Snow Caves And Other Shelters

Image Gallery You can build a snow cave even in shallow cover. Here, a winter backpacking group has made artificial drifts by pushing the snow down a slope to form deep mounds.

Issue # 078 - November/December 1982

by Ernest Wilkinson

During the winter in the northern Rockies, one can sometimes see a ptarmigan making its home for the night: In full flight, the plump white bird will suddenly dive into a soft drift, hunker down in the resulting depression, and let blowing flakes settle on its feathers to form a protective blanket.

Snow, you see, is one of nature's most practical insulators. The falling flakes, each of which may contain more than a thousand loosely clustered ice crystals, can pile up into a fluffy mass (composed of as much as 90% air) that is virtually—in form and effect—the frozen equivalent of goose down.

Many of nature's creatures, in fact, use the heat-retaining qualities of snow for protection from winter's cold. But we humans, in all of our "wisdom", generally cling to our dependence upon technology . . . even in situations such as winter mountaineering trips, where—for shelter—we most likely sit huddled within the frigid confines of thin ripstop nylon walls. Worse yet, some individuals have actually perished needlessly from "exposure" to snow and cold, when a little knowledge of the resources at hand—and an ability to use those materials—could have saved their lives.

That's why, after many years of laboring as a trapper and guide—and after doing considerable search and rescue work here in the mountains of Colorado—I made a special effort to work out effective methods for building snow shelters. It's also why, when I now lead a group on a winter survival crosscountry tour, I don't allow my students to bring tents. Instead, I teach them to use their wits, and the crunchy substance beneath their feet, to make overnight homes.

SELECTING A SITE

An ideal spot for a snow cave would be a firm bank or drift that's six feet or more deep. But not everyone who needs winter shelter, of course, will find a place where the precipitation is that substantial . . . and even those who do will sometimes discover—early in the season, especially—that the piled crystals are too loose and powdery to make good caving material.

Fortunately, one of the characteristics of snow is that it tends to compact itself (and harden) once it's been disturbed. So when the cover is too shallow to accommodate a cave, you can build yourself an "artificial" drift in which to burrow: Find a hill that's 10 to 20 feet high and covered with 24 inches or more of snow, and then—with a shovel, your feet, or whatever—push the white matter down the incline to form a large pile at the bottom. With that done, wait 10 to 20 minutes to let the material "set", and then proceed to dig your cave.