Can I dig a snow cave with those plastic boards?

[tvashtarkatena]

I use M80s

[DanO]

I have a plastic snow claw and it weighs next to nothing at 6ozs. It works pretty good under the camp stove to keep it out of the snow, works decent to level a spot for a tent. It is a item to consider if your thinking of bringing no snow shovel as it is better than nothing and works really well in softer snow. But if you really need to dig you will wish you had a good sturdy snow shovel.

 

I personally bring the snow claw for any trip that I don't think I need a snow shovel, but will be up in the snow, as a compromise to save weight and bulk. Snow claw will have a really hard time on icy snow, but you can chip away at it, same for shovel but metal shovel is better.

 

[mccallboater]

Last week at the Norway Hut in the Wallowas, out of our group of 8 skiers, 3 were still using the Chouinard shovel. These are guys who can afford anything out there, all with at least 20 years of backcountry skiing experience. Most of us guides of some sort when we were young and stupid. Our guides (young, but brilliant and professional) took us through the requisite burial extraction practice. The lesson hammered home for me was not the particular shovel used (as long as it's stiff, durable metal) but that the group you are sking with PRACTICES proper shoveling technique BEFORE a real extraction event. Proper technique reduces extraction time way more than the minor differences in the efficiency of any shovel design.

The other important issue is how many seconds does it take to stop skiing and start shoveling? I discovered I was quicker with my shovel inside my pack than it strapped on the outside. A proper shovel pocket, aka the Dana Bomb Pack as an example, is quicker yet. The K2 shovel with the handle stowed in the blade makes sense to me now. 1 second to deploy.

Whatever you choose, optimize for speed, and practice the triangle shovelling team method with your bros.

[Pete_H]

Funny. Never see packs made with the outside shovel pocket anymore.

[Crickette]

Last week at the Norway Hut

Offtopic...Are photos available?? How were the ski and avy conditions last week?

 

[mccallboater]

Sorry all for the topic shift, but check out Mike Zobott's new head cam conditions reports for the Norway hut.

[JayB]

Not quite on-topic but folks perusing the thread might find the information useful (shovel test):

 

http://www.voile-usa.com/AvalancheVol86_54-60.pdf

[Bronco]

Not quite on-topic but folks perusing the thread might find the information useful (shovel test):

 

http://www.voile-usa.com/AvalancheVol86_54-60.pdf

 

Guess it's time for a new shovel!