Homer Ski Marathon

At the end of our 25k ski race! Yeaaa!

A few weeks ago my daughter decided, for some random reason I'm not sure about, that she wanted to do a long ski race. We looked at the Tour de Anchorage, which was last weekend, but after adding up expenses (gas to get there, hotel, food, entry fee @ $75) I decided that was more than we wanted to spend on a ski race. The Homer Ski Marathon was just one week later on March 10. When I suggested that to Aurora, she said, "Yes! I want to do it!"

I have skied the Marathon Trail. It can be something of a wild ride as ski trails go, with a number of vertical downs and vertical ups, as well as long, curvy downs and long, long ups. And it is a point-to-point race, starting at the Lookout Ski trails off Ohlson Mountain Road and going all the way to the DOT trailhead on the Sterling Highway as you drive into Homer. For a few days (or more!) I pondered. I wasn't sure Aurora could do it, or that I wanted her to do it. Finally, I emailed Megan Spurkland, the coach of the Homer Women's Nordic. She'd worked with Aurora during the middle school ski season, and also at Wednesday night circuit training at the Bay Club. I asked her what she thought, and she was confident Aurora could do it.

Decision made, we went into action. Aurora was planning to classical it, because her favorite style right now is classic skiing. I wasn't comfortable with her skiing the race by herself, so I signed myself up (2 weeks of training is plenty, right??!!) Somehow one of her good friends decided she wanted to do the Ski Marathon too. As Aurora and I started training, going out for long classical skis after school, Aurora came to the conclusion she didn't want to classical it after all; she was going to skate it. I had already decided to classical it, and with only 2 weeks of training (my previous month's exercise was maybe a couple mellow skis, walks, snowshoes, random games of racquetball, perhaps a swim....you get the idea.) I knew I was not in skate skiing condition. By this time I was taking both Aurora and her friend Aziza out for skis after school, and just did skating with them most times. Snow conditions were awesome, with a huge base, and not too much fresh snow so it was actually groomed, and weather was in the 20's.

The day I did the whole outside of Baycrest Loop, 16 kilometers, classical, was the day I knew I could finish the Ski Marathon. The day I skated the Baycrest Loop, I knew I was in good enough shape to actually have fun on this race. Those two skis were my confidence builders (if I can go 16k, what's another 9k, especially since the last 5k would be downhill or flat?!), and they were also the longest skis I'd done since I was in high school.

Pre-race day arrived, and we planned what clothes we would wear (stay warm since it was supposed to be windy), what food we would bring, who would carry water, and coordination of rides. I thought I would be nervous, but was not. I was just eager. I was more nervous about getting to the race on time and staying warm on the race than actually racing it. We also got the girls skis waxed. I opted not to wax my skis. I had 2 weeks worth of kick wax on, which I had added to each time I'd gone out. It had great kick. I was afraid that if I took it all off, glide waxed them and then put new kick wax on that the kick wax would wear off by race's end, and that would have been a nightmare, not having enough kickwax on. So I went sans waxing.

Race day we dropped our vehicle at the DOT trailhead, and Aziza's mom drove us up to the Lookout Trailhead. We could have taken the bus up that they had provided, but we appreciated the luxury of our own vehicle! The registration table took about 30 seconds to sign one additional waiver and get our bib. I puzzled over where to pin my bib on. Front? Back? The girls opted for their leg, which was a good choice in case they decided to take layers off. I opted for my jacket, which I could not imagine taking off! It was about 10 degrees with an icy windy, and I knew many parts of the trail were on high, open, exposed areas.

The race start was casual. Everyone just grouped up at the hayfields start, on an honor basis as to who was faster in the front. I and another guy were the only classical skiers in the group that I saw. An hour earlier, at 9:30 a.m., people who didn't want to race had started skiing the 'tour' option. They were not officially timed, and it was only for the 25k (not the 42k). This man from Eagle River and I stayed together for the first 8 or 9 kilometers until just past the Crossman Ridge Aid station, when he took off.

Aurora and Aziza were just in front of me from the start, always in sight. When we started some of the long climbs, somewhere around the 5k mark, I passed them and stayed ahead of them the rest of the race. Come to find out they were fairly close behind me the entire race, but I never saw them again till I crossed the finish line and Aziza's dad had his camera trained on, not me, but someone behind me. It was the girls, finishing about 15 seconds after me. But I get ahead of myself.

