So, I'm planning my first winter overnighter this coming Feb. and was going to use a snow shelter like this one:
I got the Icebox igloo tool for Christmas last year and have been wanting to test it out.
I was planning on tearing the igloo down once I'm done with it to keep in step with the LNT ethic, but it made me wonder what the etiquette was for snow shelters
I've been snowshoeing a bunch of times and seen remnants of snow camps and snow caves, so I'm not really sure. Personally, I would think it would be cool to come upon an abandoned igloo to check out if I was out, but that me.
What do you guys think?
-------------- Everyone is entitled to be stupid, but some abuse the privilege.
Personally I would leave an igloo intact so somebody else could possibly use it. As for an ice cave I would destroy it as it may turn into a hazard for somebody unknowingly walking on top of it as the snow starts to melt.
But of course this is just my opinion.
If it's safe to leave it, then I say leave it if you want to. If it may become a hazard for other travelers, then destroy it. Who is to be the judge of the future hazardousness of the igloo/cave? You are!
I would like to come upon an abandoned igloo. It seems like a good place to take a break out of the wind. I know I use driftwood shelters for that at the beach, and I'm always thankful for the busy little beavers that build them.
While one man's treasure is another's eyesore, I think anything inherently temporary like an igloo or a driftwood shelter, built out of all-natural materials found at hand, is within the boundaries of the "leave no trace" ethic. They're right at the boundary, but on the good side of it IMO.
-------------- You must have really hated that moose - Dudley Moore, Arthur
If the igloo will stay above the snowline all winter keep it up - igloos at Paradise risk being buried and becoming almost as much of a hazard as snow caves.
I always tear down snow caves, having fallen into one that wasn't I can attest to how dangerous they can be for the next guy. White Pass. Scraped my nose and cheek on the edge of the ice, should have lost a couple teeth too.
As Lono says, they can get buried by snow and become a hole that people can fall into during the spring when the surface of the snow melts down and the roof of the igloo becomes thin.
But, it is a little different than most snowcaves in that the ceiling of the igloo gets thicker immediately as it gets further away from the center of the igloo. This results in one being able to put his arms out and stop from going all the way into the igloo where as a snowcave roof is generally more broad or flat and the hole one makes is much bigger in those cases.
Joined: 04 Mar 2006 Posts: 2411 | TRs | Pics Location: Between a rock and a hard place.
Thu Dec 24, 2009 3:33 pm
Very cool! How long did it take you to build the igloo and did you have help? I've got an Icebox a friend sold me a few years back but I've only tried once (unsuccessfully) to finish one. I'm hoping to build one soon.
I was planning to build mine somewhere I knew was shaded enough and away from any ski paths that I could leave it and return.
igloos rule.. you are going to have a blast!! Leave it intact..it poses no harm. Snow caves are underground and hidden and can pose a threat to unsuspected folks ..igloos are abose the surface.
-------------- "If you're not living good, you gotta travel wide"...Bob Marley
Joined: 26 Feb 2005 Posts: 3515 | TRs | Pics Location: Off the grid
Fri Dec 25, 2009 7:31 pm
Don't leave them intact if it's a popular hiking area. They become a landmine once they get covered over with snow. Come spring some one like ME will be walking along and fall through. I've had that happen several times and it's not fun!......
Plus the area looks like trailer trash with gumped up snow and piss holes all over if it becomes a popular spot and there's not a lot of new snow. Take a few mins. to return it to it's previous state, and please pick up any dropped garbage. Cig butts, bananna/orange peels or any garbage with a little snow kicked over is not ok in my book.
-------------- If you don't do it this year, you'll be one year older when you do. Warren Miller
I'm voting for leaving it. You are asking about LNT ethos so I am sure you will do everything else in keeping with that. Personally, I would love to find one out there on a winters day.
And please do report back on your Icebox experience. I am pretty interested in that tool.
Depends on where you go -- if you build your igloo in the Paradise area on Mt Rainer be aware that one of the jobs of the volunteer ski patrollers is to scan the "dead horse" basin and other popular group camping areas and collapse any igloos or snow caves left standing.
Personally I would reccommend camping somewhere further a field than those areas anyway -- since those areas are quite popular with boy scout troops doing snow camping -- which doesn't exactly foster a "wilderness" feeling.
I think one reason the Park Service insists on collapsing igloos and snow caves is to avoid people building a "semi-permenant" camp that they use every weekend -- with the concern that such concentrated use in once site would end up damaging the meadow plants and wild flowers below the snow. This is also why the park service doesn't allow building snowboard jumps in the Paradise area.
Anyway if you avoid the "circus" at Paradise and avoid placing your igloo in a spot where other are unlikely to unwittingly ski over it. I think leaving it up is no BFD. You might want to flag the top with a wand or something similar in case you want to return to the site to reuse it.
A while ago overnight space at Stevens Pass was so tight that some ski instructors and other ski area employees were actually staying over Friday and Saturday nights in "semi-permanent" snow caves and igloos tucked away in descrete locations.
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