23.03 – 26.03 (Monday – Thursday)

Snow hole trip

 

On Monday morning we met at the starting point to Berdalsbue and where divided into two groups, one with Len and one with Tim. I was in Tim’s group together with Katja, Adele, Petr, Jannis, Steve, Roman, Wytse, Sharon and Sven.

Most of us were really excited as this seemed to be the hardest and most challenging trip for us in the whole semester.

We skied to the hut, settled down, looked for snow hole areas, skied around, and stayed at the hut for the first. We had a good sleep and were able to prepare for the next following 3 days.

On Tuesday morning it got serous. We skied to the area some of us found the day before. It was proved, that skiing to the area was already a little challenge for a lot of us. We went a lot downhill in deep and sticky snow. The big backpacks weren’t helping… But finally we managed the way and started building 2 snowholes, 1 iglu and 1 sigg igloo in our group. Tim gave us a lot of theoretical inout and explained everything really good. It was intressting to learn so much about snowholes and it took a way most of my fear. I have been occupied the most of the time with the Sigg igloo as we were divided in smaller sleeping groups. In the evening we had a fire, but we didn’t manage it to work really well because it was too deep dpwn in the snow and couldn’t breath.

 

How to build a snow hole:

The area has to be an overhang and at least 3m deep vertically and horizontally. Then you can start to dig a ‘door’. This door becomes a tunnel by digging horizontally into the hill. When the tunnel is big enough you start to dig to the right and the left side and carve out 2 caves. These are then the sleeping plateaus. You can fit 4 people in. To be protected from snow and wind you have to close the entrance afterwards. The easiest way is to put big snow or icy blocks over each other.

 

How to build a sigg igloo:

The sigg igloo was invented by a German while the world war as a method to get people under the earth out of the snow and cold in an emergency the fastest as possible. Tim proposed us to build one of these to learn the method. First you dig a hole down into the snow on flat ground. It should be at least 3m deep. You dig it like a circle and put the snow around it like a circled fence. You can also start to curve it out under the walls. Then you have to dig a tunnel towards the hole and connect it. To build the roof at least 3 people have to stand into the hole. They hold a tarp or parachute over their bodies and form a rugby circle. The others have to dig as much snow as possible on their bags. You should shovel for at least 7 minuets. This time is critical for the people inside the hole because they feel like being buried alive. They have to be mentally strong and it’s a good idea to have a leader and clarify the outgoing order. It is also helpful to have somebody in the tunnel to communicate between the people. A soon as the roof is stable the people can leave the hole through the tunnel and the building of the roof and the carving inside can be continued.

 

How to build an igloo:

Building an igloo is not really complicated. With the snow saw you saw out big and compact blocks of snow and ice. They have to be stapled in an oval shape and when you start the second row be aware of displacing them like a wall to make it more stable and move the blocks always a bit more to the inside to create a roof. To have an entrance it is the best to dig a tunnel into the igloo this protects it from wind and snow and doesn’t take away any stability from the wall.

 

We had a lot of fun while building the different sleeping places. We were blessed with a lot of sun and it was warm and cosy. We could have breaks in the sun and prepared our snow holes until the evening.

In theory the sigg igloo takes not more than an hour. But ours took way longer than the snow holes. So other people started to build an igloo and a fireplace. But in the end our sigg igloo was the most comfortable place to be.

We went to bed before we got too cold and I had a really good night sleep. It was really warm, comfortable and cosy in our sigg igloo. I had one moment in which I was scared of the roof coming down, which Tim described us as one of the biggest dangers. But I really enjoyed the night and was really.

 

In the next morning we started with delay, which wasn’t really good for the group cohesion as some people were ready in time and others weren’t. This is really unaware and annoying because people who are ready stand around in the wind and snow and get cold. On this day we had awful weather it was stormy and windy snowed all the time and was really uncomfortably. Tim took us out for a tour and we practised map and compass work, which was exhausting in the bad weather. We had a break in an emergency shelter. It was warm and we got out of the wind, but it was too tight and small to have a recreating break.

After some avalanche theory and practice, snow layer theory and telemark turns we were allowed to warm us up in the hut for one hour. This was nice, but I think it was even harder to go back into the cold afterwards. In this night we couldn’t have a fire and went to bed as quick as possible. Unfortunately I got really cold hands while filling up water bottles in the stream. I was shocked how cold my fingers and then my whole body turned, I could feel my fingers anymore, couldn’t go back into the glove or grab the bottles properly. This showed me how dangerous the cold winter can be when you’re in an emergency or bad equipped.

In the next morning we were snowed in and had dig our way out of thee sigg igloo. Unfortunately we had to leave our area and pack the stuff together. Until this day I really enjoyed the trip and I could believe how scared I have been before. It wasn’t hard at all. It was uncomfortable at some points for sure, but I had fun and I enjoyed the time in the snow. But for this night we had an emergency shelter planed. So we skied out of the area, which took again some time. Because of the snow storm at night the snow was really high and new and it were tough conditions to ski in.

Tim told us that we have 20 minuets to dig out our own emergency shelter. We were supposed to suggest being apart from the group in really bad weather. The only chance to survive was coming under the snow. We were all scared about sleeping alone. But we dug out our holes and were prepared to spend the night in there. Tim went around and told us if we would survive in there or not. But before we were all freaking out, he announced that the weather would be too bad at night and it was too dangerous to let us sleep all separated. So our trip came to an early end and we went home on Thursday instead of Friday.

 

The snow hole trip is one of my highlights of this semester.