One Night in a Snow Shelter...

Liz Henderson--Program Team Assistant

Over the past two weeks, HoneyRock hosted the Wheaton Academy Winterim Girls' Wilderness Trip.  The group was led by GPA Micah Shires and Aimee Daniels, a Wheaton Academy teacher.  The first few days of the trip were spent at HoneyRock learning wilderness skills and how to cross-country ski while wearing internal frame backpacks. 

Then the girls departed HoneyRock on cross-country skis for four days on the trail.  The girls spent the first two nights of the trip in outlying HoneyRock cabins (Black Bear and Salt Lick).   But the final night was to be a true winter wilderness experience: the girls built quinzee snow shelters to sleep in.

I had the incredible privilege of joining the girls for part of their trip, including the night in the quinzees.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with quinzee snow shelters, either because you've never seen one, built one, or slept in one, allow me to explain. 

First, you have to shovel a big mound of snow.  For efficiency, two of us shoveled snow while the third wore snow shoes and packed down the snow.

Then, you have to allow the snow mound to sit for several hours so that the snow can bond.  See how happy we look after an hour of intense shoveling and snow stomping?

Then comes the arduous task of hollowing out the interior of the snow mound leaving walls that are approximately 12 inches thick.  It's a team effort because one person scoops out snow from inside the shelter while the other shovels the snow away.

Here are two of the girls after they completed hollowing out their quinzee.

Now you're ready to lay down your ground tarps, insulating pads, and sleeping bags, and prepare yourself for a great night's sleep.

So, if you've never had the privilege of sleeping out in the snow, I would highly recommend building a quinzee.  It's much warmer than a tent, and it's way cooler than sleeping out in a cabin!