The vertical up and vertical down hills that cut through gullies did not bother me. I like that kind of hill. The long uphills were not too bad for me because I was classicalling and could shuffle. I had nothing to prove, besides to finish, and so wasn't in a contest to have awesome technique. I could go as slow as I wanted. That being said, for my conditioning level, I pushed myself the whole race. I kept up a steady pace, always at that max of what I could handle without getting too tired and having to slow way down. I admit, I bit it on two curvy downhills. I was getting a little bit woozy and not quite as sharp mentally or physically. I'd taken 2 little cups of water at the first aid station, and when I started feeling out of it, I drank from my waterbottle I was carrying and I pulled out the almond bark (white chocolate with almonds) that Denver had made the night before and nibbled on it. I'd eaten half of it when I got to the top of the only marked Caution! hill of the whole trail when I dropped it. There was no way I was going to stop and pick it up, but it did it's job, and the timing was good because shortly thereafter I arrived at the bottom of The Kill Hill (different parts of the trail are labeled!), which is climbing Diamond Ridge up to Diamond Ridge Road.

I knew once I crossed Diamond Ridge Road it was an easy glide in to the finish, so my goal was just to get to that point. I was hoping for a sub-3 hour time. At the Diamond Ridge aid station I drank a cup of juice, which was perfect. Again, I barely stopped. I was feeling good. Tired, but still had plenty left. The ski around Sunset Loop, down Farside to College Way and then Raven's Loop to the finish is just a blast--my absolute favorite. It is so fast and curvy. I was really regretting not having my skating skis on at this point as that would have made it even faster and funner.

The final kilometer to the finish line was so hard! I was really tired at that point, but not so tired that once I got onto the flats that I couldn't pull out some nice classical technique. It was sweet to cross the finish line to cheers of friends, and then I was so surprised to look around and find Aurora and Aziza blasting in to the finish line as well! All my worries about them dissolved (mom worries, like "Did their pole break?" or "Did they crash?" or "Did they hit the wall?") and I was so proud of them! We'd done the 25 kilometer course in 2 hours and 30 minutes. While I know plenty of people who skied the 42k course finished it before us, I suspect they trained a whole lot more than I did! I was (am!) proud of my finish. That was by far my longest ski in the past 25 years, since I skied the 39 kilometer Korteloppet (shorter version of the Birkebeiner in Wisconsin). I have probably only skied 2 1/2 hours two other times in my life.

The girls had a good experience. They are very closely matched when it comes to pace so while Aurora led the whole way, Aziza said her pace was just right. It wouldn't have been as fun to do it alone, especially the first time. They were impressed at how well marked the course was, especially with the kilometer markings. It was a really good experience for them, and it will be a memory that sticks with them for a long time.

It is now the day after. There is a sense of unreality of having completed that race, and having done it so much better than I expected to (I was shooting for the 3-4 hour range). And there is an awesome sense of pride in the girls for doing it as well. I saw maybe 10 kids under the age of 18 doing the race, and many of those were high schoolers.

Next time (and there WILL be a next time!) I will let Aurora dress not-quite-so warmly (she had a jacket tied around her waist the whole time, took off her neckwarmer, all very clunky). I won't take food next time or just some chocolate. I will for sure take a waterbottle again, and I would probably dress the same. I would probably classical it again, though I know if I trained for it I would be tempted to skate it. Conditions might be very different another year, so I can't say for sure about all these things. And next year we'll make it to the after-party at Alice's Champagne Palace, where I hear we missed drawings for $1000 worth of cool stuff!

Thanks, Don Pitcher, for the finish line photos!

Young Drivers in Alaska!

When I was a kid, I remember being in awe that my cousins from Alaska were driving when they were 14 years old. When we moved here I thought of that occasionally, but the reality of it hit recently when my daughter turned 14. Wow! Old enough to drive! This is quite the rite of passage! What driving entails in Alaska is going to the DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) after your 14th birthday, fill out a form, show them your birth certificate, pass a multiple choice test of 20 questions (allowed to get 4 wrong) and pay $10.

I took Aurora to the DMV right after school last week. After we got there, a boy from her ski team walked in to take his exam, and then a girl from her basketball team walked in also. All were 14 and there to get their learner's permits. It was a sense of camaraderie as the kids waited with bated breath to see if they'd passed the test. A quick vision test, snap their photo and pay the fee, and they walked out legally able to drive!

