The standard survival shelther is the "snow trench."
Similar in function is the L-shaped hole of my own design. I paid for my creativity with comfort: the hole does little to keep out wind and sunlight. Expect to spend four hours digging this zero-star accomodation.
The Cadillac of snow shelters is the igloo-esque "quinzee." These are even better than tents: warm, dark, and quiet, no matter how the wind rages outside. Sun shining through the snow shell creates a fantastic aquamarine night-light effect.
Wind walls are useful for shielding your camp--especially tents and cooking areas--from high winds. Bricks are mined from a "snow quarry," visible in the foreground of the photo below.
Happy camping!
pepe
2 comments:
I just caught up on ready your blog as I have slacked off recently. Very interesting, as always. That quinzee shelter is rather ingenious! I can relate to the wind. It was 9 degrees in Maine this morning. I visited our neighbor who lives on the lake and realized how much the wind blows across there. Am glad to have so many trees for shelter. I can relate to the white landscape, too. Although rain and 46 degree temperatures are predicted for Monday. Quite a temperature spread from below zero tonight. So what is the weather in Antarctica now? Still summer? Or are you heading towards winter? How many hours of daylight?
Sounds like your temps are much like ours--currently ranging from below zero to 15 above. But besides the thermometer creeping downwards, it's been rather calm lately. Still 24 hours of daylight--first sunset is Feb 20, the day after I leave, but even then the sun will duck under the horizon only very briefly.
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