tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post9026637297984798903..comments2023-05-04T09:56:08.282-05:00Comments on CW Outdoor Ed: WintercampMr.Brouwerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14851803029313082389noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-65986102841526183802012-06-19T17:26:39.455-05:002012-06-19T17:26:39.455-05:00When i was first told I was going to sleep in a qu...When i was first told I was going to sleep in a quinsy I was shocked. I had thought it would be freezing and I would probably not survive through the whole night (at least I was right about one thing! ) <br /> When we started to build the quincy I had no clue how to do it and what to do. After a day of building I started to get the hang of it and felt more confident about the design of our quincy. To be honest I never truly trusted the strength of the snow, until the morning after. in conclusion i feel the winter camp was not as good as it could have been for my group, if we had only just stayed the whole night it would have been better.waqqaskhalidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01867794349546751790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-40834387141267894822012-06-19T17:26:22.213-05:002012-06-19T17:26:22.213-05:00When i was first told I was going to sleep in a qu...When i was first told I was going to sleep in a quinsy I was shocked. I had thought it would be freezing and I would probably not survive through the whole night (at least I was right about one thing! ) <br /> When we started to build the quincy I had no clue how to do it and what to do. After a day of building I started to get the hang of it and felt more confident about the design of our quincy. To be honest I never truly trusted the strength of the snow, until the morning after. in conclusion i feel the winter camp was not as good as it could have been for my group, if we had only just stayed the whole night it would have been better.waqqaskhalidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01867794349546751790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-39462177399533143322012-01-25T12:02:45.910-05:002012-01-25T12:02:45.910-05:00Out door Ed winter camp reflection
This years qu...Out door Ed winter camp reflection <br /><br />This years quinzhee camp was so much fun Im glad we were able to get some snow on the ground at the last min so that we could build the quinzhee. <br />I was unable to come to school on 2 of the 3 days so I didn't really have a group or a quinzhee so I joined one with Jon, Josh and Kjell. There quinzhee was to small to fit <br />Me so I had to make the quinzhee bigger.<br /><br />What I liked: I like that this year I bought more than enough food to keep every one in the group feed. equipment like snow shoes, matches and pocket knife. As well as clothes to keep me warm and dry, I even brought 2 jackets. <br />I also liked the fact that a truck ran on the field and that the teaches thought it was a good idea to run after it.<br /><br />What I didn't like: even with all my lairs on at night I was still cold even thought I was in my sleeping bag with a winter jacket and snow pants on it was cold. I was also kind of bored most of the time because nothing was happening like games and activities. <br /><br />Next time I would Bring a working lighter and better candles to keep the inside warm as well as dig the entrance more lower and the platform higher so it doesn't get cold air.Tyler Charronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02215891466236831771noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-37462266193905209902012-01-24T21:49:38.958-05:002012-01-24T21:49:38.958-05:00The day and night I spent in my quince was amazing...The day and night I spent in my quince was amazing. The time and effort that was put into building the quince was fantastic. An unforgettable night by the fire and a fantastic meal, that night couldn’t have gone any better. <br /><br /> The day we spent after school was very relaxed because our shelter was nearly done, all that was left was some clearing to the remaining snow inside the shelter and getting the meals prepared. After all the snow was out, the quince was big enough to have a game of tag. I poked my head out of the quince and to my surprise the fire was already roaring . We ate hamburgers which were nice and tasty. As night pressed the temperature dropped drastically and the wood supplied became minimal so we made it our duty to find more wood and keep this fire alive. It was a long and cold journey but we finally made it to the forest and gathered enough wood for the rest of the night. <br /><br />The night was an extremely cold affair but was not noticeable inside the lovely quinces we made. My sleeping bag was nice and warm. The night inside the quince seemed to go by very fast I had a great night’s sleep despite snow constancy falling on my face. <br /><br />This was an unforgettable experience I always love to try new thing and different challenges for me this is one I will surely never forget.bossmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05231329420988216785noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-49917706264728463832012-01-24T17:53:46.840-05:002012-01-24T17:53:46.840-05:00Winter Camp Reflection
***By: Justin***
so althoug...Winter Camp Reflection<br />***By: Justin***<br />so although not being there for wintercamp i still heard allot about it from friends and how it was rough, tough, and fun. I wish i went because i heard about allot of stories such as what people did to stay warm and what they did around the fire... <br /><br />Such as "Sam Cudmore" who told me "so the building process was fun. i enjoyed digging out the quinzee but it was pretty physically tiring. the food was good, easily prepared, and covered pretty much al the main food groups. thd fire was very fun, chilling with everybody. the sleep was pretty rough. i was pretty coldand uncomfortable. if i were to doit again i would make sure to build a more flat quinzee to sleep on, and also to have a winter sleeping bag." And a couple other people told me around the same thing...Most people i heard had a hard sleep due to either being too cold or not enough room and comfortability. I think i would have personally had the exact same problem, because i dont have a winter sleeping bag, and knowing my preperation skills wouldint have brought enough layers. <br /><br />i think it would have been a great experience over all and although i wasint there, it seemed like i should have been.Justin Sasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15058872334958183235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-9270608879061545002012-01-24T16:03:50.117-05:002012-01-24T16:03:50.117-05:00Winter Camp
