Stranded at night
in the snow:
what would you do?
How building a snow shelter might save your life!
ALLEn MACARTnEy
here’s the scenario:
evaporated. I knew you can dig under the snow-
covered boughs and form a snug shelter. Snow
>>
A great day of snowshoeing solo along a really remote trail in Gatineau Park. As the late is an excellent insulator and pit shelters like this
afternoon sun slid towards the horizon, I revelled in the silence pressing in on all sides. Pausing could protect a traveller for days. Unfortunately,
briefly on the trail, I drew a deep breath of cool air into my lungs. Life is meant for moments like this. the tree stood on a slight hill and the snow was
Half an hour later, I turned off the barely visible trail to take a shortcut in the general direction of my less than a metre deep; not nearly enough.
car. At the same time, snow started falling, the merest hint at first, then more quickly, then thicker and Casting around, trying to find a similar tree
thicker. Within minutes, all trace of the trail behind me had disappeared. Visibility dropped to several overhanging a ditch, I spied a deep snowdrift
metres as large trees turned into ghostly grey shapes. Giant snowflakes swallowed up the sun’s last that had blown over a gully. Slogging down to the
rays. If only I had brought my compass, I thought, toying with the idea of going on. But only a fool gully’s base, I pushed my walking pole through a
presses on blindly through a snowstorm at night. firm crust and deep into the snowdrift. The pole
For a second, panic nudged the nervous hollow in my stomach. “Stop!” I yelled aloud. “You can disappeared without hitting ground. Perfect. A
live out here for weeks. You’ve got all you need in your pack. Just settle your breathing, and snow cave is an even better shelter than a giant
start thinking.” spruce, and almost as easy to make.
Most outdoor survival can be reduced to five words: attitude, shelter, water, fire, food. With know- Starting low to the ground, I dug a small hole
how and emotional calm (attitude), as well as shelter, water, fire and food, a person can survive with my snowshoe about one metre long directly
almost any wilderness challenge. My day pack – a constant companion in the woods, summer or into the bank, then turned upward at about a
winter – had a survival kit, with matches, fire-starters, stubby candles, high-protein granola bars, 30-degree angle. Within half an hour I had dug
sardines, nuts, a plastic garbage bag and first aid kit. out an elevated hollow area in the snow bank
I scanned the area looking for some form of immediate, at-hand shelter, like a blown-over tree long enough to lie flat and high enough to sit up.
with a hollow underneath. A cabin would have been a beautiful thing to see, but only shapeless grey The arched roof (about 45 centimetres thick)
monotones hemmed me in. provided good support. With my walking pole,
Ahead, the hint of a big spruce with boughs hanging low and deep in snow. I snowshoed I made ventilation holes – a real must to provide
quickly towards a giant tree that shifted from hint to solid reality, and the apprehension in my stomach fresh air.
24 OTTAWA >> WINTER 2007/2008
www.OttawaOutdoors.ca
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