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
upward at about a 30-degree angle. Within night. Now and then my head brushed the
carbon monoxide building up.
half an hour I had dug out an elevated ceiling, and snow sifted down my already
hollow area in the snow bank long enough cold neck and back. With a winter sleeping
A firm snow bank with a thin crust
to lie flat and high enough to sit up. The bag, this would have been a fun adventure.
is best for a shelter; loose snow
arched roof (about 45 centimetres thick) (Who needs Club Med in these Alberta
can collapse.
provided good support. With my walking parks)? But the snowbank provided life-
pole, I made ventilation holes – a real must saving shelter from the blizzard outside. My
Why those sardines in the survival
to provide fresh air. day pack lodged in the doorway below my
pack? Because nobody raids
I broke off branches from the nearby sleeping platform kept out cold gusts and sardines for a snack. When peril
spruce as a base for my bed. (For nothing drifting snow.
threatens, they’ll still be safe in your
short of stark survival itself should outdoors Survival isn’t rocket science or brain
pack – guaranteed!
enthusiasts ever damage a living tree – surgery, just preparation and forethought.
especially to start a fire.) I put the plastic Anyone can practise building a snow shelter
If the floor of the shelter is on solid
garbage bag from my pack over the boughs, in the back yard after a heavy snowfall. If
ground, heat dislodged stones in
creating an insulating mattress. need be, pile snow with a shovel into a tall
your fire. After they are really hot,
Then I lit two candles from my pack. cone with an three-metre-wide base, then
set them on thick branches inside
A single candle will raise the inside burrow into it.
your shelter. They’ll provide heat for
up to several hours – central heat!
temperature of a snow cave to 4 C and Not only will you learn how to build a
provide encouraging light. After holding the shelter for your next (deliberate) winter
When hollowing out your snow cave,
can of sardines over the flame for several camping adventure, but it might even save
try to avoid getting your pants and
minutes, I enjoyed a warm snack – not your life someday.
«CO
legs wet. Take off and set aside some
much, but still something. The sardine oil ~ Allen Macartney is an avid camper and outdoor enthusiast
clothing, if possible, so you’ll have
and fat would fuel my internal furnace in
with years of experience and is a regular writer of these
outdoors magazines.
something warm and dry to wear
the cold hours ahead.
*This story is a fictionalized account of how someone could
all night.
OK, so it wasn’t an absolutely comfortable
build an outdoor snow shelter during a survival situation.
www.CalgaryOutdoors.ca CALGARY >> WINTER 2008/2009 43
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