Sleeping in a quinzhee was defini...Winter Camp<br /> Sleeping in a quinzhee was definitely an experience I will never forget. To start with, digging out the quinzhee was a workout. We spent about 3 classes plus after school, flattening out the ground in the circle of where our quinzhee would be, pilling snow on to it and eventually digging that snow out into a cavern. And then we had to plan our meals, pack for this adventure, and finally live it.<br /> At first we thought that building the quinzhee would be easy, I thought that all we would have to do is dig a hole in a pile of snow. It sounded easy. But really it was one of the most challenging things I have ever done. Figuring out how big we needed to make it was a challenge in itself. Mackenzie and I thought that since we’re small we can have a small quinzhee but then looking at the snow that we had padded down we realized that it would not be a comfortable night. So we made it bigger. And starting piling up the snow. This was a long and boring task and I realized that after just one day my arms were sore. Digging out the shelter was, in my opinion the easiest part. But I didn’t finish it properly. I left the “floor” on a slant resulting in us sliding down to the bottom of our quinzhee.<br /> We brought too much food. We brought soups, hot dogs, marshmallows, carrots, crackers and humus. The only things we really ate were hot dogs and marshmallows. Everything else went to waste. It wouldn’t have been such a big deal that we had left our food outside if we had cared enough to bring it in to the school before it was locked. By morning everything was frozen solid and most of it got thrown out. In my opinion we should have eaten more than we did, this may have been one of the reasons why we were cold during the night. <br /> Packing was not as easy as just packing. I didn’t know what to bring and if I could do this again I would have brought another pair of boots, one for working and one for hanging out, another pair of snow pants, and more sweaters. I would have brought the extra sweaters to wear under my coat, because while my coat stayed warm and dry my sweaters were often wet with snow. My boots were also frozen solid by morning because I left them outside of our quinzhee, something I will never do again! And having another pair of boots would have been nice for the morning. <br /> Winter camp was a lot of fun. Being able to sit outside by the fire with my friends was awesome. We played so many games and had a lot of fun. But going to sleep was another story. I learned that you should take your sleeping bag out of its bag before leaving the school because if not you will twist the different layers and won’t be able to fully get in your bag. I think I only got about three hours of sleep. It wasn’t because I was uncomfortable or cold, I just couldn’t seem to be able to sleep. I also think that having more food would have helped with this. I also would have brought a flash light so that I could see inside the quinzhee.Michellehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12219089999380914167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-55779979794952120832012-01-24T13:44:03.171-05:002012-01-24T13:44:03.171-05:00On Friday 13th three outdoor ed classes went into ...On Friday 13th three outdoor ed classes went into the fields of Cairine Wilson. I had a group of six. Plus three unexpected visitors. Our group was me, Nick, Ben, Peter and Curtis. Our sixth person was Yannick. He helped us make out Quizhee, but unfortunately he had could not sleep in it. We all worked very hard on the Quinzhee the week before our amazing trip. We had to make our Quinzhee very big because we had 5 people sleeping in it at once. When we were working on the Quinzhee we also worked on a fire pit so we could stay warm and cook out food. We bought burgers, hot dogs and sausages for our food. While we were making our fire pit we had to make a wall out of the snow to block the wind from blowing out our fire. <br /><br /> Once the day of the trip came, its started to get cold and dark really fast. We had to start the fire and keep it from going out. We had a massive fire pit, so we had at least three different groups there at once cooking their food also. We cooked the food by getting a metal framed chair and placed it over the fire. We then put the grill over the chair and put the burgers and hot dogs on it. It worked pretty well, but because it was so windy, it was hard to keep the fire going all night. The food was cooked well, but some of the burgers were still under cooked. Once we finished dinner, all three of our groups were getting cold so we all decided to go in our Quinzhee. It was really warm with all the people in it at once, but it was pretty crammed. Our group mad e the Quinzhee big enough for 5 people. Not 15 plus people. For extra warmth, we dug little holes in the walls, and placed candles in them,. But we could not have candles in the Quinzhee with out air vent because of the carbon monoxide.<br /><br /> Around 2:30 am we got really tired and decided to go to sleep. The other groups left the Quinzhee and we finally had room to sleep.. until the three unexpected people came. They came around 3:00 am, and it began to become crammed again. But because of them, the Quinzhee became a bit warmers again. We blew out the candles and fell asleep. I slept quite well. My sleeping bag was very warm and and I wasnt cold at all throughout the night.<br /> This trip was an amazing experience for me, and I hope to do it again in next years class.reesespiecesmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03006303808731112100noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-73558488881204405892012-01-24T12:48:26.744-05:002012-01-24T12:48:26.744-05:00Winter Camp Reflection
Sean Rivard - Morton
