Guide · Shelter
Making a snow shelter
Snow is a surprisingly good insulator. Inside a well-built snow shelter, the temperature can stay near freezing even when it is far colder outside, and you are out of the wind.
Before you dig
- Stay away from avalanche slopes and the bottom of steep, snowy hillsides.
- Work slowly. Sweat soaks your clothes and makes you cold later. Take off a layer while you dig.
- Keep a shovel, pole or ski with you inside, in case you need to dig out.
The snow trench: quickest option
- Dig a trench about as long as your body, a little wider than your shoulders and about 1 metre deep.
- Lay skis, poles, branches or a tarp across the top.
- Cover them with blocks or a thick layer of snow.
- Line the floor with branches, a pack or a mat so you are not lying directly on snow.
This can be built in under an hour with a shovel.
The snow mound (quinzhee)
Use this when snow is too shallow or soft to dig into.
- Pile snow into a mound about 2 metres high and 3 metres across. Mixing the snow as you pile helps it bind.
- Leave it to settle and harden for one to two hours.
- Push sticks about 30 cm long into the mound all over. They show you when to stop digging.
- Dig a small, low entrance, then hollow out the inside until you reach the ends of the sticks.
- Shape the roof into a smooth dome so drips run down the walls rather than onto you.
Key rules for any snow shelter
- Make an air hole. Poke a hole through the roof, about the width of a fist, and keep it clear. Without it, the air can become stale and dangerous.
- Keep the entrance low. Cold air sinks, so a sleeping area higher than the entrance stays warmer.
- Never use a stove, candle or fire in an enclosed snow shelter without good ventilation. Carbon monoxide has no smell and can kill.
- Mark the outside with a bright item, so rescuers can find you.
- Brush snow off your clothes before you go in, so it doesn't melt on you.
Signs you need help
Constant shivering, confusion, clumsiness or slurred speech are signs of hypothermia. If you have any signal, call your local emergency number (112 in Europe and many other countries, 911 in North America).
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