Planning process

As the trip was planned by the university the only aspects that we had to plan were regarding our personal kit and food.

The personal kit was very much the same as for any other winter trip except we didn’t have to take tents which lightened the load a lot. Avalanche probes, snow shovels and other safety equipment were carried by everyone.

The large amount of food that we had to carry for five days was the hardest to pack. We needed four dinners, four breakfasts, five lunches and loads of snacks to keep our energy levels up.

Group dynamic processes before and after

It was when we were digging the snow holes that the group dynamic became most obvious. Certain members of the group would tend to avoid the harder work by doing jobs that on the surface appeared to be useful but were really of no importance. Other members would do most of the digging.

In our snow hole we very quickly got into our roles. One would saw the blocks out of one side, the other would use the shovel to neaten the roof and clear the debris out. This worked really well.

Execution of the field trip and challenges

The trip itself went very well aside from the weather issues. On the third day of the expedition the wind started to pick up and it started to snow. As we were skiing up a re-entrant we had a very strong head wind which, combined with the steepness of the hill, made it very hard going. Due to the wind we decided to not go all the way we had planned for the day and retreat down the mountain.

The strong winds and snow continued through the night and by the morning about 10 feet of snow had drifted over the entrance to the snow hole. It never occurred to us to clear the door every half hour so we just slept through the night. Digging out of the snow hole meant that I was already cold and wet before I had even had my breakfast which in turn made the day that little bit harder.

Reflection on the learning outcomes, what was successful, what was not?

The main outcome for me was that skiing and confidence increased greatly compared to the last time I had been on skis.

We also learnt the advantages of living in a snow hole compared to living in a tent, the main ones being that there is virtually no wind and the temperature is at a constant zero degrees.