Life in an Ice Cube

By skookum  |  Location: United States  |  02/11/08

Friday morning a group of nearly thirty students eagerly gathered for their departure to Dutchman’s Flat in central Oregon to try their hand at building snow shelters, I being one of them. For the past 5 weeks we had met once a week learning about all aspects of snow camping, such as avalanche safety, equipment requirements and the process involved with building various types of snow shelters. This weekend was our chance to put the instruction we’d received to the test. The plan was to dig a snow cave on Friday and an igloo on Saturday. Due to heavy snowfall over the pass to our destination, however, travel time took much longer than anticipated. We arrived at the trailhead around 5:00pm and by the time we snowshoed into our camp it was nearing 6:00 and the sky was growing dark. As a result, our instructor decided we would sleep in our tents Friday night and build a snow shelter on Saturday. The class was split into two groups of 13 and camped in two different locations. Upon arrival at our site, we found a central location and set up our tents around it. After tents were set up, a kitchen and communal area were constructed around the central area and from this point on our snow community quickly developed. Instructed to stick to existing paths we’d made rather than travel through fresh snow, pathways were formed between the tent sites, which gave us a village like impression of our camp. That night an icy snow fell from the sky, making dinner time less than ideal and people quickly surrendered to their tent after eating. Promised part of a Backpackers Pantry Pad Thai meal, I stuck out in the foul weather for longer than I hoped, eventually slipping into my tent a drowned rat. In a sense, spending a night in the tent wasn’t so bad because we were able to develop a sense of the difference in warmth and comfort between a snow shelter and a tent. 

Wake up call the next morning came at 6:00am. Unfortunately my soaked pants and jacket had become frozen in the night and made waking up and getting dressed at the break of dawn that much harder. Thankfully, the weather was absolutely fantastic. While making my oatmeal, the clouds began to separate as the sun rose from the east to cast a pinkish glow on the surrounding mountains. After breakfast a few of us hiked down to the flat to catch the alpenglow over mt. Bachelor, South Sister and Broken Top. The sight was breathtaking and set the mood for the day. After a morning hike through the woods and a brief run through of snow shelter construction. we embarked upon our chance at creating a shelter. Peter, my partner, and I decided to build a “digloo,” which is a hybrid between a snow cave and an igloo in which a hole is dug around 4’ deep and covered by an igloo structure, Had we listened to instructions carefully, we would have dug a hole 3’ in diameter and our lives would have been much easier. Instead, our holes diameter measured 7’ wide. Midway through the process our instructor came along to inspect our progress. Astonished by the size of our hole, he informed us that the typical 3’ hole is reasonably easy for two people to complete; 4’ is doable; 6’ good luck; and 7’ if completed, people would be taking pictures, dancing around it and hell, someone may even write a song about it. Basically implying our chances of building a complete digloo were slim to none and we’d most likely be pitching a tarp over the unfinished roof. I was taken aback and as construction progressed—if you can call it that—my dream of telling my kids one day that their old man had slept in an igloo before began to slip away. Our snow blocks repeatedly cracked or would not stay in place and finally my frustration took hold of and a flow of obscenities burst from deep within my lungs. Hearing my frustrations, Casey, our group leader and good friend of mine, came by to offer his support. He insisted we eat and drink some water to boost our morale and that we shouldn’t give up until nightfall. Because of his support, my dream of telling friends and family of my life in an igloo was revived and Peter and I rolled on. This time trading places, Peter the snow block cutter and I the placer. Things began to take shape at this point. His blocks were far superior to mine and I quickly found my groove placing them together. I will never understand the law of 3 corners in igloo building. Supported by 3 points of contact, the sintering of snow will hold a block in place no matter what the angle. Placing the blocks at an angle of nearly 75 degrees I trembled every time I removed my hand from the block after setting it. But they always held their position, which is truly incredible.  After close to 6 hours and continual support on Casey’s behalf, Peter and I nervously shaped and reshaped the final block and fit it in the last gap of our roof and our digloo was complete! An overwhelming sense of accomplishment swept over us as we rejoiced in our new home.  While we were hard at work on our digloo, the 3 group leaders had build two new kitchens in the communal area and completed it all with x-mas lights and candles. At 7:30, everyone in our group had finished their shelters and we all shared a group dinner. Needless to say spirits were high, the stars were shining and our village was alive. After hanging out for a couple hours, we all retreated to our ice cubes for the evening. Sleeping in a mound of snow was an experience like never before. Our light made shadows of blue dance along the walls and the cold air was truly refreshing. The surprising aspect of our ice cube home was the warmth it provided. We were noticeably warmer in our digloo than our tent the previous night. Funny how that works.
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