Snow Survival Weekend

Twelve of us ended up on this year’s Snow Survival Weekend with Noel Mungovan. I had to prod my wife Salome a bit to come along on it. “We’re going to build and sleep in snow caves?” she asked incredulously. “Character building!” said I “I bet you don’t know many people who have slept in a snow cave!” “My mother will ring you up and ask you if you are trying to kill me” said she. You can take the girl out of the tropics, but it’s hard to take the tropics out of the girl… What would she prefer to be doing – sitting on a warm beach in the sun with a fishing rod and cold ale? Madness!!

When we arrived at our starting point, Guthega village, it was misty and overcast and there were fairly regular snow showers. There was a bit of snow and slush on the road, which was OK as it enabled me to ski up the road back to Guthega from the overnight parking area, which was only about one kilometre away, but one kilometre seems a lot further when walking in plastic ski boots. The snow itself was quite good – nice and powdery on top with a firm base.

The group started out from Guthega central at about 10am on Saturday morning. We headed down the road to the Guthega dam, getting used to that extra weight on our backs while skiing. There were four guys from ADFA in the group who wore snow shoes, so they had a relatively easy time. If you are serious about going back country though, you have to get used to that weight while skiing. We crossed the dam and headed up the ridge of the hill that faces Guthega village and drops into the Snowy River below the dam wall. Salome and I slowly worked our way up the hill at the back of the group with continuous easy traverses, then a final slog up the last steep bit with a climbing traverse. Noel was looking for an area of deep windblown snow that would allow us to dig into the hill and create caves, and this did not occur until we were close to the top of the ridge.

Some of us stopped and lunched for a bit while recovering from the climb. Two kilometres uphill with heavy packs and ski gear is certainly a good work out. The younger crew amongst us, such as the “Army Guys” as they became known, were already digging into the deep drifts of snow to construct their snow caves. Depending where they were dug, the different caves had different characteristics. The Army Guys had a big thick drift of snow in which they constructed a complete command and control centre, Phong and his group created what I called a big wombat hole that could sleep three, Jo-Anne and Lee built a 'standard' cave, while Salome and I completed a cave that was started by Noel in his classic “T” excavation, which becomes the walkway and two sleeping platforms. Ours was much smaller than the others as we struck rock a couple of metres into the snow drift. We ended up digging one sleeping platform along the slope to fit my longer frame. Once we had filled in the exposed entrance with some snow blocks, we had quite a snug hole in the snow.

Salome digging the snow cave

After a couple of hours, when we were all satisfied with the caves we had created, Noel called us all over to a flatter area and demonstrated his trench shelter, which is a hole cut into the ground, covered over with skis, stocks and a tarp, then covered over with snow to stop the tarp flapping and to insulate the hole. The idea behind this shelter is that it can accommodate up to two people, is quick to build, and can be build in areas of quite shallow snow.

Noel's trench shelter

Dinner was a fairly quick and functional affair for Salome and I. We wanted to get it done before dark, and we wanted to get in and curled up in our sleeping bags a soon as possible. The wind was still blowing, and the odd snow shower and wafts of spindrift made our sleeping bags seem very inviting. We had an iPod with a whole lot of ABC radio shows on it, so we could share the headset with an earpiece each while curled up in our bags. Salome and I both had plastic tarps to encase our sleeping bags, so we were well cocooned once we were in our bags and zipped up. We slept reasonably in our hole in the snow, with the odd wake up and grumble about drips from both of us. Dawn was very pretty with a pale pink light being cast across the tops of Blue Cow and Blue Calf Mountains, which were in direct view from the entrance of our snow cave. Gone was the fog and snow of the previous day, with a fantastic view up onto the Main Range.

Dawn over Guthega

We had a leisurely breakfast and slowly packed our gear, then set about collapsing in the caves we had so carefully constructed the day before. Half the group elected to walk and snowshoe down the hill, while the more gung-ho kept their skis on and tackled the descent. We were lucky in that the steeper sections of the hill also had some wide treeless slopes that allowed us to carry out long traverses while descending slowly, and the snow was soft and powdery on that side of the hill. About a third of the way down the hill Noel suggested that it would be a good place to stop and practice turns. There were some nice slopes with good snow and Noel turned it into a Telemarking lesson for those who were interested. I stayed for a short while then headed downhill after Salome, Jo-Anne and Lee who were all on foot, the thought of a hot pie and coffee at Jindabyne being too alluring.

I had a couple of long comfortable traverses down to the Guthega Dam wall, and met up with Salome et al. there. We all trudged up the hill to Guthega central and were soon ensconced in the main building at Guthega, waiting for Noel and the others to return, watching them work their way down the hill opposite us while we munched on various snacks. We had all acquired some valuable skills and knowledge while getting plenty of exercise moving piles of snow. It’s good to know what you can do when you need to and that is what the weekend taught us. Yes you’ll be tired, yes you’ll be cold, but yes you will be alive to tell the tale. Thanks again to Noel for a great weekend, and for sharing with us skills that may just be the determining factor when we are out there in a harsh environment.