Snow Day Fortress

In this assignment, we were required to build a snow shelter through natural means that would help protect someone from the elements. In the construction of a snow shelter, some important things to keep in mind are: the direction of the wind (so as to minimize the extreme cold from wind chills), keep warmth in and keep moisture out.


Before I started piling up snow to start my snow shelter, I looked around my backyard to find any snow drifts high enough to dig out a shelter. However, I was unsuccessful seeing as my whole backyard was pretty much flat.

With a shovel, I marked a circle in the middle of my backyard to mark the general size of my desired shelter and then began piling snow into the center of this circle. This way I could have a flat area that reaches ground level around my shelter to make it easier to not only work with, but to also get in and out of the shelter. As a began digging into my snow pile, I realized that the snow was too powdery to hold its shape. So instead of waiting a whole day in hopes that the snow will harden, I decided to grab a bucket of water which I then dumped onto the snow pile. 

Once the snow was hardened due the freezing of the extra water added, I began digging a hole with my shovel in the side opposite of the way the wind was blowing. 

I then widened the hole with the shovel, but after a while, it became extremely difficult to dig the roof higher. As a result, I decided to continue digging with my hands to expand the interior/create a higher ceiling and I also used a small bucket to remove the excess snow. Apart from digging, I also threw some water on all the walls of the inside of the shelter so that when the water freezes it can harden the snow and thus remove any chance of the once powdery snow from collapsing. 

Here is a picture of me laying in the shelter. I found that the shelter was quite a bit warmer than being exposed to the elements and also found that when inside it also dampened any outside sounds. Through further research, I found that snow absorbs sound and is also a good natural insulator which is why it was relatively warmer inside the shelter than compared to the outside. 

Final Results:

Although my shelter did not have a bottom floor to it, it was on a hill which would then theoretically drain out any moisture produced.  Additionally, a door crafted from fallen branches or even a bag full of snow can be used to minimize any drafts. However, if this is done you would have to poke holes into the shelter to act as vents so that you have access to fresh air.