Build history, build shelter
Build a winter camping
snow trench
BY ALLEN MACARTNEY
SHELTER
Snow shelter tips
IT Can Be a problem for
» Sleep with your head near the T-junction
winter snowshoers or skiers
of the trenches to ensure you have lots
looking for a warm place to of ventilation.
roll out their sleeping bags. » Digging a snow shelter can be hot work,
Finding shelter is easier than
causing you to perspire. This can be
you might think – even in the
dangerous as sweat can freeze when the
depths of an isolated forest.
temperature drops. Pace yourself when
working and shed clothes before you build
a snow trench is one of the
up a sweat.
simplest and fastest shelters
» A candle lantern will provide not only light,
to build. native hunters have
but also a surprising amount of heat inside
used them for hundreds
your shelter.
of years for short stays.
» Don’t dig your snow trench under a fir tree
although a snow trench is
with snow-laden branches. If a wind blows
very cramped and not very during the night, moving the branches, the
comfortable for more than
snow might end up on your roof, causing a
one night, it is ideal for an
loud WHOMPH sound.
overnight solo camping
» A good, thick sleeping mat like Ensolite
adventure.
or Therm-a-Rest is essential for
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winter camping.
To build one, all you need
is a shovel, or snowshoe
wielded like a shovel, dead
branches or ski poles, and
two small tarpaulins or
ground sheets. illustration). never break off live branches
from a tree to make a shelter or campfire.
CONSTRUCTION DETAILS
Cover the frame with your tarpaulin.
Find an area of deep snow like a snowdrift Pile at least 15 cm of snow over the
or a place where the snow is at least edges of the tarpaulin and over the
45 cm deep. using a snowshoe or shovel, entire frame. But be careful not to pile
dig a narrow trench approximately too much snow on the frame. If it rains
2.5 metres long and one metre wide. during the night, a weak structure
This is the trench in which you’ll could collapse.
be sleeping. Place a second ground sheet or tarpaulin
Pile the snow from the trench carefully on the bottom of the covered trench, then
PETERBOROUGH, ONTARIO
on both sides. Then dig a second trench lay your mattress on it, followed by your
Instructions•Plans•Materials
approximately two metres long across sleeping bag. make sure your second
Canoe,Kayak & Small Boat Kits
one end, forming a T. This second tarpaulin or ground sheet stays between
Classes withTed Moores •Plywood Kayak Kits
trench will give you ready access to your your sleeping bag and the snow to keep the
Wooden Boat Restoration •Custom Building
shelter, and provide a cooking area out bag from getting wet.
of the wind. Before heading out enthusiastically into
If possible, orient the longest trench the woods on your first winter camping
so the wind is not blowing directly into experience, build one of these shelters
the opening. If the wind shifts around in your backyard. It’s easier refining
during construction, pile up snow your building techniques within walking
around the entranceway to provide distance of the comfort and security
a windshield. of home.
Place dead tree branches, ski poles, skis Allen Macartney is the former Managing
or even your snowshoes carefully across the Editor of ottawa outdoors magazine, and an
Toll free 877-392-8880
longest trench, creating a rough frame (see avid camper.
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www.OttawaOutdoors.ca OTTAWA >> WINTER 2008/2009 35
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