tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post6609618582682517654..comments2023-05-04T09:56:08.282-05:00Comments on CW Outdoor Ed: Wintercamps - Feb. 19 & 20, 2014Mr.Brouwerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14851803029313082389noreply@blogger.comBlogger56125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-27453351268492823042014-06-17T20:08:56.025-05:002014-06-17T20:08:56.025-05:00Wintercamp this year was really fun! I had a littl...Wintercamp this year was really fun! I had a little more experience than I did last year so I made sure it was more enjoyable. Overall the quinzhee was a lot better built than the one I stayed in last year. This made for a WAY more enjoyable sleep. The weather that night was great. Right after school that day we had some finishing up to do on digging out the quinzhee also had to build our fire area. After that was all done we set out to get firewood. We built a pretty good fire that lasted all night. Our group brought our own separate things for dinner; I made pizza using pita bread. Although my pizza was more successful the year before it was still pretty good. I’m still pretty mind blown that Tyler was able to fully cook a steak on that fire while the cheese on my pizza barely melted. The night was pretty chill we just hung around the campfire and talked. Around nine Tyler and Cooper had to leave which left just me and Jared in our group. We headed to another groups fire after that for a while then headed off to bed. Because we originally intended the quinzhee to be for four people it was pretty big for just me and Jared. It was hot enough in the quinzhee for a lot of snow to melt so my sleeping bag got pretty wet but other than that I had a good sleep. Overall it was a good night! Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13305585048478757895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-34044502767582698472014-06-11T20:44:20.178-05:002014-06-11T20:44:20.178-05:00Wintercamp Reflection
This wasn’t my first time b...Wintercamp Reflection<br /><br />This wasn’t my first time building and sleeping in a quinzhee, but It has been my best experience so far if you factor out the cold. In my group there was a bunch of stuff we could have done better, but overall it was a ton of fun, and I know what we can improve next time we do it.<br />In my quinzhee group there was 5 of us, so we in the group 2 people slept one night and 3 the other. The fact we had five people I don’t really think helped us build faster because our group was a bit crazy and was always getting distracted somehow, so building the quinzhee was easier said than done. Our quinzhee was built into the snow hills so we had clear and flatten down the snow. In the beginning it was really chaotic but after a day we got everything organized and every one had a job to do. It work out but we finished it a few hours before sleeping in it.<br />We had enough fire wood for the fire, and lighting it was really easy. So once the fire was going smoothly, we started eating. Dinner was definitely the best part of the night. We had more than enough food, and we had all sorts of food and it was a lot of fun sitting around the fire talking. We made a rack so we could dry our gloves, an socks and that was really helpful. <br />Going to sleep had to be the worst part of the whole winter camp. Our quinzhees platform was pretty good, we blocked the entrance to limit cold air, and we had lots of candles going, but the problem was the air vent. Our quinzhee had a few different vents all over, so all he hot air left the quinzhee, and my sleeping bag definitely didn’t help. That night I got barely any sleep and I was really cold the next day. Next time we will work out a better spot to put one vent hole on the quinzhee, but overall it was a good quinzhee and apart from the vent I would only build a better cold sink because ours could have been better.<br />When I first woke up I just talked to my friends, but when I realised we were going to have to go outside to get into the school it really sucked but it was worth it. The breakfast was amazing. It was a great turn of events from the night in the quinzhee.<br />All in all, winter camp was great. Even though I didn’t sleep too much, because of design flaws, I would do it again without thinking, <br /><br /><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00641521118018587486noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-26813373474628140432014-06-11T12:03:21.818-05:002014-06-11T12:03:21.818-05:00This wintercamp was a great one for me, my group a...This wintercamp was a great one for me, my group and I, were able to improve on many mistakes that were made last year.<br /><br />For Example, We had started building our fire before it got dark, this was a key thing that we did, last year we had waited til' we needed the fire to start making it, not good planning on our part, but we fixed this and had some great food on our early-made fire.<br /><br />This year I had also slept in my quinzhee alone, last year I found it to be too crowded both at night, and in the morning to move a muscle. this year I had an entire quinzhee to myself and it turned out much better, I slept better, I was warmer, and in the morning I was very optimistic to start my school day.<br /><br />This year the menu was better as well, we had food that was filling as well as delicious and quickly prepared, we had chicken and chunky soup. It was a hearty, warm, and filling meal that left us full and optimistic throughout the night.<br /><br />The overall design of our quinzhee was much better than it was last year. Last year, the walls were very thin last year so there was a lot of wind hitting the side and penetrating our walls, but this year they were much thicker making for a much warmer, and overall, better night's sleep.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01449401121277246571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-71875117600792371422014-06-09T14:17:15.253-05:002014-06-09T14:17:15.253-05:00Winter camp 2014
At first when I heard we were goi...Winter camp 2014<br />At first when I heard we were going to sleep in a quinzhee’s, I thought it was nothing, I thought it would be easy, but it wasn’t I have never gone winter camping before, in fact I have barely gone summer camping before. Most of my holidays and vacation time was spent hanging out with friends or family playing basketball, so winter camping was a great new adventure for me. We started off the day by gathering fire wood it was kind of tough because we had to go deep in the forest to get are wood, due to the fact that the groups before us had used most off the good wood on the outside of the forest. After gathering wood we decided to make a camp fire. We then gathered with the other groups and had a game of man hunt, it was the most intense game of man in my life, having to run in deep snow was pretty difficult, by the end of the night we were all very tired and fell asleep quickly. During the night I slept like a baby until I had to use the washroom, I regret not going before bed because after when I got back in the quinzhee I was very cold and I wasn’t able to sleep for the rest of the night.<br /><br />In conclusion, winter camp was one hell of a night!!