The...Winter Camp Reflection<br />Sean Rivard - Morton<br /><br /><br /> The winter camp this year, was in comparison to last year’s, a huge success. Being the first year with a decent enough winter to build quinzhees that we could sleep in winter camp was possible. This year in winter camp i got to experience the biting cold of sitting outside and cooking dinner and the regret of not staying for the night to experience what it would be like to sleep outside during the winter.<br /><br /> For the most part winter camp was, we could say, an interesting experience. I learned that winter footwear is vital to an enjoyable winter camp. I found it somewhat counter productive to be sitting outside around a fire in the freezing cold, while i’m freezing my but of in the cold. I probably would have been warmer if i were moving about. I was somewhat annoyed with Cory and Rhys who were both in my Quinzhee but neither showed up until late at night leaving me to finish the Quinzhee.<br /><br />At the end of the night however i decided that it would be best for me if I went home for the night due to the fact that i had been fighting a brutal cold and started to develop a head ache.Seanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02790552010157852966noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-55808275744696530662012-01-23T18:35:39.276-05:002012-01-23T18:35:39.276-05:00When Mr. Brower told us we were going to sleep out...When Mr. Brower told us we were going to sleep outside in quinzhee, I was worried something would go wrong because it was on Friday the 13. After we had done some research in class I was less worried that it would be freezing at night because quinzhees are warm on the inside. It took us most of the week to pile the snow into a huge snow mound. We use one of the big scoops and a sled to carry snow over to our quinzhee. By Thursday we had a pretty big pile of snow then we had to make it even bigger because we got an extra member last minute. We had to work twice as hard to be able to fit all of use in. <br />On Friday we finished pilling up our snow mound and started digging it out. It took use until sunset to dig out our quinzhee, but we should have made the snow mound bigger because we all didn’t quit fit comfortably inside. We were a bit squished inside. Our ceiling was a bit too low and we could not sit up inside.<br />When it was time to get a fire going it took us a long time to get it going because the wind kept blowing it out. After we got the fire going we let some of the other groups we were sharing the fire with go first, then we made pizza for our dinner. Our dinner turned out great. After dinner we had some cookies and cream chocolate, some marshmallows and some chips. <br />When it was time for bed our stuff inside was cold and covered with snow from us hitting the ceiling when we got inside. The night was cold. We had made our entrance way to big and it was letting all of the cold wind in. We also made our ventilation hole to big and it let all the hot air out. Around three in the morning the temperature dropped and it got very cold.<br />I was so happy when morning came, I had left my boots near the entrance so that I could find them in the morning but they got squished and froze in a weird position making it hard to get them on. I still could not believe how cold it got that night and how fast it did. But I still enjoyed the experience and I hope I can do it again.BillaBonghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07070659900482732619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-42147803280423835112012-01-23T14:50:41.400-05:002012-01-23T14:50:41.400-05:00When i first heard we were building our own shelte...When i first heard we were building our own shelters and were sleeping in them i was unsure of what the outcome would be. In my mind i was thinking "I don't trust myself to build something solid so it won't collapse". <br /><br />As we started piling snow we thought it would take forever at the rate it as going. When Wednesday came along (two days before winter camp) we thought our pile was big enough until Mr. Brouwer(yourself) told us it wasn't large enough. In my mind at that point in time was "oh my gosh, were never going to be able to finish in time!" But sure enough we got the "boys" (Nick, Ben, Sam and Will) to come help us make our shelter bigger, so that we could start digging it out Thursday. <br /><br />As Friday came along, we were finished digging out our shelter around 5:30-6pm. We were a bit behind most groups, but at least we finished it in time. <br /><br />As supper came along, my group and I didn't end up cooking our hotdogs because we couldn't start our own fire, and everyone was using theirs. So myself i ate what the boys had; a hamburger. The night went by pretty slow, but seating around the campfire, and sitting in shelters was a pretty fun thing to do.<br /> <br />I enjoyed the experience of learning how to survive in the winter/cold if you have no where to go. Also i enjoyed my night; Friday 13th!<br /><br />Thanks for letting me have the experience Mr. Brouwer !Alicia Beaudoinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16794697309636289107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-70251219316279664732012-01-23T14:48:36.887-05:002012-01-23T14:48:36.887-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Alicia Beaudoinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16794697309636289107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-10210898782324755642012-01-23T14:45:42.546-05:002012-01-23T14:45:42.546-05:00As a first time winter-camper I wasn't really ...As a first time winter-camper I wasn't really sure what to expect, sleeping in the cold wasn't something I was familiar with. I didn't know whether or not to the quinzhe would be warm and I had no idea how it would hold up in the cold wind. Noone in my group had ever built a quinhze before, so for a first try I would say we did a pretty good job. <br /><br />As far as builing went, it started out well. Although we weren't sure how big to make our snow pile so we just guessed, a mistake we payed for later. Our quinhze needed to be wider then we made it, to fit our whole group comfortably inside. But since it wasn't, one of our group members had to pay for it by sleeping on a slanted ledge, very uncomfortably, while the other two had to be squished tightly together, also uncomfortably. <br /><br />When building the quinhze itself, a feel like I really improved throughout the process. At first I was too nervous to enter the narrow hole in which we were digging out the middle, but by the end I would find myself entertained for long periods of time, squirming around and carving the inside away. I feel asthough the work was split fairly evenly between my group members, and we managed to all the things we needed to such as finishing out shelter on time, and gathering wood.