Ookpik Chapter Eight: Shelter From the Storm

8. Shelter From the Storm

The sexy part of Okpik is building snow shelters. It is what your scouts will remember long after the shelters become puddles.

There are two CRITICAL components to a good snow shelter, and the first is VENTILATION. Regardless of the type of shelter, carbon dioxide may collect. Having a vent or two, usually at a 45 degree angle, is critical to the safety of occupants. If snow is falling, vents will eventually fill with snow and need to be reopened. A stick or ski pole can be used to reopen an airway.

The second component common to all shelters is a SUMP to capture cold air. This sump, usually a trench near the entrance, serves to channel that cold air away from any sleeping platform.

We have typically built six(6!) types of shelters at Okpik, given enough participants.

1. Emergency Shelters
2. Trench Shelters
3. Snow Caves
4. Quinzees
5. Igloos
6. and last but not least, the Hup Special.

Of those shelters, the amount of effort increases as you move down the list. Eskimo make the igloo look easy, but it can be a lot of work, especially when the snow does not cooperate. The best igloo I ever helped build was using a machine.

Grand Shelters Igloo Maker (Ice Box)

and Amazon's Product Reviews

Using an Ice Box Igloo Maker

Here is the Okpik shelter presentation.
JumpShare GDrive

Hup Specials can sleep a crew, but the tarp tends to be noisy, and the rig as described requires a lot of rope (some heavy duty) and enough dead men to crew Davy Jones' fleet. It works best when snow blocks emerge easily from the quarry.

Igloos take forever.

Both the Hup and igloo require a lot of snow blocks. Sometimes you can carve chunks of snow like cake! Enjoy! Other times, a quarry area must be stomped and then chunks of the compacted snow sliced out. As you will be lifting and carrying snow blocks for a while, it is a good idea not to make them too large and heavy. Your back will thank you.

Snow Caves can require a lot of probing to find a good site. Nothing like digging for a while only to discover a rock or log encroaches in what you thought would be a great shelter.

Scouts can often race to find the perfect snowmass to make a shelter, only to return to the grimy mounds made by snow plows. Besides being grimy and icy, there is a very real hazard of having the mound sliced open by further plowing. Use extreme caution when using plowed mounds for snow shelters!

Modern snow plows often hurl a column of snow 30-40 feet in the air. This column of snow could make a real mess of a snow shelter or other camp. It is a good idea to move shelters away from areas that could be hit by this snow plume.

If burying gear inside a Quinzee to reduce the amount of snow quarrying, excavate it timely. It can be miserable to chip away at ice to retrieve gear as the sun sets and everyone else is sitting down to dinner.

My favourite is the hasty trench shelter.

If sleeping in a tent:

I do NOT bootstomp my sleeping area, preferring to have a bed that is soft with some give. One can carve hip and shoulder hollows and sleep much more comfortably.

I have always used a three season tent in winter, knowing that it is not really suitable in gale force winds but has generally worked well. One might have to wake up during the night to knock snow off, and the footprint frequently diminishes - but that just makes it cozy.

If rain is a possibility, it is a good idea to create several deep drains (usually just a foot stomp or two) around the tent pad so as not to wake up in a vat of freezing water. This is no place for the ice bucket challenge!

Other Construction Projects

We have built amphitheaters, conference dining tables, and other amenities at Okpik. Snow can be a fabulous construction material - or not. I've mentioned the "snow throne" privy previously.

So as to avoid creating a hazard for future wilderness adventurers, we have generally crushed the roof of any snow shelter. Some folks whine about this. The exception has generally been when a troop is coming to the same area the next week and will utilize the shelter (cheating). Some shelters, like the HUP, require no demolishing because they have no roof.

One afternoon we were headed to Dewey Point when the snow started to DUMP. The crew built trench shelters and bedded down for the night. I awoke before dawn, huffing and puffing and punching snow out of the vent. I decided to stand up and get some fresh air. As I looked around, all I could see was snow, falling or lying in a deep layer all around me. I knew that under that snow in various locations were the other team members, apparently sleeping soundly - but at that moment, I felt alone and at peace with the snow all around. Magic!

One of our Okpik 2 team members provided this report on his "Night on Dewey Point."

My Night on Dewey

By:   Filiberto de Cal

Winter in Yosemite is a different world!

If you have experienced the beauty of our National Parks in Summer, you are painfully aware of the crowds, the traffic, and the noise pollution that somehow hinder your special 1:1 relationship with Nature.

I don't mind meeting (and greeting!) fellow hikers on trails. I don't mind share campsites with outdoor enthusiasts. I don't even mind the painful realization that "their" campfire is better and brighter than mine.

But Dewey Point in Winter is literally another world. The three of us left the car at Badger Pass and began our 3.5 mile hike wearing our snowshoes, our backpacks, and unwavering enthusiasm as the drizzling rain that accompanied us along the road turned into cold snow. We were in for a treat.

As the first mile on an eminently flat terrain turned into a hill-crossing path, I was mentally going through my next tasks, focusing mainly on building a shelter in the snow for the cold night ahead. I opted for a snow trench, thinking it was the fastest and simplest way to sleep soundly without a tent. It is easier to build even under the falling snow, and possibly a surer bet in case one does not find a mound suitable for a snow cave.

If you have a different opinion, you're definitely a much more experienced hiker than me.

As a matter of fact one of our instructors opted for a Mayan hammock. I saw Sterling's nest and was impressed by the combination of ingenuity, material efficiency, and sheer passion for hammock camping. Always great to get ideas for your next challenge. But will try in Summer first!

I opted for a 3-layer protection when in the snow trench. I wanted to ensure Warmth, Dryness, Protection in case the snow accumulation over my tarp would be too much and cause a collapse. So I went for a sleeping bag liner, a sleeping bag, and a bivy sack. 

There are dozens of bivy sacks out there, from the ultralight (and ultra-expensive) to the survival ones, whose aim is to provide you with a minimum of shelter but nothing more.

One lesson I learned very early in my hiking life was to think "Multi-purpose." It saves weight, hassles, and money. I opted for a 2GoSystems Trifecta. As the word says, it serves as a bivy, a tarp, and an emergency shelter. It has a thermally reflective layer, and a waterproof zipper. Does not have a ventilation system, so the only times when I zipped it up completely is when I have to lay my gear in the rain or snow.

As the night fell there I was, warm and cozy in my trench, listening to the sound of the snow gently falling on my tarp. A fresh set of thermals, a wool beanie and a double-sock layer competed my sleeping arrangement. My Luci light provided some comfort, and the smell of cold air quickly lulled me to sleep.

In hindsight, I should have ventilated my bivy better, as in the morning my sleeping bag was moist, and damp in the upper portion. What I think happened was I slid inside the bivy during my sleep, and the breathing condensed, trapped by the reflective layer of my 3/4 zipped-up bivy. I was grateful we ventured our way back the next day; while the liner kept me warm and dry, sleeping a second night in a damp sleeping bag is not a pleasant experience. I know it wasn't my gear's fault, as the bivy served me well on other snow outings, and with zero problems.

Would that make me re-think my bivy strategy? Yes, but only about how to properly set it up, maybe using day clothing to prop it up and ensure more ventilation. I will not go full-pro with a bivy unless I plan to ditch my tent and save those extra 2 pounds.

As always, Plan, Do, Learn, Evaluate was the mental loop I got trapped in upon waking up on another foggy day. It only lasted a few minutes, than I was out again, all packed and enjoying my first Snowbow at Dewey Point as a faint sun showed us that Spring will come soon.

Finally;

Learn how Polar Bears build a den.