<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15409748334447236794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-87792032715281381292014-06-06T13:05:45.857-05:002014-06-06T13:05:45.857-05:00In summary, Wintercamp is fun yet challenging. Coo...In summary, Wintercamp is fun yet challenging. Cooking a good meal for 4 people and trying to stay dry and warm is harder than it looks .It’s almost like crashing a plane in the arctic but with food, fire, friends and school the next morning. <br /><br /> There were plenty of learning experiences during Wintercamp. For instance, when Ryan felt sick we had to think fast and make him food and keep him warm. This meant making a quick mac n’ cheese for the group, which was quite challenging since we had to boil the water for a while. We ended up putting the pot directly on the fire which sped up the process ALOT.<br /><br /> Our Quinzhee was really well built in my opinion.We probably could have made it 2x bigger than it was but it was plenty big for 4 boys. During the night I was very warm but around 6 I somehow woke up (Amaresh kicks) and suddenly got very cold and could not manage to get back to sleep. My sleeping bag was great; a nice sleep for the most part.<br /><br />The morning was not the funnest time I’ve experienced. The meal was great (thank you Mr. Brouwer) and the warm shower was probably my favourite part. Clean up was horrible. Everyone was tired and had no will power to step forward and do the work. School wasn’t bad but I needed lots of little naps.<br /><br />Wintercamp was a great experience. My first camping trip to be exact. I had great partners, a well built built quinzhee, decent food and a bunch of friends to hang out with. A solid 9/10 for fun. 0xJehhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17787331741678589758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-56355282546500441232014-06-06T13:05:25.144-05:002014-06-06T13:05:25.144-05:00In summary, Wintercamp is fun yet challenging. Coo...In summary, Wintercamp is fun yet challenging. Cooking a good meal for 4 people and trying to stay dry and warm is harder than it looks .It’s almost like crashing a plane in the arctic but with food, fire, friends and school the next morning. <br /><br /> There were plenty of learning experiences during Wintercamp. For instance, when Ryan felt sick we had to think fast and make him food and keep him warm. This meant making a quick mac n’ cheese for the group, which was quite challenging since we had to boil the water for a while. We ended up putting the pot directly on the fire which sped up the process ALOT.<br /><br /> Our Quinzhee was really well built in my opinion.We probably could have made it 2x bigger than it was but it was plenty big for 4 boys. During the night I was very warm but around 6 I somehow woke up (Amaresh kicks) and suddenly got very cold and could not manage to get back to sleep. My sleeping bag was great; a nice sleep for the most part.<br /><br />The morning was not the funnest time I’ve experienced. The meal was great (thank you Mr. Brouwer) and the warm shower was probably my favourite part. Clean up was horrible. Everyone was tired and had no will power to step forward and do the work. School wasn’t bad but I needed lots of little naps.<br /><br />Wintercamp was a great experience. My first camping trip to be exact. I had great partners, a well built built quinzhee, decent food and a bunch of friends to hang out with. A solid 9/10 for fun. 0xJehhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17787331741678589758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-31330121616574388402014-06-04T15:19:25.943-05:002014-06-04T15:19:25.943-05:00PAD20 Wintercamp 2014 review.
The overall experie...PAD20 Wintercamp 2014 review.<br /><br />The overall experience of the wintercamp was definitely an interesting one. It started off with the building of the quinzhee which overall wasn't an extremely difficult process, piling the snow was relatively easy although only a small portion of the group was able to work on it at any given time due to the amount of shovels provided, along with the fact that none of us remembered to bring shovels to work with. In the end though, the quinzhee turned out dry, warm, and rather cosy.<br /><br />As for the actual night itself, that was more of a challenge. Just standing around outside wasn't all that bad, but our group did not have that much luck getting a good fire going and keeping it going was even harder. We did at one point get a nice fire going and it was enough to just barely warm up our food but it quickly died off and we wound up eating mostly cold food, which was a shame. I did not know most of the people there and I am not the type to just go and socialize with people, so I wound up going to sleep rather early, at some point between 8:30 and 9:00, but the sleep was a rather comfortable one. No water inside the quinzhee despite the rain and even though my sleeping bag wasn't very thick, it was enough to keep me warm for a good sleep through the night.<br /><br />Overall it was an experience that I won't forget, although it is also probably something that I wont exactly desire to do again.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13209729134745587764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-15964319544041202602014-05-29T21:29:17.634-05:002014-05-29T21:29:17.634-05:00You can say my winter camp experience was very exc...You can say my winter camp experience was very exciting and successful. But there were some downfalls that my group and I faced during this experience.<br /><br />It was my very first time every building a Quinzhee with a group to sleep in for the night and I found that I enjoyed sleeping in it very much, although it is far from the warm bed I have at home the platform in out Quinzhee was well built and leveled out the there were no bumps or shards of ice digging in your back while you tried to sleep.<br /><br /> What also made the night end so well was going to sleep on a full stomach. Having gotten so much supplies to make so many mini pizzas that all of the members of the group had three servings satisfied my hunger enough to hold me off through out the night without wanting anything more to eat.<br /><br />Every member of our group was looking out for each other and making sure that we were all warm and dry, that no one needed a change of socks or needed anything to drink or eat, everyone stayed well nourished , hydrated and heated.<br /><br />Having had a successful ride through winter camp the group also experienced some faults. What I would have improved about the experience is to make a better vent hole in our Quinzhee because I found it got a little too warm in the Quinzhee having 5 people sleeping in it. <br /><br />The second thing I would have improved about the entire night is to prepare with myself with more dry clothes than what I had. Because by the time it was around 9p.m. I had put on my last pair of dry socks(not dipping into my dry pair for sleeping) and was hopping they wouldn’t get sopping wet until I had to go to bed when I would witch into my reserved socks for sleeping.<br /><br />Five things I would recommend for someone building a Quinzhee:<br />-Build a big enough Quinzhee that you have enough space to move in.<br />-Buy all of the food that you need in a larger quantity depending on your group size.<br />-Level out your platform as evenly as possible and raise it to be higher than your doorway.