Snow Fort

     This weekend I was tasked with building an outdoor winter shelter that could sustain someone. My shelter can fit up to one person comfortably. After the big snowstorm Thursday, all of the snow had been shoveled into a huge mountain that would serve as the location for my shelter. My first step in building the shelter was to dig a hole deep and big enough for someone to take refuge in it. I also had to find an area where the snow was well packed and would not collapse when I began to dig. Once I found a suitable area, I began to dig using a shovel. Once I felt the hole was big, wide, and deep enough I stepped back and thought about what else I could use to create a more sheltered home.

       So I started to look for bare branches because they would serve as a skeleton for the covering of the shelter. After collecting enough branches, I started sticking them into the snow and created a top for my shelter. After that I began to look for other branches that had leaves so that when I placed them on my shelter they would be able to block wind and snow/rain. I found pine branches and began to stick them in the holes that were in my fort. Once that was done most of the shelter was covered and protected from the elements. You can see this here.


     One thing I wished that I could have done differently was to find something to lay on the floor of the shelter so as it would keep a person warm and dry for the most part. Unfortunately, I could not find enough branches for this and I could not find a piece of plastic or tarp. If someone was in a situation where they would need to build a snow fort, they could use a coat or something to sit on. The snow's temperature will not change, it stays at 32 degrees. The only thing they would have to worry about is the wind and snow. Overall this shelter did not take long to build. The only time consuming thing was finding the branches. This was the shelter that I built and it would keep one person warm and out of the cold.