I could tell Aurora was excited because she didn't want to let go of her license. She carried it with her here and there, and we studied every word and image on it. For 2 years she gets to drive, family only and with a parent, and then when she turns 16 she'll make an appointment for the behind-the-wheel test. I remember all the challenges of squeezing in a semester-long drivers ed class when I was in high school. This seems like underkill rather than overkill.

I'll admit that one bad part of getting a license in the winter is that I don't want to give Aurora much driving time on icy, snowy roads! But she has plenty of time to practice!

Deep Snow Tough on Moose

A moose calf recently was found dead outside the college campus in Homer, and my husband mentioned that the moose that hang around the high school have been very lethargic lately. A few days ago a moose calf was laying on the snow right outside the door to our house. Normally I'm pretty nervous walking so close to moose as they can be unpredictable, but this calf was so woebegone, barely lifting its head to look at us as we walked in and out of the house. Four hours later, it was still there when I returned from errands. My next door neighbor had to walk right by it to get to her house, but as she started to walk by, the calf finally got up. I shooed it away so our neighbor could get by and it plodded off.

Today when I came home from a ski a dog was picking at something in our front yard. Curious, I investigated. The baby moose was laid out on the ground, quite dead, and the dog had started eating it.

I called the Homer Police, but they don't come out as far as we live so I called the state troopers. They said Fish & Game would come get it in the morning, but I really didn't want that dead moose in our yard till morning, attracting all the loose dogs and eagles around for a feast. Because it died of natural causes, it is not donated to charity, which means the moose list. That was fine with me. The trooper I spoke to called their list and found a trapper who wanted it for animal meat. The interesting part was that the troopers were very specific about the type of vehicle the people who were coming to pick up the moose were driving. Apparently when word gets around that there's a dead moose, people will just show up to grab it.

Two hours later a man in his F-150 pickup showed up to pick up the moose, bringing his son and a friend for muscle power. They tied a rope around the legs and dragged it the 100 feet or so to their pickup and minutes later they were gone. A bigger moose would have had to be cut up before they could even think about moving it, and it could have taken hours of work.

This is a hard, hard winter for the moose. The snow is just so deep. Twice in the past few weeks I have been driving along East End Road and all of a sudden discovered I was driving alongside a moose that was using the roadway as its trail. Luckily, the moose were not inclined to swerve into my vehicle, otherwise we could have had serious trouble. The snow is so high the moose have been able to strip the branches off our trees above their normal winter 'strip line.' Much as I don't like the moose eating our trees, I don't care to see them die of starvation either.

I keep thinking, "If I were a 'true' Alaskan I wouldn't have called the authorities and I'd have just butchered it myself," but we're not. It was so sad to have this dying moose hanging around. I just wanted it gone to someone who would appreciate the meat more than we would. It does remind me of the winter we drove from St. Ignace to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, across the Upper Peninsula. We saw hundreds of dead deer on the side of the road that trip. Somehow, it seems different with moose: there are fewer, and we get to know them because they spend the winter hanging out in the neighborhood. But animals do die, and it is a natural process. It just doesn't usually touch this close to home.

Winter Camping at 30 Below

While Douglas was in Fairbanks handling the frigid interior, Denver was out camping with the Boy Scouts at Engineer Lake in the Kenai Wildlife Refuge Area near Skilak Lake. It was quite an adventure, so I decided to write about his adventure too.

Ten boys and six adults decided to brave the elements. Denver spent the snow day on Tuesday preparing and packing, with additional tweaks on Wednesday and the final call on Thursday. Friday the weather forecast was for -25, and Denver was a bit nervous.

Some people had gone ahead and packed a path over Engineer Lake with their snowmachines (the snow was 1 to 2 1/2 feet deep but hard packed) and started a fire in the cabin on the other side of the lake. After the kids hiked across the lake (Boy Scouts are not allowed to ride motorized vehicles) they set up their tents, had a powwow in the cabin and then headed to bed. Denver and another boy had one of our very old dome tents. One of the adult leaders told them to open the window and door in it. If they don't, the perspiration can coat the inside of the tent and create a dome of ice and be a suffocation hazard. They had the rain fly on and a tarp over that so there wasn't a lot of air movement despite the windows being open. Denver reported that in the morning the inside of the tent was covered with frost.