<br />-Block off your entrance well.<br />-And make a good vent hole to get good air flow. <br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01924538242702103784noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-73704820283603233802014-04-23T19:56:03.809-05:002014-04-23T19:56:03.809-05:00This was my second time doing Wintercamp. And I mu...This was my second time doing Wintercamp. And I must say, this year was much more successful than last years. The quinzhee was much more warmer since our group had more people than we did last year. Three things that we did better this year than last year was that, our quinzhee was well built and was able to fit all our group members. The quinzhee my group built last year was too large, which made the night very cold. Our quinzhee this year had a better sinkhole than the one last year, which made our quinzhee much warmer. And lastly, we made sure the ceiling was low, so more heat stayed in the quinzhee. Two things I would improve on would be, to create a shorter tunnel for our entrance and to stay dry during the night. When my socks became wet, it became very cold for the rest of the night. 5 recommendations for someone building a quinzhee is to, 1. make sure it is big enough for your group. 2. Bring enough food for your group. 3. Get firewood early in the evening, so you won't have to look for it later on. 4. Stay dry when you sleep, or you will become cold. 5. Build a good coldsink/platform. For our meal, our group made taco salad for our dinner. Overall this years wintercamp was a success.zsdgiofjhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12421386049987942195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-43902421653884194142014-04-08T14:09:56.113-05:002014-04-08T14:09:56.113-05:00This year wintercamp was a fun experience, that I ...This year wintercamp was a fun experience, that I really enjoyed. This year, unlike last year I was very well prepared, when we started talking about wintercamp, I thought about my experiences from last year, and that really impacted the way i prepared for this year. Last year, I had only one pair of working clothes (snowpants, jacket mittens...)and i got soaked quickly and that resulted in me being quite cold for the whole night. Also, I hadn't inspected my sleeping bag before hand, therefore I found out the hard way that my sleeping bag had a hole in the feet area of my sleeping bag. This year after being very uncomfortable last year, I made sure that my sleeping bag was perfect, i found the thickest one i own, and brought an extra blanket for extra warmth.As far as building our quinzhee went it was good, at first we had trouble getting enough snow to pile, as we hadn't had a good snow fall in quite a while, but once we did we had plenty of snow to build our quinzhee and the process went fairly quickly after that. Our dinner of hot dogs and a veggie tray filled us up, although we did have extra snacks throughout the evening and night. When we went to sleep our quinzhee was the perfect size for the three of us in our group to sleep comfortably in. The only problem with our quinzhee was that despite our thinking it was built well, we were all very cold throughout the night, making us uncomfortable and resulting in barely any sleep for any of us. In the morning we all got up when Mr.Brouwer came and woke us up. We went inside first to have a shower, then help prepare and eat breakfast with the rest of the outdoor ed group. Things that I could have improved on were first of all, the menu. Having hot dogs were deffinately quick and easy, but did not taste as good or fill us up as something we could have done if we had spent more time thinking about our menus, as opposed to quickly doing something very very easy. Another was maybe asking Mr.Brouwer for help with planning our quinzhee, or looking at our platform or cold sink before we had started building, because we were very cold during the night, so asking Mr.Brouwer for help could possibly have prevented us from being so cold. Things I did well on this trip were bringing extra snowpants, jackets, and hats and mittens, as well as plenty of layers of pants shirts and socks, because i got wet several times from sitting around the fire and finishing building our quinzhee, and helping Mr.Brouwer finish another quinzhee. I really benefited from bringing many layers. Also, we made our quinzhee quickly and efficiently, and staying at lunch or after school to ensure that our quinzhee would be ready in time. All in all, I had a great time. I learned a lot from my experiences last year and used them to make this experience much better, and if I were to do this again next year, I'm sure it would be even better.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07124134788904924718noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-85524592288040265552014-04-08T13:18:25.367-05:002014-04-08T13:18:25.367-05:00As this was my first experience sleeping in a quin...As this was my first experience sleeping in a quinzhee, I relied heavily on the two other girls in my group who had more experience to help guide me.<br />One of the things that we did well was appropriately judging how big to make our quinzhee. There would be three of us sleeping in it on our night. We wanted enough space so that we wouldn’t be uncomfortably close to each other, but at the same time not too much space that we would be cold. We were able to dig out a reasonable amount of snow to allow all of us to sleep comfortably.<br />Another element that we did well on was finishing our quinzhee on time. We were the only group that would be sleeping in our quinzhee so we did not have another group to help with the building. Knowing this, we all worked hard each day to make sure we would be able to complete before the night we would be sleeping.<br />The third thing that was successful was bringing the proper clothing to keep myself warm. I was worried that I would be cold that night as I was using a 3 season sleeping bag. I decided to line my sleeping bag with a fleece liner to help keep me warm. I also brought an extra pair of everything in case my first pair got wet (which they did). I was mostly warm throughout the night other than a few occasions when my arms would be out of my sleeping bag and be exposed to snow. However, overall I was not uncomfortably cold and was able to keep myself warm.<br />Something that we could have improved on would have been planning a healthier meal for supper. Our group decided on hot dogs since they are easy to cook over a fire and do not require much preparation. In the end however, I was left feeling a little sick due to the unhealthiness of the hotdogs. A stir fry may have been a better option,<br />We could have also improved on our cold sink. Rather than having one that was going to keep the air out, ours was more of a steady slope. This cold sink would have allowed the coldest air to flow down and out of our quinzhee while sleeping. Having a steaper cold sink may have helped keep us a little bit warmer. <br />Recommendations:<br />1-Over-packing is better than under-packing. Being in wet clothes is the worst possible thing. So, instead of being cold and wet and running out of clothes, make sure to pack a realistic amount of clothes in order to keep warm. It is also important to pack clothes to layer. As your activity level changes as does your body temperature and how much heat you conduct. So make sure you are able to adapt your clothing to the activities you will be preforming by layering. Doing so will give you the ability to get in and out of clothing to help regulate your body temperature and avoid sweating. For example, when you are building your quinzhee or running around you may choose to wear less clothing so as not to overheat. But, when you are sleeping, you will require more clothing to stay warm. <br />2-Prepare a meal before the night so that you only have to warm up your supper rather than cook it. Eating lots and eating healthy will help you to gain calories which will help keep you warm. Doing so requires a little more planning, but in the end your stomach and your body will reward you.