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Contents
There is no form of camping or backpacking more challenging, interesting and satisfying than camping in arctic conditions. Imagine yourself gliding across the perfect surface of a frozen lake on the clearest of nights, with no sound but the hiss of your skis on the snow, and no light other than the moon reflected off the snow and the mountain towering 8,000 feet above you. Ahead you see your camp glowing from the flicker of a dozen candles. Soon, warmed by the exertion, you mumble a muffled "Good night" to your tent-mates as you burrow into your nest of down, grateful for the warmth of hot water in your nalgene bottles that you tossed into the bag after supper. In the morning, curlicues of hoarfrost decorate the interior of your tent and a layer of frost coats the surface of your bag. While still contemplating the character-building prospect of pulling on frozen boots, you hear the roar of the stoves and the aroma of french-roast coffee drifts into your tent...
Preparing the Site
The first order of business is to select an appropriate campsite. In this you have much more latitude than you would have in the summer in the same location. There are no designated campsites. The ideal spot is relatively flat, although your tent platform can be leveled to suit you. All the tents in your group should be relatively close to one another, in a more-or-less circular arrangement with the tent entrances to the center. Once the site is chosen, and with your pack still on your shoulders, stomp out a tent platform, using your skis or snowshoes and the weight of your body and pack to compress the snow. Let the snow consolidate for 15-20 minutes before attempting to pitch the tent.
Stake the tent with snow stakes to which you have attached a loop of red cord about 24" long. The cord can be looped through the stake loops on the tent. Later, when you try to remove the stakes, you will find the cord useful in finding and pulling them out. They will be frozen in place. To securely anchor the tent, at least two, and preferably four or more stakes should be buried in the snow as deadmen. Pickets, skis, and ice axes may be used to anchor tents in severe weather.
Dig a drift moat all around the tent. This allows any snow that falls during the night to slide away into the trench. Without it, there is the danger of a heavy snowfall sealing up the tent during the night while you are asleep. Mountaineers have been asphyxiated this way. If you should awake in the night with a severe headache, quickly open the fly to check for snow around the base of the tent and ventilate. It is customary to take turns checking, and if necessary, digging out during the night.
Using a snow saw or shovel, begin a trench walkway from the door of the tent to the cooking area. These should interconnect between tents in an efficient pattern. One advantage is that you enter the tent at waist level, so you can sit on the edge, on the tent door draped over it, to remove your boots, then simply roll in. No need to get down on your knees and crawl! The vestibule will cover the entry area, which then becomes a convenient covered storage place for packs, boots, etc.
Tents are by far the easiest shelters to use in back countr snow camping. Mountaineering tents must be strong, stable in high winds, and able to shed snow easily. In addition, we will teach you to make snow caves and igloos. These are warm, secure and quiet, but you will discover that they are time-consuming and laborious to construct for everyone but the Inuit.
One secret of staying warm in the tent is to have it fully occupied. Four people in a three or four person tent are much warmer than two. The combined body heat will raise the temperature inside the tent and everyone will be more comfortable, even if they are a bit crowded.
It is imperative to use two blue-foam or Thermarest type pads for insulation under the sleeping bags. If you use only one, you will not only feel colder, but you will find that your bed has become a bowl overnight as your body heat slowly melts the snow beneath you. Two pads provide adequate insulation underneath. Loft in your sleeping bag will insulate you on top. If your sleeping bag has no side-block baffles, shake and stroke the bag to move the down into the channels on the top side of the bag. The down does no good when compressed underneath you. In very cold weather, you will want to draw the hood of the bag close around your face to minimize air exchange. You may find it helpful to pull your fleece hat down over your face and breathe through it to take the bite out of the frigid air when you inhale. Wearing fleece clothing and wool socks in the bag will also help keep you warm. Just be sure that the bulky clothing does not bind and cut off circulation, which will result in you being colder in spite of the extra layers.
Any water bottles, P-bottles, and clothing, especially mitts, that you will don when you first get up in the morning should be kept in the bag with you. You may also consider putting your ski boots in a plastic bag and bringing that inside the sleeping bag as well. Anything that is damp but left outside your bag will be frozen stiff in the morning.