<br /><br />The night was very cold for us, despite what we were told because of a few errors we had made and hadn't corrected. Our walls were too thin, because we needed to make room for us to sleep, and our original pile wasn't wide enough. Another error in our ways was that our "ledge" to sleep on wasn't fully above the height of the door like it was supposed to be, so we had a slight draft. The biggest error made by my group was that while digging it out a hole was made in our roof, and although we somewhat patched it, we accidently left it party open, which caused a horrible draft in our quinzhe, which caused us to get increasingly colder thoughout the night. <br /><br />I did enjoy myself on this trip but I think that if we were to do this whole Wintercamp over again, my group would have spent more time on buidling our snow pile larger to give us more room on the inside and our quinzhe would have been much better to sleep in, making it a more enjoyable experiance overall.Taaylor :Dhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06672801237789854078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-81776249043624837052012-01-23T13:32:27.944-05:002012-01-23T13:32:27.944-05:00Winter Camp Reflection
This is the first year I&#...Winter Camp Reflection<br /><br />This is the first year I've basically seen a quinzee, let alone have to build one. Before we started i thought that the inside would be freezing! I also thought that it wouldn't be too much work. You know, just move some snow into a pile and then just dig out a hole, right? Man was I wrong!<br /><br />But thankfully my two partners for this project had both already built one the year before and all three of us worked really hard trying to make sure our quinzee was the best we could make. Or at least try. Despite all the hard work and the cold weather and the hours of shoveling, I had an amazing time! There isn't that much i would have liked to change if i were to do it again though, only a few things.<br /><br />The main things I'd want to change during my experience at the Winter Camp would have to be the fact that i forgot some equipement and wasn't 100% prepared. I wish I had brought an extra pair of gloves because after an hour or two of shoveling the one pair I had were soaked. Another thing I wish I had remembered were the candles and a lighter to help warm the quinzee because all we had was a flashlight. Our group also didn't have any very big bags to block the doorway. Other then that, there isn't much I'd change.<br /><br />Some people say that the whole digging out the quinzhees part was horrible but I thought it was kind of fun. Piling up the snow for a hill over 7 foot tall got boring, but I liked digging it out. It was fun to see how much snow you dug out and to see how much it got bigger every time. Especially once the sun went down and it started to get very cold, we appreciated just how much work we put into the quinzhee. Although we probably could have done better with our fire and built walls to block the wind. But that's okay, because there was enough room over at Mr. Brouwer's quinzhee for everyone!<br /><br />This experience showed me that just because a task LOOKS easy, definitly does not mean it is easy. And of course that hard work pays off! Overall this experience was so much fun and I'd definitly love to do it again! Sleeping in a quinzhee, hanging out by the fire, playing mafia, and just being with friends. It was such a great time, I recommend it to anyone and everyone.<br /><br />Nathan QuinnNathan Quinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06871408408161859824noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-80566965084814523112012-01-22T23:31:42.882-05:002012-01-22T23:31:42.882-05:00Long, tough, hardworking days and possibly the wor...Long, tough, hardworking days and possibly the worst night of my entire life. And if I might add, it was Friday the 13th. But believe it or not, it was all completely worth it. <br /><br />We started out confidently shoveling snow into one humungous pile which took a lot longer than we expected it to take. My group and I did not finish building and shaping it until the Friday during class. We were sure we would not be finished by the time night came around, but we were. We were very proud of ourselves.<br /><br />Night was not at all what I anticipated would happen. A bunch of us were hanging around the boys fire until the smoke going into our eyes was too much to bear. We went inside their quinzhee and just talked and chilled around until 3 AM when we all left to our own quinzhee's. When Mady and I got to ours, the rest of our group told us that we could not come in because we would not all fit. Frustrated, Mady and I went to ask any others if we could bunk with them for the night. We were forced to split up. I went with Michelle and Mackenzie, but when we left the boys quinzhee, it was way too cold because it was not properly built. So we begged and pleaded that the boys would let us sleep with them for the night, when they finally accepted. <br /><br />I woke up about every half an hour during the night checking the time, praying that it would be 7 AM so I could go back into the school and warm up. My toes felt like they were going to fall off. When I finally woke up at 7, everyone said I was snoring loudly throughout the night. I ran back into the school to warm up. I immidiately went to the heater in the backroom to warm up my feet. I fell asleep on the floor in there because I was exhausted. <br /><br />When I got home, I went into my warm cozy bed and slept until 3 PM. Even after I woke, my left foot last three toes were numb, and still are to this day when I put pressure on them. I am not sure why this is the case still.