<br />3-Make sure that everyone in your group will participate equally. When choosing a group to sleep in a quinzhee with you will want to have individuals who are willing to put in the same amount of effort as you are. This will help the process go as fast and smoothly as possible.<br />4-Line your quinzhee properly with tarps before you lay down your sleeping bag. The tarps will help to keep you dry and therefore keep you warm. It may be frustrating to properly lay it down, but it will be worth it in the end.<br />5-Be extra careful as to not go through the wall of your quinzhee. Our group made a slight hole on the side of ours and we were all worried that it would not withstand the patch job and would end up being a big hole. Luckily this was not an issue, but being more careful would have eliminated any worry. Tamika Richerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09792755228911824741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-59051940388192468202014-04-08T13:17:44.860-05:002014-04-08T13:17:44.860-05:00As this was my first experience sleeping in a quin...As this was my first experience sleeping in a quinzhee, I relied heavily on the two other girls in my group who had more experience to help guide me.<br />One of the things that we did well was appropriately judging how big to make our quinzhee. There would be three of us sleeping in it on our night. We wanted enough space so that we wouldn’t be uncomfortably close to each other, but at the same time not too much space that we would be cold. We were able to dig out a reasonable amount of snow to allow all of us to sleep comfortably.<br />Another element that we did well on was finishing our quinzhee on time. We were the only group that would be sleeping in our quinzhee so we did not have another group to help with the building. Knowing this, we all worked hard each day to make sure we would be able to complete before the night we would be sleeping.<br />The third thing that was successful was bringing the proper clothing to keep myself warm. I was worried that I would be cold that night as I was using a 3 season sleeping bag. I decided to line my sleeping bag with a fleece liner to help keep me warm. I also brought an extra pair of everything in case my first pair got wet (which they did). I was mostly warm throughout the night other than a few occasions when my arms would be out of my sleeping bag and be exposed to snow. However, overall I was not uncomfortably cold and was able to keep myself warm.<br />Something that we could have improved on would have been planning a healthier meal for supper. Our group decided on hot dogs since they are easy to cook over a fire and do not require much preparation. In the end however, I was left feeling a little sick due to the unhealthiness of the hotdogs. A stir fry may have been a better option,<br />We could have also improved on our cold sink. Rather than having one that was going to keep the air out, ours was more of a steady slope. This cold sink would have allowed the coldest air to flow down and out of our quinzhee while sleeping. Having a steaper cold sink may have helped keep us a little bit warmer. <br />Recommendations:<br />1-Over-packing is better than under-packing. Being in wet clothes is the worst possible thing. So, instead of being cold and wet and running out of clothes, make sure to pack a realistic amount of clothes in order to keep warm. It is also important to pack clothes to layer. As your activity level changes as does your body temperature and how much heat you conduct. So make sure you are able to adapt your clothing to the activities you will be preforming by layering. Doing so will give you the ability to get in and out of clothing to help regulate your body temperature and avoid sweating. For example, when you are building your quinzhee or running around you may choose to wear less clothing so as not to overheat. But, when you are sleeping, you will require more clothing to stay warm. <br />2-Prepare a meal before the night so that you only have to warm up your supper rather than cook it. Eating lots and eating healthy will help you to gain calories which will help keep you warm. Doing so requires a little more planning, but in the end your stomach and your body will reward you.<br />3-Make sure that everyone in your group will participate equally. When choosing a group to sleep in a quinzhee with you will want to have individuals who are willing to put in the same amount of effort as you are. This will help the process go as fast and smoothly as possible.<br />4-Line your quinzhee properly with tarps before you lay down your sleeping bag. The tarps will help to keep you dry and therefore keep you warm. It may be frustrating to properly lay it down, but it will be worth it in the end.<br />5-Be extra careful as to not go through the wall of your quinzhee. Our group made a slight hole on the side of ours and we were all worried that it would not withstand the patch job and would end up being a big hole. Luckily this was not an issue, but being more careful would have eliminated any worry. Tamika Richerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09792755228911824741noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-76349123059755184442014-04-08T10:19:05.024-05:002014-04-08T10:19:05.024-05:00This was the first opportunity I have gotten to go...This was the first opportunity I have gotten to go winter camping with the my school through the outdoor ed program. As I have done winter camping various times in past years with my family, I had some experience and knowledge but learned a lot more here since I had a somewhat bigger and more self dependent role for the first time around.<br /><br /> With the knowledge I already had going into this winter camp experience, there were a few things I was well prepared for and did quite well with, the first of these being my personal bed setup. The way I laid this out was as goes; of course on the base snow layer of the ground, our group had set up tarps to keep off the wet ground. My second layer was a high quality waterproof thermarest on top of which I set out a fleece-like blanket which, since it could be kept dry by the thermarest, provided an extra layer of heat and insulation between my back and the cold ground. Lastly, I had my winter season cocoon sleeping bag which I lined with a soft and thick linen to provide that last extra layer of warmth and an extra factor of comfort. So this of course led to me having a cozy and wonderful sleep.