It is critically important to keep your insulation, both clothing and sleeping bag, as dry as possible. Down loses virtually all its loft (and therefore insulating ability) when it is wet. There are several sources of moisture in tents that you must guard against. One is snow that comes in with you on your boots and clothing when you enter. You should brush as much off as possible before entering. Once inside the tent, some winter mountaineers sweep traces of snow out the door with a wisk broom they bring along for the purpose. This is a worthwhile practice, since any snow that enters the tent will likely melt when your body heat raises the temperature inside. Often you will awake to find a layer of frost on the top of your bag. This forms when moisture from insensible perspiration percolates outward through the insulation and freezes on contact with the cold nylon shell of the bag. It is best to carefully brush this frost out of the tent before it has a chance to melt and wet the bag. A bivy sack can be very useful, not only in keeping you warmer at night, but also by protecting your bag from moisture. Yet another source of wet bags is condensation that forms on the inside of the tent. In very cold weather this may appear as curlicues of hoar-frost. It comes from the moisture of your breath which has frozen on the cold inner surface of the tent fabric. When the temperatures are at or above freezing, bumping the inside of the tent may produce an internal "rainfall" of significant proportion. A small rag, like a face cloth or handkerchief may be used to wipe the condensation before it has a chance to wet your bag and clothing. It is particularly important to keep the head and toe of your sleeping bag away from the tent walls during the night. Otherwise, they are sure to be wet the next day and are likely to still be wet when you next use the bag.
Snow caves are most conveniently dug in light, fluffy new snow. Look for a drift that you can burrow into from the side. You will need a snow shovel, pot lids, and any other covenient scraper to hollow out your space. Snow caves have the advantage of being very warm, since snow is an excellent insulator. They are also quiet and relatively dark. Forget the Grand Ballroom; as soon as you begin to dig you will discover why less is more. Dig the entrance down about three feet, then up four or five feet to the level of your sleeping platforms. This S-shaped entrance forms a cold trap that prevents heat from escaping because your sleeping platform will be above the top of the entrance. Dig out the sleeping platforms you will need just large enough to accomodate one person in a sleeping bag. Each person's head will be toward the vestibule, with the feet radiating outward. Be sure to smooth the inner surface so no bumps hang down. When the cave warms up, these small projections become drip points.
For ventilation, you can push a ski pole up through the roof, with the shaft dangling down inside. Lifting the pole will clear a small hole to provide for air circulation. Lowering the basket back into the hole will seal it up again. A small candle esconced on a little shelf you have carved in the wall will proved both light and heat. One candle is enough to keep a snow cave above freezing.
Among the disadvantages of snow caves are. the laborious construction, the claustorphobia some individuals experience inside them, and the moisture. They can be quite damp. The entrances are ususally a tight fit and there is rarely more than enough room to turn around inside. Crawling in and out is the closest thing to being born again that you are likely to experience in this life.
I'm sure there are Inuit who can put up an igloo large enough to house the local chapter of the Young Republicans in a half hour or less. Anyone else will need a full day. Igloos are made by cutting blocks of consolidated snow with a snow saw. The blocks are mined from the floor of the prospective igloo, so you cut down into the snow as you put up the walls. It is a good idea to inscribe a circle on the snow so you know where to start cutting blocks.
To cut a block, begin with two downward strokes to form the ends
of the block. Next cut the bottom with a horizontal stroke. This will
leave the block suspended only by its back. The last cut is a
vertical cut across the back of the block. If done properly, the
block will drop a bit with a low "whump" sound. Lift the block right
away. If you can't lift it, it is too big. Cut it down to a
manageable size, or call over a buddy with more strength and
enthusiasm than good sense. Lay the base level of blocks in a circle.
Continue cutting and placing blocks for next course. The top of the
blocks should be cut to form a spiral incline, and they should lean
in to the center slightly. The slope and lean of the blocks should
increase with each course. Enventually, you should be able to top off
the structure with a single block. Chink the cracks with loose snow.
The chances are that the interior floor is too small to strecth out
and accomodate everyone. To make room, excavate sleeping platforms
into the walls just as you would for a snow cave. Typically, the
central area of an igloo is about an arm's width across and will just
allow a person to stand upright.
Igloos freeze into very solid structures. I have photos of three large campers standing on the top of an igloo. They had to jump on it several times to get a hole punched through. Abandoned igloos and snow caves can become hazards to other campers and skiers, especially in the spring. For this reason, it is customary to collapse your snow shelter when you leave.
