Snow Trench

This weekend was the Scouts' winter camp at Yoho Lake. Expecting temperatures around -15 C at night, we spent the day Saturday building various types of shelters. One Scout slept in a tent, one in a hammock, and the rest slept in lean-tos. I decided to build a snow trench. This is a shelter that is very similar to a quinsee, but requires a lot less energy to build and allows you to stay a lot drier.



The first step was to make a waist-high mound of snow, let it sit for a few hours, and eventually dig out the middle to leave three walls. Since I had my winter sleeping kit with me and wanted a more spacious shelter, I just decided to build the walls without bothering to hollow out a mound of snow.



The second step, after allowing the walls to harden for a few hours, was to lay a cris-crossed pattern of sticks across the top for the roof supports...



...eventually ending up with something like this:

The third, and arguably most important step, is to gather a lot of spruce and fir boughs to lay on the floor of the shelter for insulation from the ground. This is a time-consuming step, but it pays off when you lay down on a thick mattress at the end of the day. And it smells good, too.



Finally, a tarp is placed on the roof supports and snow is piled on to a depth of at least 6 inches, and more if possible. This gives the shelter even more insulation. I used my sled as my door, but a large backpack could do the job as well. I found one of the main advantages of this shelter was that I could attach things to the roof from the inside, keeping them off the floor and out of the way. It was very warm inside at night, too. My long-burning candle gave off some heat and light. I had to step outside at one point and estimate the temperature difference to be at least 10 deg. C! Next time I will have to bring a couple of thermometers.