<br /><br />This experience may sound extremely horrible and may turn you off from sleeping outside in the winter forever, but bare in mind it creates memories that are unforgettable. I will never forget the bonding's that I made with everyone I hung out with and all the memories that were made, made this experience amazing. It was the worst, yet best night of my entire life so far.b-hoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14035129778911227246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-11656800066993239172012-01-22T23:31:07.679-05:002012-01-22T23:31:07.679-05:00Long, tough, hardworking days and possibly the wor...Long, tough, hardworking days and possibly the worst night of my entire life. And if I might add, it was Friday the 13th. But believe it or not, it was all completely worth it. <br /><br />We started out confidently shoveling snow into one humungous pile which took a lot longer than we expected it to take. My group and I did not finish building and shaping it until the Friday during class. We were sure we would not be finished by the time night came around, but we were. We were very proud of ourselves.<br /><br />Night was not at all what I anticipated would happen. A bunch of us were hanging around the boys fire until the smoke going into our eyes was too much to bear. We went inside their quinzhee and just talked and chilled around until 3 AM when we all left to our own quinzhee's. When Mady and I got to ours, the rest of our group told us that we could not come in because we would not all fit. Frustrated, Mady and I went to ask any others if we could bunk with them for the night. We were forced to split up. I went with Michelle and Mackenzie, but when we left the boys quinzhee, it was way too cold because it was not properly built. So we begged and pleaded that the boys would let us sleep with them for the night, when they finally accepted. <br /><br />I woke up about every half an hour during the night checking the time, praying that it would be 7 AM so I could go back into the school and warm up. My toes felt like they were going to fall off. When I finally woke up at 7, everyone said I was snoring loudly throughout the night. I ran back into the school to warm up. I immidiately went to the heater in the backroom to warm up my feet. I fell asleep on the floor in there because I was exhausted. <br /><br />When I got home, I went into my warm cozy bed and slept until 3 PM. Even after I woke, my left foot last three toes were numb, and still are to this day when I put pressure on them. I am not sure why this is the case still.<br /><br />This experience may sound extremely horrible and may turn you off from sleeping outside in the winter forever, but bare in mind it creates memories that are unforgettable. I will never forget the bonding's that I made with everyone I hung out with and all the memories that were made, made this experience amazing. It was the worst, yet best night of my entire life so far.b-hoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14035129778911227246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-57345633673381180932012-01-22T21:07:42.237-05:002012-01-22T21:07:42.237-05:00The first idea that came to mind when my group was...The first idea that came to mind when my group was building the Quinzhee, have it really close to the school which was a great idea because while we were building, I could take frequent breaks.<br /><br />The first part was really easy, just pile snow. Then came the tricky part...digging the snow out.Once the entrance was done, it was time to dig up and create the actual platform where we would sleep. It took two days to finish and when we did, it was a very historical moment. While everyone worked under stress, I was walking around, having a good time but little did I know that my Quinzhee was gonna be the worst shelter to sleep in.<br /><br />So during the fire, we ate, talked and played a very odd game of Dare. I was looking forward to sleeping. I get into my sleeping bag and the zipper breaks. Then I realized a few things like there's too many holes in the Quinzhee, the platform was not very well built, the entrance was too big, there was no tunnel, and the Quinzhee could have been way bigger then it was. <br /><br />I was frozen the whole night and i couldn't feel my feet for a few hours. I did not sleep at all and my sleeping bag was wet(from the snow!) I realize now that its better to do something slow but right instead of fast and wrong. I learned from my mistakes and there were some high points. I would enjoy another opportunity to build a Quinzhee but i would do it right the next time.Danhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10661669664783152270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-59201981192917349202012-01-21T16:54:18.528-05:002012-01-21T16:54:18.528-05:00PAD30 Winter Camp Reflection
Josh McKelvey
For the...PAD30 Winter Camp Reflection<br />Josh McKelvey<br />For the short time I had at the winter camp, I had a lot of fun. I was in a group with Tyler, Kjell, and Jon. We built our quinzhee in a very good spot. Jon, Kjell, and I decided to build our quinzhee a few feet from the forest, on a slightly downward slope. Because of this, it would be harder for the cold air to get into the quinzhee. Unfortunately, Tyler was not present for the building of our quinzhee until the day of the winter camp. This meant more work for the three of us. Since most of the time there were only three people working on a quinzhee made for four, the finished product was a bit smaller than we would have hoped. Although it was slightly smaller than we wanted, we did have a very good platform, which was about one foot and a half or two feet high, which could keep our quinzhee relatively warm. While one person worked on the tunnel into our quinzhee, the rest would build walls around the entrance. <br /><br />Once the day of the winter camp came, we were already starting to hollow out the quinzhee. Once it was hollowed out, all four of us got inside to see if it was big enough. With all of us packed inside, we just needed a little more room. So while some worked on additional hollowing out of our quinzhee, I got one of the giant plow-like shovels and started adding a lot more snow onto the sides. Once that was done, we were all able to fit inside pretty well. We used all the snow we extracted from inside our quinzhee to build up our existing