Next morning when the kids got up, it was -28 degrees. Denver was toasty warm in the tent all night with 3 pads, 3 sleeping bags and a liner. His tentmate was comfy with 2 sleeping bags, one very heavy one. Of the 10 kids, only one got cold and a couple got cool that night. All were in tents, while the adults were in the cabin. One of the adult leaders was ribbing Denver about having so much gear Friday night before they went to bed, but the next morning he took it back because he'd been cold IN the cabin that night, and Denver was toasty in his sleeping bags in the tent! By time breakfast was over the temperatures had dipped to -30 degrees. At first I thought this strange, but it is always coldest just before sunrise, and sunrise is still a bit after 10 (Denver said with the hills on both sides, it was actually after 11 till it rose).

Now the work began: building a quintzee. There was already a huge quintzee built at that site, but they'd gotten there so late that they didn't have a chance to check out its safety so they did not use it the first night. It would end up sleeping 5 kids that night. The building began with piling their totes and supplies in a big pile. Then they started piling snow over the supplies. When the pile was large enough, they poked foot-long sticks into the snow all over. The snow needs to be at least one foot thick for proper insulation so those would be their guides when they started digging out.

The kids left and ate lunch, leaving the snowpile to sit for 2 or 3 hours. This allows the snow to 'set' or harden. When they came back, they used a snow saw to cut a large block out of the wall of the pile. This would be be the exit for getting all the snow and supplies out of. They started the digging process, and as they came upon supplies they would shove them out the door. Having the supplies allowed them to have less snow that needed to be shoveled out. When the shelter was dug out to the one-foot markers, they took the handle of a snow shovel and poked about 20 airholes all over it. Then they put the snow block back in place and dug an entrance. The entrance is smaller than the hole used for digging out snow. Then they cut a snow slab to put over the entrance, and filled a trash bag with snow to plug the gaps around the slab. They would put this in place after they got in at night, with the help of someone outside.

Four boys were able to fit comfortably inside this quintzee that they built, and though it only dipped to 22 below that night, again, they were all toasty warm. It was about 6 feet across inside and 4 feet tall (I would have liked that better!!).

While the kids were building their quintzee, the Scoutmaster had built a tunnel shelter. There was a natural indentation and he cut snow blocks and put them over the tunnel, effectively making a one-person snow shelter. A scout built a debris shelter. He cut snow blocks and put them in a semicircle, covered it with branches, put a tarp over that and then weighted the tarp down with snow. He slept in that shelter by himself that night, and though it was not as warm, it was significantly less work than a quintzee.

When I asked Denver about his general impressions of the trip, the first thing he said was, "There was not much daylight." Even though it was sunny, the amount of time that the sun was up was probably 5 hours, with some dusk before and after. The quintzee building took pretty much the whole day, with a crew of kids working on it. The other thing he said is that the cabin was essential. They ate their meals in there so they were able to take off their gloves to cook and not freeze their fingers. They also all hung up their sleeping bags during the day to dry them off. And for one kid who did not have good winter gear with him, it kept him from hypothermia (otherwise, he would have been taken home because he did not have warm enough gear to survive). For all his nervousness before he went, Denver just shrugged about the cold. "It wasn't that bad." I'm just shaking my head, trying to imagine -30 degrees as "not that bad." These Boy Scouts! I'm in awe of them! Of the 10 kids on the trip, most of them were 6th or 7th graders, with a handful of high schoolers. Doing things like this really builds their confidence, and gives them experiences that few kids these days have. These boys earned their 100 below badge in one weekend: one degree counts for every degree below 32. It was 62 degrees below freezing the first night, and 54 degrees below freezing the second night.

As the mom at home, I was a bit nervous. Luckily, there was cell phone access at Engineer Lake so the parents back home were facebooking and calling, sharing information and we knew the kids were having a blast and staying warm. I have to chuckle, though, because within 5 minutes of arriving home after that trip, Denver was conked out, asleep over a magazine on the couch, and he slept for 3 hours! So even though he was fully geared up and didn't get cold, and he slept through the night both nights, the cold still sucks the energy out of you.

I have to admit, I really like having a 'survival expert' in my home! Denver is now inspired to get his wilderness survival merit badge--and I'll keep encouraging him!

Fairbanks at 45 Below

The 15-member Homer High School hockey team was heading to Fairbanks for 4 days this past weekend, and since the basketball teams were already in Nome, there wasn't much choice for administrator coverage. Douglas got to go to Fairbanks, and he got to experience -45 degree weather--an experience he is not soon going to forget.

The journey began in Homer where it was snowing heavily and blowing Thursday morning. A late flight out of Homer resulted in missing the connecting flight from Anchorage to Fairbanks. The next flight was over 4 hours later, so Douglas had lots of time to kill in the airport, along with another chaperone for the team (the mom of the only female varsity player) who also missed the flight.