<br /><br /> The last couple things that I figure I did best within my personal experience are not quite as detailed, but made for a good night. First of those two would have to be my tea. Having made tea with nothing but the leaves and not a proper teabag in previous similar scenarios, this came quite easy to me. I simply boiled some snow to water so that it became purified, had my two teabags set in a tall thermos with the strings leading out a small notch I previously made in the side of the lid, and poured in the hot water once I was ready to go. The notches were just a little added personal touch, as I like my tea strong, so this provided me the ability to dip my teabag in and out to increase strength and concentration of the drink without having to take the lid off and risk spilling it in the dark, this of course, is something all avid tea drinkers know. Then lastlyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-14449771656203951222014-04-08T10:18:24.180-05:002014-04-08T10:18:24.180-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-74801908372554984822014-03-23T20:19:27.971-05:002014-03-23T20:19:27.971-05:00top ten tips when building and sleeping the night ...top ten tips when building and sleeping the night inside a quenzhee<br /><br />1.think like a onion<br />2.be prepaired<br />3.keep everything covered<br />4.check the weather<br />5.snow blindness<br />6.always bring a friend<br />7.stay hydrated<br />8.eat<br />9.share your plan<br />10.cotton kills<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14118437116354829857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-38403060593339279502014-03-23T16:18:43.222-05:002014-03-23T16:18:43.222-05:00This was my second winter camp experience and it w...This was my second winter camp experience and it was my most favorable. After having done winter camp last year it helped me better prepare myself for this year, but there’s always going to be mistakes made.<br /><br />The building process took a lot of time and energy. We wanted to make sure that it was a comfortable size and that we built a proper cold sink. My group and I worked hard through two classes, stayed after school to begin to dig it out then completed it the day of the sleep out. Something that I think we did better than last year was that we made a higher wall that blocked the wind from coming straight into our quinzee, another improvement is that our quinzee was big enough to comfortably fit all three of us and our sleeping bags. A final thing that was better than last year was that we used our work periods to the fullest and made sure we all contributed equally to not just building but digging out too.<br /><br />Obviously a lot went better than last year but something my group could’ve improved upon was our meal. We chose to make hotdogs because we knew it was easy, but after seeing Mr. Brower’s stir fry we realized we could’ve planned a healthier meal to cook over the fire. I also noticed while I was sleeping that our platform wasn’t completely flat and it made sleep somewhat difficult. <br /><br />1. Find a group of people that are willing to work hard and share the work equally. <br />2. Make sure you build a pile of snow that looks bigger than you think it needs to be. Depending on the number of people sleeping in it.<br />3. While digging it out make sure to stop when you see light shining through the walls. Use all the space you can and don’t forget to make your platform higher than your entrance to stop the wind.<br />4. Properly dress/layer yourself (make sure to bring a change of clothes to sleep in because when your clothes get wet or damp it’ll make you colder. <br />5. Collect as much dry fire wood as you can in daylight so that you won’t run out at night.<br /><br />This year’s winter camp was overall an enjoyable experience where memories were made.<br />Megan Foyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07154662363699659273noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-10497710023873898742014-03-19T19:00:48.956-05:002014-03-19T19:00:48.956-05:00This years wintercamp proved to be even more excit...This years wintercamp proved to be even more exciting and fun filled as the last. With great improvements to our quinzhee building and preparation, this night felt very relaxed, which made for an overall great experience. <br /><br />In terms of the quinzhee, it was built well and efficiently, with all eleven members of the group working hard for the entire time we were given. We finished building way ahead of time, giving us room for improvement and careful planning. The only issue with the quinzhee was that is was perhaps too big. Although it is nice to have a bunch of room to move around and set things up with, I feel that the height of the quinzhee made for a somewhat cooler night. Other than that, the coldsink and tunnel were good and everything else was next to perfect. <br /><br />When it comes to food, we had no shortage. Our meals consisted of hot dogs, smoked meat, dried mangoes, water, fruit juice, and even timbits. We made a decent effort to include all the food groups. We had bought most things prior to coming to school that day which made it less stressful with no last minute grocery shopping, other than for small snacks. Our group was very well organized in terms of food.<br /><br />3 Improvements from Last Year<br />- Quinzhee construction was much more efficient<br />- Quinzhee was much bigger <br />- Meals were well coordinated and organized<br /><br /> 2 Things to Improve On<br />- Cut down a little on the height of the quinzhee by up to a foot less<br />- Bring a better sleeping bag and thermarest<br /><br /> 5 Recommendations for Future Wintercampers<br />- Make sure your sleeping bag is sufficient. Your sleeping bag is the difference between sleeping eight hours, or one hour<br />- Keep off the cold ground. Even when sitting by the fire, it helps to not get wet as you will quickly become uncomfortable<br />- Make a nice fire pit area with a wind block. Almost a necessity if you plan on having your own fire.<br />- Have changes of clothes ready for whenever you need them.<br />- Drink hot beverages to warm yourself up.<br />- Plan a big dinner to keep you energized<br /><br /> Wintercamp 2014 was overall a huge success and a great chance to make changes to my experience from last year. I look forward to possibly experiencing wintercamp one more time in high school.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02518643393774672360noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-26480861978823844312014-03-19T11:30:17.423-05:002014-03-19T11:30:17.423-05:00PAD20 Assignment – Alyssa Greenwell
