walkerchris77 wrote:Sounds good. You said u used snow caves. Did u just dig in and sleep in there. ?
just interested how u made and used them. Were they warm compared to out side etc. Ive never had to make or useintereste ive seen them on tv shows. Sought of like sleeping in your freezer. just interested
actually they are quite cosy.. fastest way to build one is to find a decent sized snow drift if you can step up a meter to where you want the lowest part of the door to be its best as the waste snow lands below you... cut a narrow corridor into the drift the same height as your self for about your body length.. now start curving down for about half your body length till you reach knee height (when you remove the snow from only the corridor try to take out large blocks and stack near you)
now start carving out a space to the left and right at knee height (this is your sleeping platform height) so you have a dome shaped cavern, carefully do so as you carve back towards the face of the drift.. you want a good half meter "minimum" of thickness top and sides, now after all that brick up the large opening fully and smooth snow over any holes.. ski for a hour or have a coffee..
Now carefully cut out at the base of the bricked up section the minimum you need to crawl in.. the top of this opening has to be below the level of the knee height platform, this is because cold air and any carbon dioxide from your cooking and candle will stay down there... (use your pack to cover the hole from the inside)
Once inside poke a small hole through somewhere to allow some ventilation, 1 candle will give you heaps of light and keep the place just on zero degrees and even if there is a full blizzard you are comfortable, you may want to place a marker or crossed skis above your snow cave just in-case someone skis over.. place a bivvi bag down and a sleep mat plus a snow rated -20 bag and your set.. remember that you need a insulated support for your stove or it will sink...
A nice snow cave home will take about 2hrs (only really for two at most due to dome size needed and related structural + heating issues) and if sited and built well stand several days use... I had a couple i made and maintained around Townsend and the Sentinel for most of a season... did find a squatter in one though...
a fast and dirty survival cave though will take about 20-45 min depending on your state but that involves digging a hole, spreading your skis and stocks across the entrance and covering everything with a poncho and that will give you a very hard nights sleep but survivable...
I suggest that until you are certain of your building skills you take a tent as a backup and remember to remove clothing layers as you go because if its a calm day you'll actually work up a sweat doing this... another tip is to use your ski tail first to check the depth of the drift.. sometimes there is a rock just in behind it as drifts usually form around things, so saves a dig just to find a rock...