Winter Camp 2004
This year’s winter camp lasted three days, most of which were filled with shoveling. Our gear was piled on a specially constructed roof rack sheathed with orange shag carpet. We crammed into our advisor’s car amidst more gear and started out just in time. We had to make a stop in town before our departure, so we stayed in the car while our advisor did some last minute errands. Let’s just say that in a small city like Steinbach, one cannot occupy a vehicle with a center of balance nearing roof level without some awkward looks from the locals. At last we began our three-hour journey northward, listening to the story “Who Moved My Cheese?” on cassette and trying to avoid eye contact with passing motorists. On rough stretches of road, we were kept entertained and somewhat paranoid observing parts of the roof becoming concave and then convex again under the tremendous load. We stopped in Pine Falls for gas and snacks. Evidently the residents of Pine Falls were amazed at our “little car that could” as much as Steinbachers were. Finally we arrived at the cabin, unloaded our gear, ate, had a bonfire and settled in for the night. The next morning we ate breakfast and headed onto the lake. While the Venturers began phase one of polar dome construction, our advisor was hard at work constructing his own “traditional style” quinzy. For more information on the Polar Dome, see link. A method we prefer when piling snow on the Polar Dome is as follows: first, lay a tarp on the snow and shovel as much snow as you think you can handle on top of it. Then, get four people to each grasp a corner of the tarp. Finally, lift the tarp and take a run at the Polar Dome, lifting the snow on top of the form, then pulling the tarp out from underneath. This method works well when the snow in the area immediately surrounding the quinzy has been cleared away, and the remaining snow is out of effective shoveling range. CAUTION: There comes a point when the height of the Polar Dome limits the safe use of this method. Running directly into the Polar Dome may occur (we speak from experience). When phase one was completed and much of the day had passed, we returned to the cabin for a hot meal (technically lunch, since we worked through lunch and came back in time for supper). Later that evening we ate second supper, consisting of the lunch menu (having consumed the supper menu already).
We walked back to the lake in order to complete phase two of construction before it got too late. The snow had set nicely, and both piles were ready to be carved out. It’s a good thing we had probes (included with the Polar Dome) to tell us how far to dig out the inside because when it’s dark and you’ve illuminated the inside of a quizy, it’s impossible to tell how tick your wall is until you’ve broken through. Our advisor was not so lucky, and he ended up with a fair sized star gazing portal in the roof of his quinzy. Fortunately, he was able to patch it up quite nicely. During daylight hours, the thickness of the walls can be semi-accurately gauged by observing the intensity of the bluish glow emitted from them as the sun shines through. Stopping light from coming in through the door opening enhances this ability. Anyway, phase two was completed well after nightfall. We got a fire going on the ice and warmed up before putting in for the night. The next morning we planned to be back in Steinbach by 4:00pm, so we had to pack up and go pretty much right away. As we drove back home, the increasing population density reminded us that we were, in fact, a peculiar sight. It was a great trip, and it would be nice to do a second winter camp before the snow melts in order to have more leisure time and less shoveling
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