Upon reaching Fairbanks Douglas rushed through the car rental process in order to get to the game that he was supposed to be covering. However, renting a car is a little different there. They give you an extension cord with the rental, and they inform you that if you don't plug in your car, it will cost you $50 to have the car rental company come jump the car for you because it won't start (because it won't). And while nearly every Alaskan we know puts studs on their tires in the winter, the rental cars and vans did not have studded tires so the vehicles were slipping all over the place.

Douglas also discovered that if the hotel doesn't have plugs to plug in your car, you should go find another hotel because that is an essential part of the stay. People either leave their car running all the time or they plug it in. No other choices. And for the most part, places do have plug-ins. For example, the ice arena had plugs with extension cords splaying out in all directions from the parking lot lamp posts.

When things get that cold, certain things happen. For example, each school has a different policy at what temperature the teams cannot travel at. For example, Delta Junction (about 60 miles southeast of Fairbanks) cannot travel if it is colder than 30 below. Houston cannot travel if it is 40 below or colder. Saturday Homer was supposed to play Delta Junction at Delta's outdoor but covered ice arena. They thought it would be warm enough under the cover to play (they can play up to 15 below), but the temperatures were too cold for that. In fact, it was colder than 30 below so Delta Junction had to cancel. There was ice time available at an indoor rink, but it was too cold for the team to travel from their school to the ice arena 40 miles away.

The kids played one game on Thursday and one on Friday, and ended up buying some ice time on Saturday since their game got cancelled. The rest of the time they had to go somewhere and hang out. They were staying at a school so they had to be out of the school by 7:05 a.m. on Friday. That made for a long day of hanging out. Fred Meyers is a popular place to hang because it has food, so the kids would roam for hours. The team was given free tickets to watch the Ice Dogs, the semi-pro local hockey team, play. That stadium was very comfortable with 5000+ seats and warm, quiet seating (sounds like an oxymoron, I know) so that was a pleasant few hours. The kids also watched other high school teams play as 5 or more teams from all over the state were in Fairbanks to play hockey that weekend. All this free time is a prime reason why the school district requires administrator coverage at all out-of-town team travel.

The cold does a number of interesting things: it creates a permanent vapor fog that looks just like regular fog, but it is the result of the extreme cold. The other fun part of the cold is that when you take a cup of hot water and throw it in the air outside it vaporizes--poof! The hotter the water the better the effect. It just looks like talcum powder falling where there was just water moments before. The kids had great fun playing with water and cold air.

Douglas was talking to a firefighter in Fairbanks and he said they have to bundle up really well and then expect to be turned into giant icicles. And if the water flowing through the hoses slows it will freeze so it is very important that they keep the water going.

Finally, when it gets that cold the jets cannot take off or land. Only prop planes can go out. The runways get so slick that they have no traction for landing or taking off. When Douglas was there the Fairbanks airport was closed to jet landings and takeoffs.

It was a fascinating experience, and Douglas was glad to experience it....once. Once is enough. Wow. Our trip up that way at Christmas could have been veeeery different!

Snow Shelter Revisited

After Denver stayed in his snow shelter New Year's weekend, I offered to stay in one with him if he built one in our yard. After we made him shovel off our front porch there was a huge pile of snow so he decided to start working on it. It was ready in time for a Saturday night outing.

We covered the door (as you can see in the picture here) and put a thermometer inside. It was 12 degrees outside and 25 inside (without us in there). We each had two pads (I used two thermarests; Denver a thermarest and a pad). I had 3 sleeping bags while Denver had 2 sleeping bags with a sleeping bag sheet. I wore my hat all night, but nothing on my face, while Denver wore his facemask and balaclava again.

When it was time to crawl in, I went first, scootching my pads in, then going back in the house for my sleeping bags. The shelter was COZY, to put it mildly. The entrance was just wide enough for my shoulders to fit through, and only high enough for me to wiggle in. Once inside, if I laid on my side my shoulder would brush the ceiling. So getting in was a challenge. I took off my boots outside, then wiggled my way into the sleeping bags and dislodged large amounts of snow from the roof as I got my jacket off. By time this was done my hands were frozen so I put my gloves back on to warm up. And I had a moment of panic. I'm not prone to claustrophobia, but there was just enough space for the two of us and there would be no getting out fast. I started saying a calming mantra, closed my eyes and calmed down in a few minutes.

