Assignment 7 – Snowhole Trip  3/4 – 6/4

There it was – the trip of the trips we were preparing ourselves for over the whole winter. Before the actual trip we met in class with Tim, who was supposed to run the whole adventure together with Cindre as Len broke his ankle (whilst skiing uphill [sorry, Len]). There we organised groups for the snowholes and cooking as well as talked about the location. The plan was to go to Berdalsbu, a hut in a forested area south of Hovden. As nearly the whole class had been there already we discussed to go somewhere else but in the end we stuck to the plan due to the constitution of the area and high amount of snow. The area around Berdalsbu offered hilly terrain as well as forest and hangs with a lot of snow.

On the first day we had to ski 6 kilometres to the hut and split up into two groups. On the way we practiced orienteering and led short legs in pairs of two. It turned out that quiet a lot of people still had problems with using maps and compass for navigation and estimating distance, so we made slow progress. Nevertheless, it was good practice in snowy conditions as the area offered different features but still challenged the group in identifying them. The first night we slept in the two cabins and Tim introduced us into the behaviour rules although we were already familiar with them and operating well together.

On the second day we left our equipment in the hut and went out to go on a ski tour in the morning to explore the area and find good spots for our snowholes. However, the snow conditions were not very pleasant, so we just stayed local and chose the area where we would dig our ‘accommodation’ for the next two nights, a hang with loads of snow. We used the avalanche probes to test the depth of the snow and estimated that the wall is long enough for our six snowholes. After having lunch in the cabin, we went out to the hang with all our stuff and started digging the holes.

There are basically two types of Snowholes:

1. One tunnel & two sleeping platforms at each side
2. Two tunnels & one sleeping platform in the middle

The first one has its advantage in the building process as in a group of 4 people there is a rotation of two people digging the tunnel and two people having a break. The second one is useful when e.g. a big tarp is going to be used on the sleeping platform to keep the snow away from mattresses and sleeping bags. Here all four persons have to work the whole time, as two tunnels of to be built.

 

I was in a group with Abby, Sam and Frankie and we decided two build a snowhole with two tunnels.

 

 

 

Steps of building a Snowhole (Type 2):

1. Appropriate clothing: woolen underwear + waterproofs (have a spare pair of gloves!)
2. Dig two tunnels
   1. Mind distance/ dimensions
   2. 4 Meters deep, slightly taller/ wider than your body
3. Cut out iceblogs into the direction of the other tunnel
   1. from the top ~50 cm down
   2. triangle shape
4. flatten platform
5. form ceiling
   1. arch
   2. smooth surface (prevent water tripping)
   3. keep it thick enough (no light should come through) à STABILTY
6. build the entrance
   1. use the iceblogs
   2. inside should be higher than outside
   3. small entrance hole to crawl through
7. safety & extras
   1. air ventilation hole
   2. candle à to check the level of oxygen
   3. shelf

As we had to dig two tunnels we paired up and worked simultaneously. To keep the efficiency up anyways one person was digging into the snow whilst the other one had to shovel the loose snow out of the way. It took us around 2 hours to dig the tunnels, 2 hours to dig the platform as well as another hour to form ground, ceiling and walls. It needed a bit of practice to cut out accurate blogs with the snowsaw and the whole digging process was pretty exhausting. In the end we were completely wet and sweaty and still had to puzzle the entrance together which was more challenging than I thought. In addition to the six snowholes some of us were building a path to connect them as well as two latrine areas for the group.

Life in a snowhole

Staying in our snowhole was fairly luxurious compared to a tent, as we had enough space to store our backpacks, sit on the sleeping platform, stand upright in the tunnel and cook insight in the small kitchen shelf we were digging into the wall.

Moreover, the temperature in a snowhole is around 0° and the low entrance keeps wind and snow outside. An important thing was to keep the snow away from sleepingsbags and equipment to keep it dry, which required a certain kind of discipline and was simplified by the big tarp we used.

One mistake we made was to build the kitchen shelf in the corner instead of next to the closed entry, but the condensation was not too bad, so it didn’t have any consequence. Cooking water was also very

convenient as we were just cutting pieces out of the wall meting them. The ceiling turned out to be curved and smooth enough and didn’t sink down in the night. Only the sleeping platform seemed to change its form causing everyone slipping towards me in the second night on the sloping ground constricting and squeezing me to the wall of snow.

