Snow hole trip 03/04 till 07/04
Day 1 (03/04)
The first day we spent travelling from Kristiansand to Berdalen, what would be the starting point for our three day long cross-country ski and snow hole trip. Berdalen is a small village about a three hour drive from Kristiansand, in the Bykle region close to Hovden. On our way to Berdalen it snowed heavily, and the road conditions were pretty poor. In addition to that, temperate had dropped overnight to (locally) minus 20 in Berdalen, and during the day it would be no warmer than minus five. Despite of the snowfall and road conditions we arrived perfectly in time at the designated meeting point (around 13:00). We met Tim and Syndre in Berdalen as we unpacked the cars. Others would get the skis out of Tim’s Trollaktiv van, and shortly after that everyone was ready to go. Tim quickly briefed us on the plan; ski in for 3-4 hours, which would all be uphill and, according to Tim, could be challenging due to strong winds from the East and loads of fresh (wet) snow. As we started off quite effortless, the more uphill we climbed the stronger the winds became. Along the way we did a lot of navigating which was educative since the snowy conditions would make it more challenging for the group to orientate. After multiple stops and a tough last ascent we arrived at the DNT ‘Berdalsbru’ around 17:00 in heavy snow conditions (extremely windy and cold). Luckily we would spend the first night in the Berdalsbru cabins. Each group got assigned one cabin, and had to get themselves organised after arrival. Getting organised would include: collecting snow, getting firewood from the outdoor toilet building, and making the cabin ready for spending the night (i.e. lighting up the fire, cleaning away snow, getting backpacks inside etc.). Everyone in our group contributed equally to the tasks at hand, and we would all work really well together; there was absolutely no complaining and the cabin was warm and cosy after a fair amount of time. Then, after each 4-person group cooked we all cleaned up and went to bed straight away (some slept in bunk beds, others on mattresses in the living room).
Day 2
On the second day we woke up around 8:00 in the morning (Tim and Syndre knocked on our walls and doors) and made breakfast. Around 10:00 we got outside to wax our skis (I put on blue and red, the weather was very unpredictable i.e. a wet yet fresh layer of snow). As soon as we got on our skis the majority of the group noticed that the wax did not work at all; it was too slippery on the fresh snow, even though some of us deliberately put on red and/or purple wax. The plan for the day was to tour-ski around the area to find a proper place to build our snow holes. Unfortunately (due to the weather conditions) we ended up skiing for less than an hour because of the non-effective wax, even after we stopped and re-waxed our skis. Around noon we found a large open area with a lot of snow close to the cabin where we would be able to build all six snowholes aligned. What we kept into mind when looking at potential snow hole areas was to make sure that we were not under the path of any avalanche prone hills, and chose a drift of snow with a fairly steep face where excavated snow could be disposed of down the slope when digging. Later (12:00) we skied back to the cabin, warmed ourselves up and had a big lunch so we would have enough energy for digging our snow holes. Not long after that each of the 4-person groups skied back to the snow-wall to start the digging. I was in a group with Zoë, Brad and Tom Booth. Zoë and me started digging one of the entrances, Tom and Brad the other entrance as we decided on building a traditional 2-entrance snowhole.
Step by step wise, important here is to dig the entrances in a straight tunnel/line, and dig them out high enough so that one is able to stand up while digging. The entrance should be deep enough before you can start connecting the two entrances, as that is the place where you build the sleeping platform. Other than that, the entrance had to be narrow so that we would later be able to block up as much as possible to protect us against wind and allow cold air to flow out keeping warmer air inside the snow hole. Once we started digging the sleeping platform, we faced some pitfalls concerning the disposal of the snow from within the snow hole back outside. Zoë and me would alternate the digging of the sleeping platform and the disposal of snow back outside. Removing snow from the snow hole proved to be quite tough as the amount of snow would pile up rather quickly when digging out the middle part (sleeping platform). It took up more time than initially expected, as our sleeping platform was slightly too long (more snow, more disposal, more effort), and considering the fact that none of us had experience in building a snow hole (which included not only our group, but basically all 24 of us). Once we were done digging and connected both entrances, we could then start to close the second entrance to prevent snow and cold air from coming in. We made the ceiling of our sleeping platform dome-shaped, and smoothed out the roof with our shovels to prevent potential melting snow from dripping down onto us. After cooking outside (veggies, rice and a spice-mix) we went straight into our snowhole and slept for a good 10 hours. I noticed that the snow hole provided excellent protection from the wind and snow (as it was really windy and snowy outside that night), better than when you would sleep in a tent. In general, a snow hole is much more comfortable than sleeping in a tent in winter conditions. For one, a snow hole is big enough to stand straight up in, cook dinner and create a spacious platform for sleeping. It is more isolated, protected from the weather conditions, and the entrance makes sure than cold air keeps low and the dome-shaped sleeping platform allows for warm air to stay. On the other hand, the amount of time and effort it took to dig a snow hole means that it is perhaps more useful when you stay for a longer period of time/build a basecamp. It is a lot of work to build a snow hole, which for this trip was a good and educative learning curve. It allowed us to expand our abilities and learn about alternatives ways on how to survive and be comfortable in a winter environment.
