Stranded at night
in the snow:
what would you do?
How building a snow shelter might save your life!
BY ALLEN MACARTNEY
Here’s the scenario:
Ahead, the hint of a big spruce with
boughs hanging low and deep in snow. I
>>
A GREAT DAY OF SNOWSHOEING solo along a really remote trail around Calgary.
snowshoed quickly towards a giant tree
As the late afternoon sun slid towards the horizon, I revelled in the silence pressing that shifted from hint to solid reality, and
in on all sides. pausing briefly on the trail, I drew a deep breath of cool air into my lungs. Life the apprehension in my stomach
is meant for moments like this. evaporated. I knew you can dig under the
Half an hour later, I turned off the barely visible trail to take a shortcut in the general snow-covered boughs and form a snug
direction of my car. At the same time, snow started falling, the merest hint at first, then
shelter. Snow is an excellent insulator and
more quickly, then thicker and thicker. Within minutes, all trace of the trail behind me had
pit shelters like this could protect a traveller
disappeared. Visibility dropped to several metres as large trees turned into ghostly grey
for days. Unfortunately, the tree stood on a
shapes. Giant snowflakes swallowed up the sun’s last rays. If only I had brought my compass,
slight hill and the snow was less than a
I thought, toying with the idea of going on. But only a fool presses on blindly through a
metre deep; not nearly enough.
snowstorm at night.
Casting around, trying to find a similar
For a second, panic nudged the nervous hollow in my stomach. “Stop!” I yelled aloud.
tree overhanging a ditch, I spied a deep
“You can live out here for weeks. You’ve got all you need in your pack. Just settle your
snowdrift that had blown over a gully.
breathing, and start thinking.”
Slogging down to the gully’s base, I pushed
my walking pole through a firm crust and
Most outdoor survival can be reduced to five words: attitude, shelter, water, fire, food.
deep into the snowdrift. The pole
With know-how and emotional calm (attitude), as well as shelter, water, fire and food, a
disappeared without hitting ground. perfect.
person can survive almost any wilderness challenge. My day pack – a constant companion
A snow cave is an even better shelter than
in the woods, summer or winter – had a survival kit, with matches, fire-starters, stubby
a giant spruce, and almost as easy to
candles, high-protein granola bars, sardines, nuts, a plastic garbage bag and first aid kit.
make.
I scanned the area looking for some form of immediate, at-hand shelter, like a blown-over
Starting low to the ground, I dug a small
tree with a hollow underneath. A cabin would have been a beautiful thing to see, but only
hole with my snowshoe about one metre
shapeless grey monotones hemmed me in.
long directly into the bank, then turned
42 CALGARY >> WINTER 2008/2009 www.CalgaryOutdoors.ca
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