By:Suryadev.A      2014/12/12

Outdoor Ed Article #4

How to build a Quinzhee - Scott Winger

Rating  ****

Scott Winger went on his annual winter camping trip in Algonquin park. This article is talking about how he built his quinzhee and the things he did so he wasn’t uncomfortable in his quinzhee. He talks about all the little thing you can do that will make your night way easier and warmer. The article also includes numerous amounts of photos that help him explain the things he did in the quinzhee and around the quinzhee to improve it. The first thing that is mentioned in the article is that the bigger you build your Quinzhee the safer you will need to make sure it is. First couple of steps are to Establish a perimeter that you will build your quinzhee around of. Prepare and gather all of the snow that is required in order to build it. After packing the snow on top of each other let the big pile of snow sit overnight. If it is built with fluffy snow then let it sit for at least 2 days. Then dig out the entrances and inner area of the quinzhee and create vents. After all of this is done you can heat it up and cool it down. If that goes great then you are ready to move into your quinzhee.

In class we have to make a quinzhee but I always thought of it being something more simpler then what Mr.Winger has described. This article made me realize that the way we are approaching to build our quinzhee is wrong or not the preferred way. The detailed steps provided by the article tell me that we are missing a couple of steps here and there. This tells me that I am rushing with the building of the quinzhee that I should slow down and make sure what I am doing is the correct way it should be done. I learned about 2 important steps. Heating up the quinzhee and then letting it cool. You heat up the quinzhee so some of the moisture that is melted can form ice on the top of the quinzhee when you cool it down. Since you have created vents at the top of the quinzhee this does not create a hazard. The next time I will work on my quinzhee I will think more about how big it needs to be in order to accommodate my group and me. I will also keep in mind these new steps that I have learned and see it I can apply them to my quinzhee to make it more sturdy and stable. This article has also told me that I need to plan more about the quinzhee before you actually start building. As it will be a much better quinzhee if it is planned out rather than just done on the spot.

Winger, Scott. "Welcome to My Quinzhee Camping page - HOW TO BUILD ONE." ScottWinger. Jan. 2007. NA. 2014/12/12 <http://www.scottwinger.com/quinzhee-camping.html>.