Snow saws once more come into play in creating a convenient cooking area. Mine blocks from the floor and use them to create a windscreen. If the blocks are set about two feet from the edge of the central area, you will have a convenient parapet on which to place the stoves. This makes it possible to cook standing up, instead of on your hands and knees or squatting on the ground. A more-or-less circular parapet is also nice for eating, sitting and relaxing in camp.
Each stove should have a small piece of plywood as a base. This prevents the heat from melting underneath the stove, which will otherwise quickly sink into the snow! There are some commercially available bases for this purpose, but at about $30.00, they are very yuppie . A 12" square of plywood is free.
The most efficient way to cook is to simply boil water for everyone in the group to use. Each person is responsible for bringing their own meal that can be rehydrated with boiling water. For example, breakfast may be based on hot chocolate or tea and hot oatmeal. I like to mix my own with nuts and raisins or other dried fruit, and brown sugar. For supper, there are many instant pasta or rice-based dinners available at the grocery store. Add some fresh Parmesan cheese you have grated and put in a small baggie, maybe some dried onions and green pepper and even mushrooms, and a spoonful of olive oil. Dump it into your plastic bowl, add hot water and voila, a sticky mess, but it still tastes great. Cooking this way is simple and avoids messy clean up, which is particularly difficult in a frozen environment. If you use a pastic bowl with a snap-on lid, you can simply place your spoon inside, snap the lid on, and pack it away with no worries about greasy mess in your pack, clothing or sleeping bag. The lid also helps keep your food hot if you are delayed in eating it, or if it needs a few minutes to rehydrate. Another reason is the need to keep boiling water and melting snow to refill drinking bottles. Keep the stoves going until everyone in camp has two full bottles. Remember to place the bottles in your sleeping bag, and keep them there all night to keep them from freezing. One fine side benefit: at 7:00, when you slide into your icy sleeping bag, your toes will find those hot water bottles and you will know that life is good!
Be sure to repackage the ingredients for meals in ziplock bags and label them with a marking pen, eg. "Sat. supper, + 2 C H2O."
When melting snow, remember to prime the pot with some melted water before adding snow. Otherwise, if you put the heat to a dry pot of snow, the pan will scorch and the snow will vaporize. It may ruin the pan and will yield no water.
It is particularly important to drink plenty of fluids. There is a tendency to not feel as thirsty because of the cold environment, but you may be losing water more rapidly than in hot summer weather. This is partly because of the high level of exertion that traveling on snow demands. Digging drift moats, cutting snow blocks, and constructing snow shelters are strenuous activities. In addition, people tend to retain heavy clothing because the environment looks cold, even though they are overheating. Soaking under layers of clothing with perspiration is uncomfortable, and may be dangerous. Remove layers of clothing when exerting yourself and put them back on when you stop. Drink lots of fluids. Watch out for each other and remind each other to adjust clothing and drink water.
Frozen Wastes, or how to poop in the frigid aire
Your group leader may designate a "cat hole" for everyone to use. This may help the environment by consolidating the waste, rather than spreading it all over the area. It is a good practice to burn toilet paper before departing from the campsite on the last day. Remember that under the snow, may lie a picnic table, barbecue pit or kids play area, a roadside rest or photographic viewpoint. Next spring your calling cards will be left in full view by the melting snow. Veterans of an earlier "Camp Siberia" still recall what has come to be know rather widely as "D...'s fecal canon." Being an ecologist, D... was trying to do the right thing by burning off the paper in our group cat hole. After two days, the hole was several feet deep, so he poured some white gas down in there, lit a match and dropped it in. A few seconds later there was a great "WHOOOOOP" of flame as frozen turds shot skyward like grape shot from Hell.
It is sometimes necessary to do your business on skis, especially if the snow is new and very unconsolidated. Just remember that you may start to slide just as your pants are down about your knees. Your friends in camp may appreciate your mooning them as you glide by as an attempt at humor. On the other hand, you may prefer to brace your skis to avoid such embarrassment, but beware. One ex-siberian did not assume a proper snow plow position before doing his business. He skied back into camp with the evidence firmly frozen to the back of his skis.
The final bit of potty talk has to do with the urge to go at night. When you are snugly tucked in your down bag and it is a bracing 5o outside, answering the call of nature poses a serious dilemma. One solution, at least for males, is to bring a designated personal "P" bottle into the tent for use during the night. I've read that the Inuit and use theirs lying down! Remember to keep it in the bag with you, or else it will freeze and you will have to pack it out. A tight lid is de rigeur.
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