Under Snow Adventure

Jacob and I took advantage of the nice weather this last weekend by heading to Mount Hood for a spring snow-camping outing.

Saturday we built a snow cave and spent the night. The snow conditions were great for this activity. There’d been several feet of new snow over the week and it was still soft, which made for easy digging. It was clear and sunny but fairly windy. After about 15 minutes of digging we had a hole deep enough to provide shelter from the wind as we finished our project.

We enjoyed a beautiful sunset with views of Jefferson, Hood, and the surrounding mountains. The white snow was bathed with shades of blue, pink, orange, and red as the sun dropped below the horizon. After sunset we enjoyed the bright moonlight and the glow of lights from Skibowl down in Government Camp.
On Sunday we began work on an igloo, which was something I’d never done before. Our most challenging task this weekend was figuring out how to cut decent blocks to build with. The snow was uncharacteristically dry and didn’t set up well even after stomping it down and letting it sit for awhile. Jacob discovered that certain layers in the snowpack were denser, probably from wind packing, and made for sturdier blocks. After we figured out how to get cohesive blocks and what size was easiest to work with we started making progress.

As the blocks stacked higher and the dome started to arch more dramatically we couldn’t believe it was actually still standing. Our structure seemed to be defying the laws of physics. There was a lot of gesticulation involved in adding the last course of blocks and the roof. I think at one point I was holding three blocks in place with various parts of my body while Jacob placed a fourth and packed in snow between them as reinforcement.

Eventually we ended up with an igloo that was big enough for two to sit in comfortably.
A snow saw would have really made this process more efficient. We only had an ice axe and shovels to cut the blocks, which limited the sizes and shapes we could cut. A snow saw would have been a huge time saver, allowing us to cut larger blocks without them breaking. Now I have a new piece of gear to put on my list for next year’s outing. : )

-Brad