14 OCT 08:

by Marco Flagg (with pictures by Francois and Marco)

Cotton Kills!  Weight is Great! And then this: if some happy camper students get their hands frost bitten and amputated, say due to an instructor’s ill considered approach, do they still qualify as ‘Happy Campers’?  While these were some of the many cosmic guidelines and questions we contemplated during camp, Happy Camper School or more formally ‘Snowcraft 1’ is actually a really instructional and fun if exhausting experience!

We set out for camp on the Ross Ice Shelf, the giant tongue of Antarctic glaciers lapping into the ocean.  The temperature was -17 deg C during the day, falling to -24 deg C at night – balmy by Antarctic standards!  

 

 

 

As the evening approached, the goal was to set up camp and survive the night. Using saws and shovels, we quarried large blocks of snow to build a protective wall against any of those unexpected gravity fed winds that might whip down from the Antarctic plateau with brutal force. 

Next, the instructors suggested some options for shelter.  Use the very sturdy Scott tents, originally used by the polar explorer Scott over a hundred years ago and still in use with only minor changes now.  Or sleep in the light-weight nylon mountain tents.  Flimsy, yes, but much better suited for sites only reached by foot.

 

 

But, the more challenging approach was of course to simply forego the tents and build your own shelter from the snow.  An igloo was built, and then one instructor dug a covered trench.  Tiny and claustrophobic, it partially collapsed as the instructor tried to enter – then had to be pulled out feet first.  After that, the instructors departed for their warm cabin, leaving us fledging students to fend for ourselves.

 

 

Snow… it is a great insulator.  And a trench, it presents little profile for even the most ferocious wind to attack.  If only the engineering was better!  Use your resources, whatever they may be.  The idea came with a look at the now empty banana sleds.  Great roofing material!  Quickly, camp mate Joshua Jipson and I corralled the sleds and placed them side-by-side over a portion of the afternoon’s snow quarry, now conveniently available as a two person snow trench shelter.  A tarp on top to seal the gaps, and insulating snow shoveled on top along with some detail sealing work completed the job. 

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Our deluxe double-heating-power (two campers!) snow trench house was ready for use and looked oh so cozy.  No need to wear ‘big red’ the thick standard issue parka at night, no need even for a hot water bottle.  Late evening with the sky now mildly dark, we put up a final, warming and exhausting struggle to get ourselves and our still thick clothing into our sleeping bags and liners – and quickly drifted to sleep comfortable and warm.  As it turned out, some of our camp mates would not be so lucky…   

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