walls around the entrance a bit higher, and made some more walls, and designated a fire pit. <br /><br />I learned a lot through the experiences we had in the next hour. First, we were going to put our candles inside the quinzhee. Then we realized that I was the only one who brought candles, and I only brought one tall candle. So Tyler went on a mission back to his house to get some more. I learned that we should have come prepared with candles, because the time spent getting more candles was time we could have spent improving our walls. The next lesson I learned was from the fire, and our walls. Although our walls were tall enough to keep wind out of our quinzhee, they were not tall enough to make building our fire from becoming infuriating. Because of their lack of height, any fire we could get going was quickly extinguished. But after using the rest of the fluid from my lighter and going through at least twenty of Jon’s matches, we finally got our fire going. Because of the height of our walls, the gusts of wind sent smoke in many directions. This made tending to the fire an extremely uncomfortable experience, and anyone who would try to add wood to the flames would end up with eyes full of smoke.<br /><br />For food, we were going to eat lots of Tyler’s ramen noodles. We got a seatless chair and a metal grate to put over our fire. We filled a pot up with snow, melted and heated it over the fire, and then threw in many packs of noodles and waited until they got soft enough to eat. After what seemed like an eternity, the noodles were ready! <br /><br />We went to borrow some forks from the outdoor Ed room. On the way out I went to close the garage door. I put my finger in what I thought to be a gap in the panels to pull it down. Unfortunately it wasn’t a gap. It was a space on the articulated panel door. As I yanked the door down, it closed on the end of my left index finger, and squished it like a pancake. Although initially it did not hurt, after a few minutes it hurt pretty badly. It looked really gross. Mr. Brouwer told me to leave and get it looked at by a doctor, because it would be very susceptible to frost bite.<br /><br />My dad picked me up, we went to CHEO and, after an x-ray, it turns out my finger was broken. I learned a lot. For example, I now know that the walls around a quinzhee must be much higher to be effective. I also learned that for any outdoor adventure, you should always come prepared. I had a lot of fun, even though my finger got squished. The worst part was that I didn’t get to eat the noodles!Josh McKelveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00923799224958001234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-72114818418756526982012-01-21T16:51:23.334-05:002012-01-21T16:51:23.334-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Josh McKelveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00923799224958001234noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-24266637688696206232012-01-21T14:30:25.830-05:002012-01-21T14:30:25.830-05:00Four years ago, before I came to Canada, I would n...Four years ago, before I came to Canada, I would never imagine that I would spend build a snow shelter, let alone spend a night in one. Though, through valuable research time, my group and I were able to build if I could say so myself, the best shelter in the camp. <br />Our group consisted of eight lads, seven slept in the shelter and unfourtnantly one was unable to spend the night. We spent the first two days piling a gigantic mound of snow, so we would be able to fit all of us in. Then the final days before the night were spent gutting the inside out. This was pretty hard work it was quite far up the entrance tunnel to dig out though we overcame all obstacles using team work and were able to complete the shelter in time. <br />Luckily our clothes weren’t soaked as we pretty much finished the shelter on the Thursday (the day before) as there was a tremendous amount of misery from many other groups on how cold they got. <br />The night time activities commenced as soon as everyone put a new set of clothes on, as everything was a little bit wet. Peter had built a camp fire area for us, so the cooking rotation started off with my group cooking our ridiculous amount of burgers and sausages (60 hotdogs, 24 burgers is what I seem to remember the number being). <br />It was a pretty good night and I’m definitely looking forward to doing it next years!<br />Cheers Mr Brouwer!William.Fyfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17751710126108587126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-21550646097932551832012-01-21T11:52:32.732-05:002012-01-21T11:52:32.732-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Juliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06611712981614830834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-53372105154315436432012-01-21T11:49:43.593-05:002012-01-21T11:49:43.593-05:00One of the many reasons I joined the Outdoor Ed cl...One of the many reasons I joined the Outdoor Ed class was because my cousin had taken it when he was in highschool and had told me all about the Quinzhee and how fun it was. But once we started hearing about it, how we were going to build and sleep in it, I began to get a little worried. I was mostly worried about the roof collapsing on us from the candles melting it or the walls not being thick enough or whatever else could possibly go wrong. I really shouldn't have been worried! <br />Every day when we were building, we would talk before we went outside and make a plan for how we were going to work that day. I think that our group worked really well together, but it was too bad that Debra (who was also in our group) was in the other class so we didn't really get to work with her until Friday. But we definitely got all the work done that we needed and our Quinzhee worked out really well.