Snow cave
cautions
Work slowly when building a snow cave.
Fast work makes you sweat, and sweat
converts to chills later.
Make several air holes in the roof (four
to five centimetres in diameter), and
check them hourly so they don’t fill in
with blowing snow.
Don’t let candles burn all night; they
might deplete internal oxygen.
no stove in a snow cave. Cook outside
to prevent smoke and deadly carbon
monoxide building up.
I broke off branches from the nearby spruce Survival isn’t rocket science or brain surgery,
as a base for my bed. (For nothing short of stark just preparation and forethought. Anyone can A firm snow bank with a thin crust is best
survival itself should outdoors enthusiasts ever practise building a snow shelter in the back yard for a shelter; loose snow can collapse.
damage a living tree – especially to start a fire.) after a heavy snowfall. If need be, pile snow with
I put the plastic garbage bag from my pack over a shovel into a tall cone with an three-metre- Why those sardines in the survival pack?
the boughs, creating an insulating mattress. wide base, then burrow into it. because nobody raids sardines for a
Then I lit two candles from my pack. A single Not only will you learn how to build a shelter snack. When peril threatens, they’ll still
candle will raise the inside temperature of a for your next (deliberate) winter camping adven- be safe in your pack – guaranteed!
snow cave to 4 C and provide encouraging light. ture, but it might even save your life someday.
After holding the can of sardines over the flame If the floor of the shelter is on solid
for several minutes, I enjoyed a warm snack – *This story is a fictionalized account of how some- ground, heat dislodged stones in your
not much, but still something. The sardine oil one could build an outdoor snow shelter during fire. After they are really hot, set them on
and fat would fuel my internal furnace in the cold a survival situation. thick branches inside your shelter. They’ll
hours ahead. provide heat for up to several hours –
OK, so it wasn’t an absolutely comfortable Allen Macartney is OOM’s managing editor. He’s an central heat!
night. Now and then my head brushed the avid camper (summer and winter), and is planning
ceiling, and snow sifted down my already cold a solo 2,000-kilometre Arctic canoe trip. When hollowing out your snow cave, try
neck and back. With a winter sleeping bag, this to avoid getting your pants and legs wet.
would have been a fun adventure. (Who needs Take off and set aside some clothing, if
Club Med in Gatineau Park?) But the snowbank possible, so you’ll have something warm
provided life-saving shelter from the blizzard and dry to wear all night.
outside. My day pack lodged in the doorway
below my sleeping platform kept out cold gusts
and drifting snow.
www.OttawaOutdoors.ca OTTAWA >> WINTER 2007/2008 25
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