Then Denver came out and did the wiggle in routine. Problem is, the blanket over the door fell off after he got in. I crawled out to put it back up and got completely covered with snow (I didn't have my jacket on!) and then had to wiggle back in, this time with Denver in there. I finally got back in there and all the snow on my shirt started melting so I felt damp, but despite that, I was warm, and my frozen hands had already warmed up. Within 20 minutes I was groggy and....ready to go to the bathroom! NO WAY! I willed myself to sleep.

I woke up a number of times during the night like I usually do when I'm camping. I would check on Denver, do a mental check of myself (ignore bladder!) and then fall back asleep. I was impressed with how comfortable I was. I would say I was more comfortable than I usually am when I am tent camping (could be the two pads!!). The air temperature was fine too. I normally sleep with a blanket over my face, but I was never uncomfortable with the temperature or worried about being too cold. It was an impressively nice experience.

At 6 a.m. I woke up and Denver was shifting around ready to get out. We were both due for a bathroom break--no more delays! That's about the time I usually get up, so I didn't think I'd be getting back to sleep so we headed into the house.

In some ways I think I would prefer a snow shelter to a tent in the winter. I think it would be warmer. On the other hand, it did occur to me that if there were an earthquake that it could be a bad thing. However, it was overall a neat experience, I am glad I did it, and now I think it would be fun to see how little equipment we could do it with--fewer pads and sleeping bags--and still be comfortable!

Snow Shelter

Denver gets all sorts of bright ideas, some of which he follows up on, others that he does not. On New Year's Eve we were in Ninilchik at my aunt and uncle's ranch when Denver decided to build a snow shelter. He was out there piling up the snow and digging out a tunnel within minutes, focused on his new project. Next thing I know he's saying, "I want to sleep in it!" It was 0 degrees out when he said that, with the lows predicted to be -6 for New Year's night. No one there thought he would really do it, including me. Or if he did it, he certainly wasn't going to make it the whole night. In fact, a couple of his cousins said, "We want the second shift when you come in." Denver told them, "If you think I'm going to come in then you don't really know me!" I thought to myself, "I must not know him either!!"

Denver started preparations in earnest, asking me and my cousins for advice on staying warm. I recommended 3 sleeping bags. Denver built a giant plastic bag to put them all in so he (and his sleeping bags!) wouldn't get wet (he was thinking about how wet he got camping in December). He rounded up two foam backpacking-type sleeping pads, and wrapped his pillow in a trash bag also (which I convinced him to take off before he went to sleep, in the name of comfort). He decided to wear long underwear and sweatpants and a sweatshirt, his balaclava and foam facemask. An old sleeping bag would be fitted over the entrance to his snow shelter to keep out the cold.

Come midnight and the end of the fireworks display my cousin Todd put on, Denver prepared to sleep. I went out with him to get him settled in. He stowed his sleeping bags in the tunnel (1 bag inside another, the other on top and plastic trash bags around them all), ditched his boots and jacket and crawled in. He took off his headlamp, I secured the door with a little breathing hole and we said goodnight. It was 12:30 a.m.

At 1 a.m. Douglas checked on Denver, who was still awake and comfortable. At 2:30 a.m. I checked on him, feeling his face (warm) and checking for breath (breathing). At 5 a.m. I checked again: still good. At 8:45 a.m. Douglas checked on him. Denver was awake, warm and just hanging out in his shelter. At 10 a.m. Denver finally came in, thoughtful about his experience and obviously still digesting what he'd done.

My biggest concerns were that 1-he would get frostbit and not wake up to know it, 2-that he would suffocate if there wasn't enough air, or 3-that his facemask would get covered with frost and he would suffocate. It was hard to believe that he could actually be warm in -10 degree weather (Yep! I got to ten below zero that night!). He said he was actually on the too warm side, but he wouldn't have wanted fewer sleeping bags. He slept the entire night and in the morning he had to take off his facemask because he was too warm.

Denver reported he would make a few modifications next time: He would build a deeper tunnel. As it was, if the blanket over the entrance hadn't been there, his head would have been half in and half out of the shelter. He would want his entire head to be inside. He would also build an airhole in the top for additional airflow in case the blanket was put on too tightly. Finally, he would take a thermometer inside the shelter with him to see how warm it got in there. Supposedly it would be at least 32 degrees inside a snowcave as the snow provides excellent insulation. The Boy Scouts have a campout planned for next weekend so he will have an opportunity to try out the modifications. And I told Denver if he ever builds a snow shelter in our yard that I'll sleep in it with him. I want to try this too!!