March 21, 2010

Rocky Mountain Semester 24 is back from our winter expedition, and we had a blast!  What follows is a short summary of some of the things we did while we were out there in the snow.

First of all, we had the important task of building snow shelters called "quigloos." We made them by skiing ahead to our next campsite, piling snow, and then letting it settle for a day while we went back to our previous campsite. The next day we would skin back to the settled mounds of snow and hollow out the inside. One person (the "skydiver") dug from the top and another (the "mole") dug up to meet the skydiver. Once the two shovels met, the snow was pushed out through the bottom and the inside was hollowed out. The quigloos were cozy (yet spacious) and warm, which was a relief after a long day of skiing.

Snow kitchens were another big part of the winter expedition and we spent lots of time in them melting snow for water and cooking filling, warm, and tasty backcountry meals. The snow that we dug out from the quigloos was piled to form counter tops. Shelves and cubbies for Nalgenes were carved out using snow saws and "fridges" kept water warm instead of cold. One group even designed a very functional and stylish spice rack.

Overall, fun wasn't just a way to entertain ourselves, but also a tool to keep warm and survive in the mountains.  Staying warm was a matter of paramount import on the winter expedition. We learned many ways to stay warm (one very important one was to stick your feet or hands on someone else's belly), but moving was one of the most common methods. To do this, we would play games. These games were active, for example Captains Calling was a popular game that is like Simon Says, but with an active twist. Tag was another before-bed game, and so was ichi-mini-hoy (rock paper scissors mixed with baseball).

Of course while out in the "gnar" we couldn't ignore the fantastic skiing opportunities. All of us got a day to ski if we wished, and all of us also wiped out in some very, very interesting ways (somersaults, flips, back flips and simple booty bashing). In spite of our wonderful wipe-outs, no one got hurt, which isn't too big a surprise since the untouched powder is very soft usually, and the two blizzards we experienced while out there were happy to drop fresh supplies of snow.

While on expedition, a couple of the groups had the opportunity to summit a peak. One group summitted Homestake, a peak famous because of the Tenth Mountain Division. It was a long climb, but once we reached the summit, at 13,300 feet, we were all very proud of what we had accomplished. It was also an especially exciting experience, as two of our group members had grandfathers who were a part of the Tenth Mountain Division. Once on the summit, we stayed and enjoyed the amazing view, and took lots of pictures. Then, we skied our way down the mountain we had just climbed, making turns in the snow under a clear blue sky. Homestake, and all the summits, were a great experience and accomplishment, and a great part of many trips.

Classes in the cold, winter environment were very interesting and insightful.  Some of them even warmed us up, which was very nice. We had a mixture of classes, from leadership styles to decision-making options. We also learned about how to use our avalanche beacons. As usual, we all completed field studies for science class, but this time we were analyzing the winter environment instead of the desert. For English class, we wrote poems to get in touch with our surroundings through our five senses. One of our Practice and Principles classes was about risk management. For that class, we used a tool called the risk vs. consequence graph. We all got up and some of us were used as points on the graph, with consequence on the x axis and risk on the y axis. That was useful because we all saw what points on the graph were safer opportunities and which ones were riskier options. We learned a lot about the environment and asserting ourselves in leadership positions.        

Overall, it was a bunch of days in the snow and sun, taking classes, making turns, and digging snow punctuated by a couple of snow-dumping storms. We can now count ourselves among a select group of people that has spent 10 consecutive nights out winter camping! 

By: Jordan Lovinger, Gillian Dobbin, Becca Marks, & Tom Crandall