Day 3
The third day we would spend doing avalanche safety training in the morning, and “playing around on our skis” (as Tim briefed that morning) during the afternoon. At 10:00 the 24 of us gathered at the cabin, and split up into our two groups to each go the avalanche training (I did not put on a new layer of wax as the red wax from the day before was still quite sticky). My group was with Tim, and for most of the morning we went uphill to find a designated area to assess the risk of avalanches by making a snow profile.
https://avalanche.org/avalanche-encyclopedia/stability-test/
Important here was to dig into a slope most representative of the slope we were interested in (but, without putting ourselves in danger!). Then Tim would use an avalanche probe to find a representative place with average depth. We cut out two profiles of each two metres long and two metres deep. On both we practiced a compression test; for one by sticking a knife into the different layers of snow to assess compactness and stability, and for the second profile we let Sam jump on it to see which layers would shift down. During this test, the first layer completely shove down, indicating a very weak snow layer on top, and thus a higher degree of avalanche danger. Especially the jump test would give us an accurate representation of the avalanche proneness of the slope. In general, making a snow profile was very useful and educative as we could easily distinguish all the different layers of snow; the first, weak/fresh snow layer, a more dense yet weak layer, a more icy layer, solid ice etc. After the avalanche training we skied down again to the cabin for lunch. The slope back down to the cabin was fun and good for practicing turns and increasing speed (of course not without falling over). The, after having had a big lunch we got into groups again; each group got assigned two tasks. The tasks at hand consisted of building two obstacle runs per group; my group got to build a slalom and a ‘bumps and dips’ track. It was a fun yet practical and effective way of improving our skiing abilities and overcoming fear (i.e. high jumps and getting down the bumps and dips track). We spent the whole afternoon going around our funpark and even made a competition out of it. The first and second best of each group had to compete in the final round. After three hours of playing around we got back to the cabin, warmed up for a bit and then got back to our ‘snowvillage’ to get inside and cook our dinner (instant pasta and stroganoff stew). Later we sat in our sleeping bags, boiled water and went to sleep around 22:00.
Day 4
We woke up earlier than the days before to pack up and clean out our snow hole as we would be leaving the ‘village’ today to ski back out. After having packed our bags and cleaned out the area in and around the snow hole we all skied up to meet Tim and Syndre. We then got to choose in which group we wanted to be that day; either go with Syndre to do an ‘easy’ descent back into the valley, or join Tim for a more challenging ski route. My group went down with Sindre to ski the 6Ks back to the bus. It was sunny that day, with clear skies, which would make the snow conditions change quickly as soon as we skied deeper down into the valley (i.e. softer snow, less grip). On our way down we practiced a lot of map reading, and did a game to simulate a white-out danger scenario (i.e. walking across an open field blindfolded). Three kilometres from the bus Sindre decided to stop for a lunch break; a good opportunity to rest, and the area was perfect for building emergency shelters later on. We got to choose what kind of emergency shelter we wanted to build; either a traditional snow cave or a snow trench. The snow cave is a fairly easy-to-build shelter were you dig a tunnel into a slope, and then dig out an interior that’s high enough to sit up in. Important is to keep the roof arched, and the walls thick enough (in case of collapsing).
You can then close off the entrance by putting blocks of snow/branches/skis or a combination of those on top, creating a small opening to squeeze yourself through. The snow trench on the other hand, is a shelter you can dig when there is no slope/hill around to build a snow cave. A snow trench is dug into the ground, large enough to fit yourself in and put you fully below ground level (i.e. a sarcofaag). To cover up the trench one can either use branches/skis, a layer of foliage and finish off with a layer of snow to protect oneself from the cold. Another option would be to use your backpack and rollmat to close off the top (but remember: the wind might blow your mat off!)
Learning outcomes
For me personally the whole trip was a learning outcome in the sense of improving my skiing abilities and learning about alternative ways of ‘living’ in a winter environment. Especially digging, finalising and sleeping in a snow hole was a great experience, and it showed me how ‘easy’ and fun it is to life in cold weather with a limited amount of equipment to your disposition. It equally enhances group dynamic, and team spirit as everyone works together on creating a comfortable living environment (i.e. the snow village) for themselves, but also for the group as a whole. Other than that, I learned how important it is to wear the right clothing (i.e. dress in layers) and bring enough nutritious food/meals. As we had already been on multiple winter trips, I knew that I would always at least need my merino base layer, a fleece, my down jacket and a hardshell jacket to keep myself warm. At least two pair of gloves, a beanie, a buff and two pair of warm and dry socks is what I would wear in addition to that. At night, I would wear an extra (thick) pair of woolen socks as my feet most of the time are cold when sleeping outside.