Aurora Suits
If you are visiting this page it's likely that you have booked a trip or tour to chase one of natures most beautiful, mezmerizing and elusive sights. Congratuation on your decision to see the northern lights. Aurora Suits was formed so you can rent one of the warmest cold weather suits available, the Mountain Hardwear Absolute Zero.
Why an Apline snow suite for aurora cahsing? Because "Chasing the Auroras" isn't as active as the name implies. The chasing part is done with an airplane ticket and a rental car, but the real work of seeing and photographing the Auroras is simple standing in one place for several hours after dark as the temperature plumets. If you were hiking, climbing, or even walking you'd probably be OK with the cold weather outfits that other companies rent as long as the temperature didn't drop below 25°. However, there's a good chance that you will just be standing, looking, waiting, and watching and that can result in getting very cold in short order. You will be surprized how cold 30° is when you are just standing without activity. At 30° with a light breeze it can take less than an hour to get cold. When temperatures drop below 25° the time it takes to chill can be less than 30 minutes, when the temperature dips negative it can be as short as a few minutes to get cold, especially if there is a light breeze or wind and even the most beautiful Aurora show can easily being ruined when you are cold.
The big advantage of the "snow suit" over regular cold weather rental gear is the construction. Alpine snow suits are designed and built for use in the harsest cold weather environments in the world where temperature reach a high of -36° F in the "heat" of the day and drop to -76° F at night. Temperature you will not, or should not encounter when chasing. The suits are also designed with alpine climbing in mind and that makes them extremely flexible which makes them a pleasure to wear for extended hours.
The other huge advantage of the snow suit is to minimize the "Gaps" other outdoor gear has, most outfitters will rent you an overpant and a warm jacket to wear and one of the big problems with these is that everytime you move, walk, or bend you are forcing warm air out of the cuffs, neck, and especially around the waist where the coat overlaps the pants. These gaps "puff" out warm air with every movement. The snow suit minimized these gaps to the neck, ankles, and wrist reducing your self inflicted heat loss by 50% or more, and if you don't loose heat you stay warmer.
In 2016 I started chasing auroras with a buddy and now we have been on over 14 trips, mostly to Alaska. The first couple trips I took high quality, but standard cold weather gear, including heavy socks, snow boots, long johns, warm wool pants, down vest, down gloves, and a very thick heavy down jacket with hood, and I still couldn't stay warm. The next year I added electrics to my cold weather gear, electric long johns and an electric vest, the heated vest and pants helped, but it was still no match for cold. Finally, in 2020, I purchased a Mountain Hardwear Absolute Zero Alpine suit and I've stayed warm ever since, even in temperatures as low as -22°. In 2021 I started Aurora-Suits.com so other people venturing to a cold area could safely and warmly enjoy the Auroras.