<br />We were really excited to get back to working after school, but we got soaked through quickly and that made working more difficult. When we dug enough so that two people could be in the Quinzhee, we realized that we could see blue on the all the walls, and we started to get nervous. What if there wasn’t enough room for all of us inside? But when Mr. Brouwer came to check it, he said we could keep digging and that was definitely a relief for all of us. We built our Quinzhee on a hill, and made our cold sink go down one side of the hill. When we started digging the platform, it got kind of missed but it ended up being ok because we were on a platform anyways. <br />After we got everything ready and pulled the tarp into the Quinzhee, we went to get changed and get our food. Putting warm, dry clothes on has never felt so good! We made mini pizzas and soup for dinner and we had so much fun sitting around the fire with the other groups around us who were sharing the fire. The pizzas didn’t work out as well as we had hoped but the soup was really warm and definitely made me feel warmer.<br />When we got into the Quinzhee, we laughed and talked and ate (a lot!) I couldn’t have asked for a better group. We all sort of took turns sleeping because I was nervous about the roof collapsing and I didn’t want to sleep if no one else was awake. <br />Debora had to leave at 5 am because she was skiing the next day so I agreed to get up with her and help her get all her stuff together. This is definitely when I started feeling the cold. As soon as I got out my sleeping bag I started shivering like crazy. It was also really hard to pull the stuff in the door back into place properly so I think that was also part of the reason I was cold when I got back in. I didn’t really sleep after that even though I tried and was so excited when I heard people outside going into the school.<br />Next time I do a Wintercamp, I will make sure to bring a fleece lining for my sleeping bag as Mr. Brouwer mentioned because I thought I would be fine with my minus ten sleeping bag, but it wasn’t enough for me. I will also not let myself get too cold. When we digging out the Quinzhee, I didn’t realize that my pants weren’t waterproof and I thought I was just getting cold when I was also getting wet. If I had used better pants or had gone to change earlier, I wouldn’t have gotten so cold and would have been able to warm up faster. Another thing was the pizzas which were tasty, put it was too cold for the cheese to melt out in the winter air. Next time I would bring a cover for the pan so the heat would stay inside and the cheese would melt.<br />This was a wonderful learning experience for me and I’m glad that I got to try it! I would definitely do this again with only a very few changes!Juliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06611712981614830834noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-62828842034131077332012-01-20T22:47:05.203-05:002012-01-20T22:47:05.203-05:00Winter Camping
The superstitions about Friday th...Winter Camping<br /><br /> The superstitions about Friday the 13th proved to be complete lies. The night was warmer than I would have expected, especially in Canada, a country known for it's winters. I had never done anything that seemed this crazy before, but I was excited for it.<br /><br /> When the last class ended, our quinzhee was a pile of snow with a tunnel in the side of it. We quickly got to work, and despite the few bathroom and warm-up breaks, our temporary home was erected for the night. Our quinzhee was big enough to sit up in the middle, and had a waist high wall blocking the entrance from wind. Our quinzhee had been built on a hill, so the tunnel was sloped downwards for a natural cold sink. The opening was too high, which was my fault. As I was digging out the tunnel on the first day, I dug too far upwards. To solve that problem, we propped up a sled in the doorway.<br /><br /> After the short celebration of completing our quinzhee, it was already time for dinner. Dinner was excellent. Our group had pepperoni pizza on tortillas. We had supplies for our entire group to have two pizzas, but we each only had one. The main reason for this was that we couldn't make pizza with gloves on, and with our gloves off was way too cold. Despite that, we ate enough to satisfy our hunger. I was proud of the fact that our group was one of the groups that went inside the least. After dinner, we had the campfire. This was the best part of the night. Most of us sat on benches made out of snow. It was warm, and everyone had a good time.<br /><br /> Sleep didn't come easy for me. I normally take a longer time to fall asleep in a comfy bed, let alone a thin inflatable pad and sleeping bag. I knew that I would have trouble falling asleep, so I went to bed earlier than most other people. As I crawled up the tunnel to go to bed, I was too tired and cold to bother organizing myself. I simply wrapped my sleeping bag around myself, still wearing my coat, snow pants, and boots. This was my first mistake. My socks were wet, and so were the inside of my boots. I didn't realize it until I was unable to get out without waking anyone. At the time, I thought that taking my boots off would just make my feet colder, so I didn't do that. If I had taken my boots and socks off, and replaced them with a dry pair that I should have brought into the quinzhee with me, then I would have slept much easier.<br /><br /> All in all, the night was fun. I had a good time, and I hope that everyone else did too. Next time, I'll be sure to bring a dry pair of socks with me everywhere. Also, if the temperature is the same or worse, I would prepare the food inside before cooking it. In conclusion, I highly recommend having a night like this. It might be cold, but if you prepared properly, you'll have no trouble at all.PHILosopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14807592545193153619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-69480274856574807772012-01-20T18:25:34.597-05:002012-01-20T18:25:34.597-05:00I just can say that I really enjoyed winter campin...I just can say that I really enjoyed winter camping even though it was sometimes a bit cold. The next time I go winter camping I will take better cloths for hanging out around the fire, and we should not make the ventilation hole as big. Our entrance could have been a bit bigger but with a small entrance we did not lose as much heat, which is good. The size of our quinzhee was a bit small for four people, but again this gave us more heat as it is easier to heat up a small shelter. The insolation power of snow really surprised me: you could not hear anything from outside, and it was not too cold in our quinzhee. Running around the school might look a bit crazy but I would do it again as it really warmed us up before we went to bed. I also liked the dinner and the snacks. Digging out the quinzhee was my favorite part and I cannot wait to do it again next semester. This winter camp experience was great!Deb F.