My first winte...PAD20 Assignment – Alyssa Greenwell<br />My first wintercamp was a very enjoyable experience and I had lots of fun but we did unfortunately run into a few problems along the way. Let’s just say it was more of a learning experience.<br />I partnered up with Kendra and Abbey to build our quinzhee, and we had decided to sleep over on Wednesday night. The first day we started building our quinzhee we realized it might be easier to partner up with another group so things could be done a little fast since we only had three days to build our quinzhee. Kendra, Abbey and I decided to join Kyle, Cameron, Alex and Ethan’s group and by the end of the week, we already had a ton of snow piled and ready to settle. Unfortunately, over the weekend Kyle, Cameron and Alex had come out to the school and dug out the inside of our quinzhee without informing us. Furthermore, when we got to school on Monday, our quinzhee was completely finished. My group was disappointed that we didn’t get to help out with the full process of building a quinzhee but at least we knew that everything would be done on time and this gave us a chance to help out the other groups who were behind.<br />When Wednesday night finally arrived, we started setting up camp around 5:00pm. We started bringing our stuff outside when we realized we didn’t have any firewood for our fire and it was already getting pretty dark. Kendra and Abbey quickly went out into the forest to get some dead branches, while I stayed behind to finish setting up camp and to start preparing dinner. By the time Kendra and Abbey got back it was already night and we could see that most of the other groups had already had their fires started. Luckily, Abbey knew how to build a fire because Kendra and I had no idea what to do! The firewood that Kendra and Abbey collected did not last very long so we had to use the wood from the garage most of the night. It took us a very long time to get our fire going but after a good 45 minutes, we finally had a big enough fire to be able to boil water. <br />The dinner we had was not very good. We made a very poor decision choosing pasta to cook since it took the water so long to boil. Luckily, we were very prepared in the food section since we had a whole cooler of snacks to eat while we waited. Before our water was even boiling most of the other groups had already eaten and were headed inside to change. By the time the pasta was cooked, it was 9:30 pm and we realized after the first bit that the pasta we cooked had way to much garlic and we had bad garlic breathe for the rest of the night. When we took the pasta out of the pot, it didn’t take long for it to get cold. We decided to make hotdogs as well. We had about four hotdogs each, and can I tell you, hotdogs never tasted so good.<br />When we went inside our quinzhee for the night it was very warm and everyone seemed to be comfortable but later in the night when we decided to blow out all the candles, the quinzhee quickly became very cold. We decided to relight the candles but it made no difference for Kendra and I who were shivering the whole night and walking up every hour but luckily for Abbey, she was nice and warm the whole night. <br />When Morning finally arrived,we were the first group Mr. Brouwer woke up. We quickly gathered our things for the morning and ran inside. Luckily, we were the first group to the showers and we quickly warmed up. The breakfast we had was very good and it was much better than the disappointing meal we had last night. After breakfast, we went back out to our quinzhee to clean up the mess we made last night. We thought leaving the mats in the quinzhee would make it easier for the next group but we didn’t realize that they needed to be brought it and dried out. <br />Overall, my first wintercamp experience was one I will never forget. I had a lot of fun and created many memories even though we did run into many problems we overcame them and learned what not to do. <br /> <br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12114289334330867634noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-73115204084269760652014-03-18T21:12:47.187-05:002014-03-18T21:12:47.187-05:00Wintercamp was once again one of my most anticipat...Wintercamp was once again one of my most anticipated events in outdoor ed, and it again proved to be awesome building and spending the night in a quinzhee. We were a bit rushed in the days leading up to the sleepover, but I think we made a lot of improvements over last years’ experience. <br /> The first of these improvements was the collaboration we showed. Unlike last year where only half the group seemed to be doing all the work, this year everyone was always busy working in some way. While two people were in the quinzhee shoveling, another two were collecting firewood or doing some other essential task. This meant that even with the small window of time we had to build our quinzhee, we were able to enjoy the night when it came. Another improvement he had over last year was our fire. Due to the previously mentioned lack of collaboration last year (and laziness) our fire only lasted a few minutes before we ran out of wood and we were left in darkness with cold hotdogs in our hands. This year however, we had plenty of firewood for the entire night. For a short period of time it almost died on us, but after bringing it back to a big flame we had a source of heat and light for the rest of the night. I think that the fire really made a big difference to our experience and kept us motivated through the night. Another great side effect was that it allowed us to make much tastier food. The food was definitely one of the major improvements from last year. Going from hotdogs and chips last year to pizzas and chips was like going from mcdonalds to Dr Bernstien’s all natural bamboo diet. Well not really, but the pizzas were actually fairly healthy. We put tomato sauce, cheese, and pepperoni on pita breads and put them on a pan over the fire. Thanks to the good fire, not only were they healthier than last year, but they were also hot and crispy and gooey and generally tasted really good. <br /> Even with all the improvements, our quinzhee was far from perfect. One of the flaws of being the only group sleeping in the quinzhee was that we had to work much more to finish the quinzhee in time. We ended up needing to make the walls pretty thin so that we’d all fit. The wind wasn’t a problem because it was a calm night, but in the morning it started to rain quite heavily. Thanks to our thin walls water started to seep in a bit. Personally, I didn’t get wet, but I heard from my friends sleeping next to the walls that their sleeping bags were soaked on the outside. The second thing we could have improved on was our coldsink. If I’m honest we didn’t really have much of one. Luckily for us it was a warm night, but I can imagine that it would have been uncomfortable if temperatures had dropped under -5 to -10 degrees. <br />Here are my 5 recommendations for someone building a quinzhee<br />1. Make it big enough<br />You might think that your snow pile is big enough for your group, but in my experience we could have always used a bit more snow.<br />2. Build the entrance away from the wind<br />Wind pushing into your face while you’re trying to sleep isn’t great.<br />3. Have a coldsink<br />In colder weather a good coldsink can be the difference between a warm night and a freezing night.<br />4. Collect enough Firewood<br />This is essential for having somewhere to warm up yourself and your food.