Permafrost: Where to Find Skinwalker’s Trophy in Rise Above the Cold

Rise Above the Cold is a side quest in the House Camp chain of Permafrost that sends you into the freezing centre of the settlement to retrieve a trophy for Skinwalker. The item you need sits inside a locked red suitcase, but it is not where most players look first. It is above the ice and rooftops beside the Water Tower, not inside the tank or at the tower’s base.

Quick answer: Climb the ice ledges and metal roofs next to the Water Tower in the Cold Zone at the heart of House Camp, hold F on the red suitcase to open it with Skinwalker’s Key, take the trophy, then report back to Skinwalker at Hunter’s Glade.

What you need before you climb

Two things matter before you head in. The suitcase is locked, and it stays locked until you open it with Skinwalker’s Key. That key is consumed the moment the lock opens, so keep it in your inventory until then.

Skinwalker’s Key in your inventory. The suitcase is locked and the key is used up when it opens.
Enough body warmth to cross the Cold Zone and make the climb.
No tool for the climb itself. Reaching the platform is all jumping and walking.

In the journal, the quest heading reads “Pick Skinwalkers Trophy” with the description “Open the storage chest hidden by Skinwalker and take the trophy.” By the time you reach this part, two earlier steps are already ticked: travelling to the Cold Zone and taking the key from Skinwalker’s storage box.

Reaching the Water Tower in the Cold Zone

Head for the middle of House Camp. The frozen water tower rises above everything there, ringed by tall ice spires. The Church is roughly a minute’s run away, so starting from the Church fast travel point is a convenient launch spot.

As you close in, a COLD ZONE banner appears with a skull and snowflake icon and a “Feels like” temperature beneath it. A few seconds later the WATER TOWER area banner follows.

Entering the Cold Zone by the tower — Entering the Cold Zone at the foot of the Water Tower, where the climb begins. Shown at 71:26 in Royal Gaming’s video. Image: SpaceRocket Games

The tower yard is fenced with chain-link. One reliable way in is through the broken section of fence beside the orange excavator parked against it.

At the foot of the tower you get an ENTERING No Build Zone prompt. From here on you cannot place a campfire, so warm up outside this boundary first.

The climb to the suitcase

The trophy sits on a lookout perch built on the ice and roofs beside the tower, not inside the water tank. Work your way up in order.

From the ground beside the tower legs, jump up the snow-covered ice blocks and ledges.

Start of the ice climb — The first jumps up the iced ledges next to the tower legs. Shown at 72:19 in Royal Gaming’s video. Image: SpaceRocket Games

Follow the narrow ice ridge upward to its high point, then turn toward the corrugated metal roofs and jump the gap onto the ice blocks at their edge. Walk across the roofs.

Walk up the wooden ramp fixed to the ice pillar and step onto the platform at the top. You know it is the right spot by the snow-covered armchair, the pole with a deer skull and antlers behind it, and the red suitcase on the boards next to the chair.

A box at the base of the tower’s wooden framework holds a Mrozny 91 rifle and Cloth, so the base is worth one quick look on the way up.

Opening the suitcase and taking the trophy

Look at the red suitcase. The prompt reads “Suitcase” with a padlock icon and “Hold F Unlock”, with the COLD ZONE banner above it showing LOCKED underneath.

Hold F until the ring fills. A message reads “Skinwalker’s Key used to unlock” and the key is removed from your inventory.

The container panel opens with a single item inside, Skinwalker’s Trophy. Its description reads “Proof of reaching the top of the structure prepared by Skinwalker.” Take it with R. A “+1 Skinwalker’s Trophy” message appears and the tracker changes to “Report back to Skinwalker”.

Skinwalker's Trophy in the Suitcase — Skinwalker's Trophy is the only item in the unlocked suitcase. Shown at 72:44 in Royal Gaming’s video. Image: SpaceRocket Games

A Medical Supply Box stands on the same platform, holding a Bandage and Painkillers, so grab those before you leave.

Surviving the cold while you climb

The Cold Zone is the outer ring. Deeper in, a second banner can appear reading BONE-CHILLING COLD, with the warning “Extreme cold drains body warmth. Find shelter as soon as possible.” That effect sets Body Warmth Loss Rate to +35% and Body Warmth Gain Rate to -80%, with the only listed remedy being to leave the Cold Zone.

The “Feels like” number on the banner is not fixed. It can read as low as -46°C, with Bone-Chilling Cold following straight after, or as mild as -11°C, where the whole climb can be done with body warmth untouched. At the colder extreme, warmth drains fast at the tower base, so that is a visit to cut short: grab what is in reach and get out.

A practical staging point is a campfire lit just outside the No Build Zone, in the fenced yard with the playground swings next to the tower. Warm up there, run in, and return to it between attempts. Leaving the Cold Zone ends the effect reliably.

Reporting back to Skinwalker at Hunter’s Glade

Travel to Hunter’s Glade. Skinwalker stands on the top deck of the tall metal lookout tower there, beside a burning brazier. Climb the zigzag stairs to reach him.

The prompt reads “Skinwalker” with “Press F Talk”. In the first menu, pick Ready to claim my reward.

In the next menu, pick I’ve got your trophy from House Camp. The banner RISE ABOVE THE COLD, QUEST SUCCEEDED appears. The dialogue does not take the trophy from you, so it stays in your inventory afterwards.

On the same deck, open the box named “Quest reward” to collect what Skinwalker leaves you.

Quest reward box contents — The Quest reward box on Skinwalker's deck holds three Energy & Warming Dishes. Shown at 80:06 in Royal Gaming’s video. Image: SpaceRocket Games

Rewards from Rise Above the Cold

Opening the Quest reward box unlocks the Deer Antlers Trophy recipe and hands you Energy & Warming Dish x3.

You confirm the quest is done when the QUEST SUCCEEDED banner shows and the Deer Antlers Trophy recipe appears as unlocked. If you want more work from Skinwalker, choosing “I’m up for another challenge!” opens his hunting quests, including Hour of the Wolf, Oh, Deer, Nothing Left to Moose and What Does the Fox Say.