Quintessential Quinzees – Winter Longhike 2023

I didn’t know what a quinzee was when I signed up for the longhike, but I put my trust in club expert Anton Afanassiev and turned my mind to holiday pursuits. When Anton was lured from the trip by a surprise math exam, I volunteered to lead the group. Surely, someone would know what they were doing.

Despite amassing 30 eager VOCers at the pretrip meeting, only two folks had dug a quinzee, and not since they were 10 years old. So, we spent some time looking at old trip reports, youtube videos, and reaching out to our more quinzee savvy acquaintances. This would be my first trip leading experience, and I wanted to ensure that everyone would have a snowy roof over their heads for the night.

We were caressed under a warm winter sun as we snowshoed or skied up the trail to Red Heather hut on Saturday morning. T-shirts and shorts were donned as people warded off the sweat that would surely freeze them later on.

After arriving at the shelter, groups of 3 to 5 got to work piling mounds of snow. The snow was soft, wet powder, and sticks around a foot and a half in length were stuck into the mounds to serve as a guide for when to stop digging up from underneath later on. Once the mounds reached around a meter in height, they were packed down with avalanche shovels and left to rest for two hours while we hiked further up to catch the sunset.

This quinzee was notably luxurious, with a hand carved staircase and a candlelit interior

Admiring the sunset whilst the quinzees set

After we returned, the tunnelling began. Unfortunately, I was absolutely rattled by an accidental blow to the head with a shovel. Thankfully, Camille Heslot happens to be a doctor specializing in traumatic brain injury, and assured me that I was probably going to be fine. The tunnelling took us late into the night, but the promise of the mulled wine we hauled up kept our spirits high. After what felt like a few metric tons of snow had been excavated, most of the groups had finished by 2100h. Not bad. Then, the festivities began. Australian amateur mixologist Anthony Carbone, along with others I do not recall (I was knocked in the head after all) duly prepared the mulled wine. While I abstained from drink, the aroma of the spices prepared by Anton hung in the fresh mountain air, while the warmth of the draughts soothed tired spirits.

Folks hanging out under their snowy roof before bed

Kind of cozy

After much merrymaking, and a moonlit expedition led by Sri Chaitanya, we dragged ourselves through the tunnel entrances to our frosty resting places. Everyone had a legal place to sleep that night, making the quinzee building a success. However, despite a decent temperature of -2C, some folks were quite cold in the night (more on this later).

The sun did not reappear in the morning, and the temperature drop overnight had frozen the quinzees so much that avalanche shovels and foot stomping were having a tough time destroying them. Luckily, there was an axe up at the hut, which when used to cut a ring around the outside of the quinzee was quite effective in bringing them down.

What was learned on this trip? First, quinzee groups should be smaller (2 to 3 people). If high school math serves me correctly, the volume of a shape increases cubically, while the surface area increases with the square. That means that a quinzee that sleeps more individuals will have more volume within it per person than one that sleeps less. This means that each person’s body heat will have to warm up proportionally more air, and each person will have to dig out proportionally more snow. Another good tip is to put more sticks and poles into the roof of the quinzees. We only put 6, and were always worried we would dig too far and break through the roof.Lastly, it would be good from a learning standpoint to have some groups dig snow trenches or snow caves since these forms of shelter are more versatile.

I had a great time on this trip, and take solace in the thought that if any of us 30 VOCers feel the threat of nature’s cold, unforgiving breath, we will now be able to seek refuge in the familiar icy fortress that is the quintessential quinzee.