this rental place in a different section.
I have the Thermal Blundstones which have a sheep skin layer in them. However, it was pretty worn down and I paired them with my coziest socks.
These are my favorite slippers. They were great for walking around the Airbnb and stepping outside quickly to see the northern lights from the backyard of our Airbnb.
I am an Oboz Bridger die-hard. I purchased the insulated version of my favorite boots in 2023 for snowshoeing.
Extras
Here are the extra clothing items I packed for my four-day trip to Alaska.
- Swimsuit (Loudre & Left on Friday)
I booked a single-night stay at the Chemus River Hot Springs Hotel. I brought two suits just in case. No one wants to put on a wet swimsuit.
These gloves were perfect under the Ctr Max Gloves. They’re soft and warm and gave me enough extra warmth!
These were the casual gloves I wore around town and when I needed to use my hands for taking photos or drinking my beverage in the Ice Museum.
The perfect warm glove for the trip! They go up pretty high on your hand so you don’t have to worry about snow getting in them.
- Sherpa Hood
This Sherpa hood was so cozy. It was great at night to look at the elusive northern lights.
A cozy and casual beanie.
Favorite beanie.
This neck gaiter is great for keeping my nose warm! I wore it under my Sherpa hood and felt it was an excellent addition to my Alaska packing list.
While I will forever be a Darn Tough Sock gal, these mountaineer socks from Smartwool are the warmest. They’re thick and keep my toes from falling off.
Do NOT forget sunglasses. I know it is winter by when the sun hits the snow, it is almost impossible to see without them.
Just my go-to comfort bra for underneath all this gear!
Gear
Here are a couple of gear items that I found really helpful with my trip to Alaska in winter. I packed these items in consideration of the activities I would be doing on my winter trip to Alaska. You’re packing list for Alaska will likely differ!
Since we were doing some short snowy treks to photograph the aurora Borealis, I brought traction devices to keep from slipping on ice.
- Camera Gear
I brought all of my camera gear with me. You will want to bring extra batteries and charge them every night because the cold will drain your battery.
I bought the hand and foot warmers and used all of them on the trip.
The towel came in handy for our hot springs activity. The hot springs did have towels available too!
My go-to travel case for my toiletries. 10/10 cannot recommend it enough.
I used the Backcountry Duffle for all of my gear and brought it on as a carry-on. Was a little large, but the flight attendants let me bring it anyway!
Packing List for Visiting Alaska in Winter
Here is the complete packing list of what you will need for a four-day trip to Alaska in winter. The numbers next to the item indicate how many of each item I brought. Use this packing list for Alaska in winter to create your own!
Adjust your packing list based on what you will be doing on your trip to Alaska in winter.
Renting Gear
The packing list for visiting Alaska in winter has some specialized gear that not everyone owns. While my trip to Alaska was relatively cheap, check out how much my trip cost here, it would have been really expensive if I didn’t already own the gear.
If you do not have the gear and don’t have a use for the gear outside of this trip, I recommend renting your winter gear when you get to your destination. People in my group rented their boots, parks, and gloves from Alaska Element.
Alaska Element
With Alaska Element you can reserve the gear you need for your specific trip! Here is how you do it:
- Pick the dates of your trip
- Identify the gear you’ll need
- Choose how you want to receive and return your gear: pick up or hotel delivery(which is so cool)
You can rent anything from a full gear package which includes boots, parkas, and gloves. Or you can pick and choose exactly what you want.
They also sell hand warmers, neck gaiters, and socks!
Since we stayed at a rental property for our trip, we opted to pick up the gear in North Pole since the premium delivery fee was $75.
You can check out renting your own gear here.
Pack It Up
Now that you know what to pack for visiting Alaska in winter, I hope you have some peace of mind surrounding the frigid temperatures that you will experience! A winter trip to Alaska is a bucket list experience and you’re bound to have a wonderful time.
Remember that you should make use of the layer system. The base layer is for wicking sweat, the mid-layer is for insulating, and the outer layer is for protecting.
You can shop all of the gear I brought on this trip below in my RockPorch Locker!
Enjoy your Alaska Adventure!
Meet the Author -
Sarah Borgen
I am an Educator and outdoor Enthusiast based out of Seattle and writer of Exploren Borgen! My adventures consist of weekends spent in the woods, on a hike, car camping, and taking a deep breath of fresh air. When not on an adventure, you can find me in a classroom teaching high school science! I love having a job that allows me to the opportunity to discuss things like conservation, sustainability, and accessibility.
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Meet the author
Sarah Borgen, AKA your outdoor bestie
I’m an outdoorsy educator and adventure advocate, which is why I’m passionate about creating resources – like blogs, guides, and interactive maps – to simplify your travels. I’m eager to share some of Washington’s greatest destinations and hidden gems with you.
