Wow, not much I can add to that! Only thing that comes to mind is that digging a snowcave is hard work, and if you are not careful you will start to sweat, a bad thing in extreme cold. So start removing layers as you warm up, and if you get close to breaking a sweat, stop for a while, or let your buddies dig...
Exactly, they are HARD work and take a LOT longer than you think to make. So if you need to hike out of where you are at maybe a less 'hard to build' shelter would be a good idea.
Another shelter I suggest is using the base of a tree and putting branches around the top to shelter yourself under them... this is normally almost already always dug-out to some degree (branches and leaves prevent snow from filling around the base), and you don't have to dig much if you do.
Also check out for fallen trees to just dig out under them instead of an entire cave.
Previous Topic
Index
