BEC: Building Snow Caves on Blustery Mountains

Weather from the south seas swept up the coast, collected over the sound, passed over the sweeping lowlands and traveled up the Cascades.  Simultaneously, cold arctic air traveled south, and as the two met, the wilderness peaks around Mt Baker enjoyed their regular winter feast of snow.  Generally, in life, when opposites meet, the result is not boring.  It is usually some form of strong attraction and repulsion, which is the foundation for so much creativity.  These weather systems held true to this cosmic tendency!  As we gathered down by the ocean and felt the rain on our faces, discussed the strong gusts of the night before, and assessed each Explorers’ readiness for what lay ahead, we already could feel that need to rally spirits.  As we drove east and upward, we soon found ourselves in the midst of this creative meteorological cocktail. Opening the door to 35mph gusts and watching a few of our young friends literally get blown over, we knew then and there that this outing was about spirit.

Yes, we did have fun on the way up.  Yes, we did prepare with all kinds of discussion about how to maintain your heat before and during a winter excursion.  Yes, Stubbs was a champion up the mountain roads with nary a slip.  And yes, when it came time to get out there and find a place for shelter, there was no need for talk or theory.  The need for shelter on this outing was in our faces—wet, cold, and hurling toward us at 35mph.

This Explorer smiles as he writes these lines, thinking fondly of the challenges and the tremendous internal strength with which each boy in this outing responded.  Each boy strapped on his snow shoes, waited until the group was all together, and bounded into the wilderness, searching with zest for the lee side of a slope.  Each boy and each mentor, in the midst of it all laughed multiple times.  Snowballs were thrown, and more than one Explorer took a spill in the soft white.

As we began searching for the location for our snow caves, our guest mentor, Gary Keller (Steve’s dad), revealed himself as an amazing guide.  Weaving stories with concrete lessons for the boys and helping us all to navigate toward a good spot, Gary liberally shared the fruits of his mountaineering experience. Explorers “squirreled out” here and there, and did a great job coming back into the circle so they could learn the beginning basics of site assessment and the snow cave building process.

Once we had chosen a good spot, the shovels came out and we began to dig.  In order to keep everyone active, we decided to build two caves.  Step one was clearing out a snow “landing pad.” Step two was burrowing a tunnel into the wall of snow before us.  These two steps took some time, but they were well worth it.  Step three was clearing out the actual cave.  In this process, a few things became very apparent: it would be so much more work to try to do this by oneself; shovels are very useful; waterproof gear is a lifesaver; it is so much warmer just being in a snow tunnel, let alone a cave.

Explorers cycled in and out of digging and hauling, playing in the snow, eating food or drinking hot beverages, and just staring at the winter world before them.  As time moved on, even on the lee side, the wind began to bite and a few of us were getting colder.  Mentors kept alert and both taught and implemented our winter warmth strategies.  The boys got two pretty decent snow caves before we recognized that we were going to have to move to keep a few of our group warm and healthy.  We admired our work and headed out.

It is trips like this that we remember.  Trips like this are where we learn lessons that we’ll never forget, and we get stories that we might share for the rest of our lives.  As we navigated the snow and wind, our coldest Explorers stepped in to the Mountaineers lodge to eat and warm up.  Once recharged, we headed out and found our way to the bus.  This final walk was quite a challenge for some, but every single boy made it on his own- discovering how he can handle the cold wind, survive, and thrive.

When we got back in Stubbs, warmed up, and chained up, the snow really started, and we recognized that it was perfect timing.  Boys and mentors alike shared what they learned, and we all shared thanks (and hot tea!)  This was a great outing, and we are thankful for each Explorer that came out there with us.  Much thanks to the mountain as well, for being such a great teacher and inspiration.  Much thanks to every parent for your patience with us as we returned late with some tired boys.

We didn’t take a whole lot of pics, but you can see what we did take in thewinter photo gallery.