Nervous about winter camping? Don’t be. Sure, snow can slow your progress, but it can also save your life, improve your cooking, and take your camp experience to the next level. Cozy up to the cold stuff with these 15 uses for snow.
Survive a storm. The fluffy stuff’s high air content (up to 95 percent by volume) makes it an excellent insulator. Dig a trench to escape high winds or carve a snow cave into a deep drift by tunneling parallel to the ground. Use branches, your backpack, or a sleeping pad to insulate your body from the frozen tunnel floor.
Build furniture. Want lawn chairs on your lunch break? A dinner table in your cook tent? With a little creativity and a good avalanche shovel, your dream home is just a little digging away.
Do your business. Trust us; it’s refreshing. And, unlike a dead leaf or smooth stone, snow is moldable, and the white color makes it easy to, uh, monitor progress.
Store gear. Dig out your vestibule floor until it’s about a foot lower than the level of your tent for more storage. Not enough? Dig a garage into a snowbank to keep fresh-fallen snow off your pack.
Stay warm. Layer snow and wood for a long-lasting fire that conserves wood and stays warm for hours (ideal for drying wet gear). Dig a 3-by-3-foot pit about a foot deep. Gather sticks about half the width of your wrist. Line the bottom of the pit with sticks, then pack a layer of snow over them until…