<br />5. Clean up your area when you’re done<br />Just a courteous thing for the next group’s stay.Dominichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17697612433161664878noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-55155414821122361992014-03-18T19:20:59.486-05:002014-03-18T19:20:59.486-05:00This year was my second time sleeping in the quinz...This year was my second time sleeping in the quinzhee, and it was once again a very enjoyable experience. I learnt many things last year that helped to make this year's adventure all the more enjoyable, and I do believe that my newly acquired quinzhee building prowess, would greatly aid my survival if ever I was placed in such a position. <br /><br /> <br />As was previously stated, I learnt a number of valuable lessons from last year that helped make this years event even better. Firstly, I paired myself with a much smaller sleeping group, there were only two of us in the quinzhee this year, and this provided us with much more potential to have a more comfortable higher-platform quinzhee than normal. Another thing that made a world of difference was when we took it upon ourselves to gather firewood in advance, and when it was still light outside. Our gorgeous firewood came from a large pine tree, who's bottom branches were all dead. I simply climbed up the tree and cut down the heavy timber as I ascended, therefore providing us, and another group, with enough wood to last the night. One more improvement, a more tasty improvement, was that our menu was far better planned this year, so we ate a full delectable dinner, and therefore we were not clutching at our stomachs rolling around in the snow like a bunch of starving lunatics. <br /><br />Despite the vast improvement from last year, there were still some things that could have been improved upon. Firstly, although my group had the potential for a high-platform quinzhee, we did not embrace the power, and so our platform was a silly downward slope that left us sliding towards the entrance like a couple of fish being eaten by a whale. Another aspect that could have been altered for better success is the fact that our group cleanup was not very spirited. I think that as a group we could have done a better job of banding together to clean up the rubbish we left behind, instead of relying on the valiant deeds of the few to get the job done. <br /><br />For amateur quinzhee adventurers, I would like to propose five expert approved suggestions to help get you through the night:<br />1) Find some reliable and trustworthy mates to share the experience with.<br />2) Don't slack off when building the quinzhee, it could come back to get you when you're freezing your tail off at bedtime.<br />3) Have a good menu plan, because nobody likes to starve.<br />4) Dress for function, not for fashion, so no matter how good you look in those shorts, they are not appropriate quinzhee attire.<br />5) Have fun, because this will most likely be one of the very few times you get to sleep in a quinzhee (unless you plan on living in one), so make the best of it, and enjoy the experience. <br /><br />Thanks for your consideration, Jared McWilliams.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01227680028359119181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-20497795951389740672014-03-18T08:58:52.857-05:002014-03-18T08:58:52.857-05:00This years wintercamp for me was a better experien...This years wintercamp for me was a better experience than last years. 3 things that I improved on were building a higher platform, building a better coldsink, and layering properly/using a better sleepingbag than last year. These improvements gave us all a warmer sleep.<br /><br />Unfortuantely I did not get the full experience this year since i arrived late, therefore one thing i would improve is getting to spend the full evening there, and making a more healthy meal. Since we were so concerned about getting a good nights sleep, we put little thought into what to make, so it ended up being fairly unhealthy.<br /><br />5 recommendations I would tell someone for their first experience is make sure you have a cold sink and high platform. This is a must if you want a warm night in your quinzhee. Make sure you block the entrance aswell. Have something hot and nutritious for dinner. Eating a mostly simple sugars for dinner will leave you feeling less satisfied. Sleep in a base layer but have a proper sleeping bag. I you sleep in a bunch of clothes, you will end up sweating and eventually becoming very cold during the night. Do not sleep directly on the snow/near the walls. Make sure you have something to keep you off the ground so that less body heat escapes. Cuddle if you can. And the last thing I would suggest is when building your quinzhee, work with a group going on a different night. you have twice as many people working on it so the work is distributed more.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-73234092061979434632014-03-18T07:33:18.945-05:002014-03-18T07:33:18.945-05:00I had a good experience during this years winter c...I had a good experience during this years winter camp. The main reasons were because I finished my shelter, ate a good dinner and had dry clothes.<br /><br /> Last year my quinzee was quite small since it was built for two, but when we dug it out we made the walls too thin and this resulted in the quinzee collapsing. After it was collapsed we had to stay in another groups quinzee who were going the next night. Their quinzee wasn’t finished so we dug out as much as we could but we couldn’t finish in time. This made for a cold and uncomfortable night. This year we decided to build the quinzee with another group going on a different night so that the quinzee would be finished in time. This year we built the quinzee on a slope so that we would be forced to make the platform higher so we would be warmer. we also used sticks to put through the wall to measure the width. Since we took all these precautions it resulted in a somewhat good and worm sleep.<br /><br />What you eat for dinner also really helps out over night and if you eat a good meal you will be warmer. During last years winter camp I had hot dogs and a mix of potatoes, carrot, onion, salt and pepper and butter. This super was easy to prepare but since the potatoes were wrapped in tin foil they never cooked. This resulted in me eating some raw carrots and a few hot dogs. During The night I was uncomfortable and a little cold since my super wasn’t great so didn’t have as much to metabolize so less heat was created. This year I had shishkabob, bacon and nachos which was much more filling and healthy. My dinner turned out very good and because of this I ate a lot so went I went to bed i was warmer and fell asleep easier since I wasn’t hungry.<br /><br />One of the most important things to have during any outdoor adventure is dry clothes. If you don’t have dry clothes than you will be miserable. Last year I had several pairs of clothes to wear so I could change when i got wet so I wouldn’t be cold. The problem was i didn’t have a waterproof bag to put my wet clothes in causing my dry clothes to get damp. This was a problem because when it came time for relaxing with friends outside I got cold very fast. When I went to go to bed my long johns were damp causing an uncomfortable sleep. This year my solution to this problem was using 2 compression bags which are water and moisture proof so I could sort me wet and dry clothes. This was great since whenever I was cold or wet i could change into some dry clothes which made the night a lot better.<br /><br />This year I felt I did pretty well with winter camp and there is nothing major I would change since i had a good experience. There is two small things that I would change and that is the size of the fire pit and smoothing out the platform that i slept on. <br /><br />The fire pit was a problem because there were more people there than expected so it was crammed and hard to cook. If the fire pit was 1 meter longer than it would have been more comfortable. <br /><br />Another problem that I wasn’t expecting was the bumps on our platform. These were annoying since when I slept they would occasionally wake me up. When we dug out the quinzee we thought the floor was smooth but when we layed on it some of the snow compressed but not the ice causing a few uncomfortable bumps. We could have solved this by packing down the platform before we finished.