Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Snow Caving

The outdoor trip for this week was cross country skiing and snow caving.

















We drove about an hour from the base and then turned off onto a road that was built to serve hydroelectric needs. While it is ok to drive there, the road is not maintained. There are two fairly long tunnels that we drove through and several sections that had skating quality ice inside. I was in the VW Caravel and we got stuck bigtime (front wheel dive and uphill are a bad combo on ice). Even though we had snow tires on we slid backwards and jackknifed our trailer (the trailer was the only thing that stopped us). We jumped out to assess the situation and couldn't even stand outside the van because it was so slippery. We made it a little farther by throwing dirt under the tires but eventually we had to put chains on. At the end of the road we skied about half a mile (with our backpacks, firewood, shovels...) to the site where we would build the caves. This was my first time on CC skis and they are defiantly nothing like downhill skis. I managed to make it without breaking anything or getting a shovel in my skull which was nice.














We were in teams of four to each dig a cave we could sleep in. After about 3 feet we hit a layer which seemed to be solid ice. Some of the teams hit the ice sooner and started over in a new area. We decided to just keep going. It was exhausting but we found a good system. We took turns digging at high intensity for 5-10 minutes. Sometime after 10:00 pm we finally arrived at something that was a little less than ideal but that the four of could sleep in. The next day we improved it by making the sleeping platforms bigger, adding storage shelves and a cooking area.














The next day we skied about 12 miles round trip out to a Sami Gamme. The Samis are the indigenous people of the north and the Gamme is a permanent tepee shaped house. It was fun but quite tiring.














Throughout the time at the caves, people kept working on the ever improving snow metropolis. There were stairs and paths connecting caves and levels, castle like walls for wind protection and a massive fire area with walls and stadium seating. It was a sight to behold (but hard to photograph because everything is white).














In the end we had a great time but were ready to return to base to sleep in our own beds.

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