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08918835451239516010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-58251979870832254972012-01-20T18:25:14.517-05:002012-01-20T18:25:14.517-05:00Proud of our work we went inside to change and pre...Proud of our work we went inside to change and prepare our supper. The combination of English muffins, pasta vegetable sauce, salami, and cheese made some delicious and nutritious mini-pizzas. The whole grain English muffins provided us with carbohydrates, the cheese gave us dairy, and the salami meat with protein, and the vegetable sauce covered the fruit and vegetables category with all its vitamins, carbohydrates and complex sugars. These pizzas were warmed up over the fire where we sat toasty warm together in dry cloths. Additionally we ate some leftover soup we made in our foods class earlier in the morning. I really enjoyed this meal, even though everyone was so hungry that we decided to eat the pizzas half cold. The soup was hot though and together with a hot tea it warmed me up. Together with the others we sat around the fire playing “truth or dare”. This was a lot of fun, but after a while I got a bit cold sitting on the snow, and having the freezing wind blowing right in my face. When we went inside again to change and get ready for the night at 10pm, I was happy to get in my really good cloths for the night. After we packed and organized everything, Julia and I ran around in the locker bay and around the school to warm up for the night. That was funny and really effective! Then, we pushed all our stuff in the quinzhee. Surrounded by 4 sleeping bags and a lot of other stuff, we had a hard time to organize ourselves in our shelter. After a while everyone was lying in their sleeping bag, the entrance was blogged, and the night could begin. I was happy that all the work was done now. With 3 candles we started to heat up our quinzhee. I was a bit afraid that the candles would burn our stuff because it was so messy inside, but in the little shelves we made for the candles they were safe. We played card games and we talked a lot. Together we had a really good time. From time to time a cold wind came in from the ventilation hole that was a bit too big, but all in all our quinzhee was pretty warm. In a -40° rated sleeping bag, with a hat, a neck warmer, mittens, and long underwear, I did not feel too cold. Just my feet were freezing from time to time because somehow my socks became a bit wet. When I tried it completely without socks it was much better. Eating snacks, like banana chips, nuts, chocolate, and fruit lettuce, playing cards, talking, and cuddling together, we totally forgot the time so we went to bed at 3am. This gave me exactly one and a half hours until I had to get up. Since I had a daily ski trip to Mont Blanc the next day I had got picked up from the winter camp at 5am. Waking up and going outside was the worst and coldest experience during the winter camp. It was freezing cold outside and I just wanted to go back into my sleeping bag. I took all my stuff which was frozen at that time, and I left. I was a bit tired but also sad that winter camping was over now. Sleeping in the bus I could enjoy skiing even though I had an amazing but also exhausting night outside. At the end of the day I fell to bed, all snuggled up in my sheets and very tired. I was unbelievable happy about the two past days: I went skiing and I got the experience of sleeping in a quinzhee which makes my stay in Canada complete. This was just amazing!!!Deb F.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08918835451239516010noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586396691865552296.post-84247158067721501392012-01-20T18:24:17.808-05:002012-01-20T18:24:17.808-05:00Winter Camp Reflection
Debora Fieberg
Did you eve...Winter Camp Reflection<br />Debora Fieberg<br /><br />Did you ever sleep outside in the crazy Canadian weather? Did you ever build your own quinzhee to sleep in it while it is -30° outside? Well, I did now! During the night from Friday the 13th of January to Saturday the 14th of January, I got this real Canadian experience!!! <br /><br />The whole past week my group, Sammy, Julia, Sarah, and I, have been working on this quinzhee. We also got some help from Justine. Together we spent hours shuffling snow to create a huge snow pile. All we did was shuffling snow, compressing it, and shuffling more snow, which was fun but after a while a bit boring. When we decided that our snow pile is big enough to fit four people in it, I was very excited that we could start to dig it out now. Starting to dig out the entrance we thought that it would take hours to dig out the whole quinzhee. Coming forward was pretty slow as the entrance was so small that you could barely move in it, but once we came to our platform digging out the quinzhee did not take as much time as I thought. The digging was one of my favourite activities during winter camping. In the darkness you shuffled out snow, dig further in the quinzhee, and created more space like that. At first we created a really high sleeping platform inside. When we realized that there was not enough place for all the four of us with the sleeping platform, we decided that we have to destroy this platform. Usually it could become very chilly without a sleeping platform, but as our quinzhee was located on a hill, our sleeping place was above the entrance naturally, and we did not have to worry about it. At around 8pm on Friday our quinzhee was done: nicely located on the hill, with a natural sleeping platform, enough space inside, and the entrance perpendicular to the wind, additionally protected by a huge snow-wall around it! Now, we wanted to put the tarp inside. Julia brought a huge tarp for our quinzhee… almost too huge! When we spread it out inside the quinzhee, we had troubles spreading it evenly. We had to fold it three times and with three people inside a small quinzhee this became a huge mess but finally we managed this problem as well.Deb F.https://www.blogger.com/profile/08918835451239516010noreply@blogger.com