<br /><br /><br />If I were giving 5 tips to a person building and sleeping in a quinzee for the first time I would tell them to make their platform a lot higher than the cold sink, smooth out and pack down the platform, have dry clothes to sleep in, organize your stuff before you go to bed eat a good supper. <br /><br /><br /><br />Aaron D.https://www.blogger.com/profile/03477743242116807572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-51146126526866401832014-03-18T06:23:47.881-05:002014-03-18T06:23:47.881-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Cole Munrohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01780221754250732783noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-75506909493067707942014-03-18T05:26:49.790-05:002014-03-18T05:26:49.790-05:00This year would be my second year sleeping outside...This year would be my second year sleeping outside in a quinzhee and I would say it was a much better experience than last year. This year I got a quality sleep and didn't go to bed hungry. <br /><br />The overall building of my quinzhee was different than last year. Last year we didn't consider the placement of the qiunzhee, we started on an open area that didn't have much fresh snow around so building took much longer overall but our biggest mistake was not making a proper cold sink. This year was much different, we started closer to the woods where there was lots of snow and were able to start digging much sooner. The tunnel this year was long enough to make a proper cold sink. In our quinzhee the cold sink was more of a ramp leading to the platform but the tunnel was long enough that the platform was still higher than the opening.<br /><br /> Last year we made the inside platform to big for the 5 people that were sleeping in it. This year with 3 on the first night and 4 on the second the inside space was just big enough for 4 so we could keep the air around us wormier.<br /><br /> The third thing we did better was the fire. Last year we didn't collect enough fire wood to sustain us and also didn't try to start it before dark. This year we started off the night collecting fire wood and collected different sizes of wood so our fire would burn longer and our dinner was done before dark. <br /><br />In saying we did things so much better this year I would still improve on things if I went through this experience again. The first would be digging a better pit for the fire. This year we had it going but the down fall was it melted to much snow underneath it and it sunk so far under the snow that it wasn’t getting enough oxygen without us fanning it. <br /><br />The next improvement I would make would be my participation in the clean up in the morning. It was raining in the morning so I really didn't want to go out to collect the tarps that were left out in the qiunzhee and I had cleaned my stuff up but I have to think of the group and not just myself next time.<br /><br />For building a quinzhee for the first time I would recommend... <br />Lye down the amount of people staying in the quinzhee on the ground together and make a perimeter around that to estimate how big the quinzhee should be.<br />Only pile up a small amount of snow for your tunnel because it will become larger as you dig<br />When digging use a short handled metal shovel, the snow inside will be packed down and you want something that can easily cut through it<br />Have at least 2 people digging, one inside and one removing snow form the tunnel<br />When you see a blue light through the snow of the roof stop digging.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04429504594558065420noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-51181601856348647402014-03-17T19:00:30.552-05:002014-03-17T19:00:30.552-05:00 Winter Camp Reflection
This was my first time par... Winter Camp Reflection<br />This was my first time participating in winter camp, and overall my experience was very enjoyable. If I could go back to the day of winter camp I would’ve switched a couple things.<br />The things I did well for my first experience at winter camp were, we had enough food for are whole group. Are group consisted of 6 members Ryan B, Ryan T, Spencer, James, Cameron, and myself. We had two meals planned for all 6 of us, the first being grilled cheese. The grilled cheese turned out well, we had enough bread and cheese for everyone to have two grilled cheeses. The second meal we had was kraft dinner, we bought 3 or 4 boxes of kraft dinner. When we spread out the portions equally there was enough to go around. In the end we had enough food and drinks for the whole night and even a little left over in the morning.<br />We had two groups sleep in are quinzhee, the first night five people slept in the quinzhee, six people the second night. So needless to say our quinzhee had to be pretty big. Our quinzhee ended up fitting both groups perfectly. Over the course of the week of building our quinzhee the workload was pretty divided between both groups everyone chipped in and got done what needed to be done.<br />In the days leading up for winter camp we constructed our fire pit and collected the firewood. Once again everyone chipped in and did their part collecting the wood or making the fire pit. Out of all of the fire pits, I think ours was the best. We made a wall to block the wind from touching the fire and made a bench out of snow so you could sit down.<br />The things I didn’t do well in winter camp were, I made the mistake of not putting on my shoes when I needed to lower my water level, if you know what I mean. The reason this was a mistake was because my socks eventually got wet and then my feet started to freeze. Now me, being a little foggy in the middle of the night didn’t think of taking off my socks so my feet wouldn’t be in contact with the cold socks, so my feet were frozen the whole night. Thus I probably got 30min of sleep that night.<br />Although our quinzhee was big enough, the construction of it wasn’t perfect. Our platform ended up being in a bit of a bowl shape. I slept next to the wall in our quinzhee, so every time I adjusted my body position or moved at all I slid towards the middle of the quinzhee towards everyone else. So I tried to give the rest of the guys some space, every time I did that the mat and tarp I slept on stayed closer to the middle. So essentially my sleeping bag got wet and cold and I slept on snow all night.<br />5 recommendations<br />1. Bring enough clothes to properly layer yourself<br />2. When building the quinzhee make a proper cold sink and platform.<br />3. Make sure you have enough food and drink for everyone in your group<br />4. Bring a 3 seasons sleeping bag or a winter sleeping bag<br />5. Bring a easy pair of shoes to slip on at night (trust me)<br />Overall I really enjoyed winter camp and if I would change a couple things for next year my winter camp experience would’ve been really enjoyable.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02963539119896217286noreply@blogger.com