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Safely back from the edge we set about excavating a snow platform in pseudo-Himalayan style—but without a lightweight snow shovel. The snow was wind-packed, and of just the right consistency for sawing into blocks. "Use your ski tails as a saw and a shovel," I said, but warned, "Don't pry; just slice." I learned this the hard way myself—harder for a friend than for me. I pried, ever so gently, and cracked a ski tail—his. The excavating went rapidly. You push the tail straight down a foot or so in a series of stabs outlining a snow block, then diagonally slide the tail under the block and slice it out. The snow was perfect for an igloo, but Eskimo engineering and snow-cave digging could come on a later trip. We cut into the slope about three feet on the uphill side and piled our blocks below, ending up with a platform about eight feet square. Using a ski's edge as bulldozer, we leveled it. By now the platform was compacted to ice. |
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