 

Activities

Besides sleeping in a snowhole we did several different activities during the days. Due to persistent unfavourable snow conditions we had a lot of time to deal with avalanche safety. In two groups we learned how to make a snow profile and test the layers. We were digging a one meter² cube out of the hill and when one person was standing on top indeed a big layer slipped down which was impressive and shocking to see. In addition, we practiced how to search for a person with avalanche probes. Moreover, we buried ourselfs in a sarcophagus to experience how it is to get caught by an avalanche and lay under a big layer of snow. Cindre was telling us a lot about his experiences and gave us some additional advices of how to try to react when caught in an avalanche: form a triangle with your arms in front o your face to get a breathing hole, spit if you don’t know where top and bottom are.

Another activity we did was to build a funpark with different kinds of obstacles like a bumpy course and even jumps. We were playing around and had a lot of fun whilst practicing our balance on skies as well. In the end we had a competition in the different disciplines and Tom got a bleeding nose from the skijump although Tim was really concerned about safety aspects.

On the last day we split up in two groups again: one went on a longer skitour whilst we where building a big snowbench and had more of a relaxed ski back.

On that day we also got the task to build an emergency snowhole in 20 minutes and we walked around later to have a look at different types.

 

Basically, there are two different types:

1. In a snow wall
2. In the ground

The aim is to be protected from wind and snow and survive in case of an unexpected snowstorm or in emergency situations. Everyone is digging their own hole trying to make it just as big that one person and gear can fit in and keeping the entrance small to make it easier to cover with ice blogs. We used our shovels and skies and even our matresses although it is better to keep them inside as an insulation for the bottom.

Group dynamics

Due to the fact, that this trip was one of the only ones where the whole class was together plus we were splitting up in different smaller groups in between the dynamic was different than on the other trip. As with the size of the group the complexity of relations increases there was a lot of interaction, communication and organisation over the days especially during the daily activities and in phases where we were all close together like in the cabins. Another aspect was the group dynamic in our small snow hole and cooking groups as we had to coordinate both building and living together in the snowhole. I was a bit sceptical beforehand about how we as a girls group would manage the digging but it worked out fairly well and we had a good attitude and motivation going on. The overnighting and cooking happened harmonious and everyone tried to provide effort as well as got support from the others.

Learning outcomes

This week included different learning outcomes concerning skiing abilities, orienteering, snowholes and avalanche risk. Although we couldn’t go on long skitrips we improved our balance when playing in the funpark. There we also got an impression on how to organize a fun day in the snow considering different skiing abilities even when the conditions are ideal. Skiing in and out gave us another possibility of practicing navigation in a winter environment with focus on a forest area which is different to the more mountainous environment we have been to before. The main learning outcome was certainly the knowledge and ability of how to build both a snowhole and an emergency snowhole as well as the avalanche safety conducts. Moreover, I personally got another insight in how to lead a group as Tim was reacting flexible to group and conditions, included the group into decisions but also acted determined when necessary (during the navigation).

Beforehand, the snowhole trip was always declared as ‘the big trip’ and all the other ski trips where regarded as preparation to extend weight and distance as well as gain first experiences in skitouring. Indeed, it turned out to be a rather comfortable trip and less challenging than I thought. Now the question appears if that is a fact or if its just personal evaluation because of all the practice and preparation in advance. I reckon it is a little bit of both: on the one hand we only did daily activities with a small backpack and didn’t ski far because of the snow conditions which made it less physically hard; on the other hand, we were already kind of used to spend several das out in the snow and the cold and skiing in and out with the big bag was no problem as we had recourse to our previous experiences. Nevertheless, it was a very informative and eventful week experiencing how to build and live in a snowhole and learning about safety aspects.

(Last comment and reminder to myself: sunscreen helps to protect the face from the sun even in winter and prevents looking like a lobster)

Sources

http://www.out-here.co.uk/resources/diagram.jpg

http://www.etisurvival.com/snocv.htm

https://www.bergans.com/Activities/Outdoor/Norgesguidenes-tips-for-spending-the-night-in-a-snowhole