This trip was really difficult but also really fun. This was really my first time carrying such a heavy back pack and it really dragged me down. On the hell hike I went around with a heavy back pack, but this time it was alot worse because I needed a bunch more gear. I decided to forgo my stove and just precook a bunch of food, so I had tortillas, chicken, cheese, salmon and trailmix…that was it. Skiing up to where we were going to stay for the first night was really hard because I had initially put on double layers of ski clothes because it was so cold, but soon as I started moving I was way too hot. I stopped and changed out of it but still it was really warm. It started snowing so that helped cool me down a bit but my face was starting to hurt from it so I had to put up my hood to block some of the snow.
It ended up being pretty late when we arrived so we stayed in a DNT hut, which this was my first time doing so. It turns out that DNT huts are places where travelers can stop and stay for the night. There isn’t any workers there, people just pay using the honor system or they buy a membership so it’s cheaper. It was really nice and we stayed on bunk beds and had s wooden stove to melt snow on top of for water.
The next morning we went out in search of a place to build our snow hole and our teacher showed us the proper techniques for doing so. He said it was really physically demanding, but I had a blast and dug out a whole side of the snow hole all by myself. The coolness of the snow was nice against all the heat I was producing from the shoveling. It was actually really nice and sunny out so most of my classmates opted to go shirtless, however I feel weird doing that so I opted not to. That took up most of the day and we just explored the area a bit and found a nice stream of running water that was pure and cool to drink so that was wonderful! The whole time we were skiing there were no ski tracks or paths really so the whole trip consisted of us going off piste and it was really fun. I’m no pro, but I feel that I started to really get the hang of it by the end.
The next day we went on our big ski trip up in the mountains, navigating with the map and compass which would have been okay normally, but it was super windy and snow was being brought up into the air so we had to wear our snow goggles for the majority of the time. There were a lot of ice patches up in the mountains too so it made skiing a bit more difficult. It was a lot of fun, but super tiring and draining. I kept wanting water breaks and no one else would call for a break. Instead they would always look back at me and say “Are you okay Paige, do you need a break?” It was nice of them, but it just made me feel like I was super weak and that they were pitying me, like I was a burden to them. I kept up with the group just fine though and even though I was utterly exhausted, I just kept finding the will inside myself to keep going forward.
The second night in the snow hole went much better than the first night. The first night in the hole I was a bit cold, even though I had about 4 layers of clothing on. The second night in it I put on one more layer and then I was fine. I got at least 4 hours of solid sleep so I was really happy. I think the issue was that I was actually putting on too many layers though. It was preventing my bodyheat from warming up the sleeping bag, so my sleeping bag stayed cold. Next time I’ll try and wear less.
We also learned a couple of ways to make quick shelters in the snow if there is a storm or an emergency and it was actually pretty fun. When I dug mine though, I hit a bush so that sucked. But it was a really great experience and I won’t forget anything that I learned from the trip. It was all too memorable, the whole trip is ingrained in my mind!