My suggestion is to find someone with some snow experience to go with you. Understanding all the things that can get you dead or maimed is especially helpful - little things like avalanche hazzards, hypothermia and frostbite come to mind very quickly.
Cold weather driving also places different stresses on your vehicle then normal. I'm sure other folks can relate things that have quit, frozen, broken or otherwise left them stranded when playing out in the snow.
I can make these comments with a little authority as I do Search and Rescue locally, and we do a fair number of snow rescues every year of folks who whent wheeling and did not make it back under their own power. And yes, thats people we carried out, not broken trucks. We do winch out a fair number of stucks as well.
Things to do if you are going:
Leave an EXACT area you plan to be in AND GO THERE! We get a number of calls for people who are 'sposed to be in area "A" and are found in area "B" 50 miles away because they decided conditions were too rough and decided to go elsewhere - without telling anyone. Rest assured we will find you in these cases. It may be to remove your remains the following spring but by gosh we will get you back to your family sooner or later! If you do have to change areas, go to a phone or cell phone covered area and tell someone where you are going to be.
If you have a CB or Ham gear let the person know what frequency you will be monitoring. We will try calling on CB9 and 146.52 if we know you have the gear.
TAKE A GPS AND MAP. I have been on 2 searches that we had cell phone contact with the person we were searching for and they had NO IDEA where they were. If you have a GPS, we may not get called in the first place - you won't be lost. However, if you break or get stuck it sure is nice for someone to give us a coordinate or road number where to come help them at instead of giving us a half day of driving in crappy weather risking our own health and trucks...
You WILL get stuck in the snow. People with 10 inch lifts with 44's will find deeper snow to get stuck in then us 4 inch 33 class folks, but they get stuck too. If you dont have a winch you will need a come-along (sic) and hi lift jack with straps and chains. You will need a shovel for each member of the party - 2 or 3 can dig a rig out faster then 1.
Folks have commented on appropriate clothing already. Make sure your sleeping gear is rated 10 degrees below the coldest temps you expect to encounter. I don't know anything more miserable then spending 8 hours shivering in a sleeping bag.
Food is VERY VERY VERY important. Most people don't realize it takes as many calories to maintain your body temperature at 25 degrees that it would take to run a marathon. If you get hungry you will feel cold - your body will have nothing handy to heat with and it takes more energy to burn the fat
Take enough food to last AT LEAST one day more then you plan to be out - that way you will be able to survive comfortably while waiting for help to arrive. If you break and can't get out by Sunday night most search agencies won't start to search till Monday morning. May as well have a good breakfast and read your owners manual while you are waiting then be cold and hungry...
If anyone in your group takes medications, make sure they take extra as well. You can imagine how stressful it would be to be lost, broke down and not have important medication with you. Especially if it's birth control
NO ALCHOHOL. Gad, that ought to make me popular... But other then making you stooooopid it is a vasodialter - in other words it makes you vessels relax and expand. Now thats a good thing if Paris Hilton is about to perform, uh, never mind that gave me a heluva hangover. What it does it turn your arms and legs into big radiators and dump alot of heat. THen you get sober and cold, or hypothermic and dead. Just leave it at home and get tanked when you get home to make up for lost time.
Lastly, and this applies to all of roading situations, if you are worried about the trail, road or camping location just don't do it. We pulled the surviving driver out of a rig rolled off a hill. He said he was worried about rolling it driving on the sidehill, but his buddy said go for it! They buried his buddy.
That said, have fun. Snow country is great - pretty views, quiet and serene... Till the big blocks come!
using the above and stayed pretty comfy.
