Andy Bateman of Scot Mountain Holidays leads at least 3 commercial snow hole expeditions in the Cairngorms Mountains every winter season. He has introduced scores of people to the magic of the winter season. He is also an expert at the skill of building a snow hole for a drip free night out in the mountains. To see what snowholing expedition experience is like for the customer check out our video on YouTube:
Seasonal temperatures on the high hills in Scotland are never as low as those in the valleys. You need to take this into consideration when planning to snowhole. Here in Boat of Garten we get temperatures of around -20oC. The lowest ever recorded temperature on the summit of Cairngorm is -16.5oC. Cold temperatures in the valley always occur under cold settled conditions. This is when the cold air drains off the mountain. The cold air then pools in the bottom of the valley. This means that in the Cairngorms the temperatures are never as low as in Norway.
Enjoying an evening meal in the luxury palace makes the snowholing expedition unforgettable!
In Norway, you need to capture the warm air. Most people learn to build snow caves in Norway. They learn to create features which capture the warm air inside the shelter. In Scotland, however, you are operating much close to the melting temperature of snow so sloping entrances, sleeping platforms and cold air drains become much less important for the snow hole expedition.
Roof sag is a combination of the temperature rising too much, poor ventilation and not having a thick enough roof or having a large area of unsupported roof. A roof and front wall of approx. 1m thick is vital. If daylight can be seen through either the roof or the wall, they are probably too thin. However, bear in mind that a roof that thick will need an adequately thick & strong front wall.
Avoid large areas of unsupported roof by keeping your snow hole more like a tunnel, narrow. Aim for a distance of no more than 2 body widths, side by side lengthwise. This means you can create a steep-angled apex ceiling which helps to avoid any drip points and allows you to channel warm air towards ventilation holes.
Many snowhole sites by virtue of their high snow accumulation and steep slopes are prone to avalanches. To be safe, you may need to pick a slope with a more gentle gradient and spend more time digging into the slope. To maintain a 1m thick roof on a 30 degree slope you will have to dig horizontally 2m from the top of the doorway before widening out.
Make sure there is good ventilation and regularly watch your breath then you will avoid carbon monoxide poisoning. If you see it drifting off to one side, it’s a good indication that ventilation is adequate. Never cook in a snowhole without regularly checking there is adequate ventilation.
It’s a good idea to create ventilation holes in your snow hole because of the Scottish climatic conditions.
Make your snow hole large enough to stand up in so you don’t get back ache from crouching.
One potential hazard of digging a small snow hole is that you don’t have enough space to put the snow when you attempt to extricate yourself in the morning. One of the snowholes Andy built in the Cairngorms involved digging out through 1.5m of fresh, drifted snow to get out in the morning.
Never underestimate how hard the Scottish snow pack could be. At least make sure your snow shovel has a metal scoop and that you are also carrying a snow saw.
Time taken to construct your snow hole is vital. A communal snow hole can take 4 – 5 hours to dig to make sure that you have the best construction possible.
See more about our snow hole expedition!
In February we ran a snow hole expedition, the second of the year, in the Cairngorms.
The group was small but unusual.
Ian – our most frequent flier on the snow hole. This was his third snow hole trip. Ian first joined us in 2006 to attempt an overnight snow hole in the Cairngorms National park. The weather was against them on that trip and they had to turn back without reaching the snow hole site. The ski area wasn’t open and though the group attempted to ascend the hill they eventually had to turn back after being blown around a wee bit too much. There is video footage from their endeavours which makes for interesting viewing just to see the effect of nature, if nothing else. Ian returned again in 2007 with 90% of his group to try again – successfully
Andy – our oldest client to date on this trip – a celebration of his imminent 70th birthday.
Hui – our first guest from Singapore. A lone female traveller spending a few months in the UK on a sabbatical from her studies.
Read all about their experience in Andy’s words:
Late last year whilst at David Lloyd’s (gym), I said to my friend, Ian Thorpe, an experienced walker and climber, that I fancied carrying out some serious winter walking, but not climbing. Ian replied “Let me take you to the Cairngorms National Park, Scotland.” This was duly arranged by ian and off we set on 21st February at 10am, arriving at Fraoch Lodge in Boat of Garten, in the Cairngorms, at 16.15.
Rebecca, Andy and wee Gregor made us extremely welcome; dinner was baked salmon with a rich and wonderful sauce, followed by home made trifle containing shortbread and blackcurrants, wonderful.
Next morning, along with fellow trekker, Hui, a lady lone traveller from Singapore, we were fitted out with ice axe, crampons & helmets prior to spending our first day on the mountains practising ice axe arrest. This was a daunting experience for some one who has never even worn crampons let alone walked on ice.
Later that day we walked till late on Lurcher’s Crag and the Chalamain Gap, looking towards Corrie an Lochain, before returning to Fraoch Lodge for another wonderful dinner, having first stocked up on copious bottles of red and white wine from the local Tesco.
On Saturday 23rd February after a hearty breakfast at 7.30, we set off for the snow hole day. We arrived at Aviemore ski resort and walked in. At about 2pm we were ready to dig our snow hole. Andrew marked out 2 doorways on the ice covered mountain side. (We were about 3000ft up by now.) These door holes, roughly about 12ft apart, were then dug into using ice saws and snow shoverls. It took 2 hours to create a vertical face, then we had to further excavate in for about 5ft prior to turning inwards to join the 2 ends of the snow hole. This was particularly backbreaking work for Hui, thank God we had clear blue skies and sunshine. After about 4 more hours, the hole was completed. My feet were so cold I could hardly feel them.
Having put all our gear, including cooking utensils inside, Andrew started the evening meal. We had hot tea, followed by carrot and coriander soup, then a buckwheat and chorizo casserole. Dinner commenced about 10.30pm! Ouside the temperature was approx -9oC; inside however was relatively comfortable.
Stunning views from the “window” of your overnight accommodation deep in the heart of the Cairngorms
Next morning we woke up to a complete whiteout. My fear was how do we navigate to the summit of Cairngorm Mountain? Andrew explained that we take a direct compass bearing but because I was finding the walk hard he explained that provided we walked clearly up and around the pudding shaped mountain, we would by definition reach the summit and incidentally GB’s highest automatic weather station. After approx. 600m of ascent we duly found the summit at 1245m.
Roughly 4 hours later, we had descended back to the ski lodge. It was particularly hard going with Hui hanging on the to back of Ian’s rucksack most of the way. We had the pleasure of seeing a Ptarmigan and 2 white hares.
Overall a fabulour experience which I will not be repeating, but one to tick off. Andrew’s knowledge of the terrain, geology, weather conditions, and navigation skills were par excellence.
Having successfully returned to Fraoch Lodge, we were treated once again to an excellent farewell dinner. Many thanks Ian, Andrew and Rebecca for a memorable trip which i will not forget for a long time.
Andrew Palliser
PS My 70th Birthday on March 12th 2013 – what a perferct birthday treat to myself!
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