Snow Fort "Fun"

A Shelter From the Cold

Julia Pimentel

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Materials:

1. Snow shovel
2. 10 x 5 piece of plastic
3. 18 inch piece of wood
4. Lots of snow

Construction:

I went outside around 1:00 p.m. so as to expose myself to the "warm" temperature of the day which was a cozy 13℉ . As I looked around my backyard, however, I realized not much natural material was available to me, so I settled for using a piece of plastic. I decided I would drape this plastic over a low hanging branch, using the snow to pack it in and keep it in place.

After battling the wind to get the plastic over the branch, I began to stabilize it by packing snow up on either side of the tarp, curving the snow up and outward from the inside to maximize the interior space. There were also small gaps between the plastic and the tree trunk so I had to pack snow up all the way to the top in these places. I then noticed that the plastic was moving too much in the wind, so I decided to use a small piece of wood to prop it up, once again using the snow to keep the wood and plastic in place. Lastly, I used the remainder of the plastic as flooring.

The majority of this process was devoted to evening out the amount of snow on each side of the plastic sheet so as to maintain sturdiness and balance. I also had to keep readjusting the plastic to give it enough tension to prevent it from flapping around in the wind.

Final Product:

Inside -

Outside -

Additional Comments:

The fort which I constructed is 1 x 1 yd., which is enough for my small self to fit in, but is 1/4 of the size that I would actually like it to be. Also, as you can see, the entrance allows for a lot of exposure to the cold, but if I had had more resources I would have liked to stack branches and pack them in with snow to close some of that gap off. 

Overall, my fort did a good job at keeping out the wind and cold as I was surprisingly comfortable and warm when I went to sit inside of it. I also enjoyed that I could lean against the trunk for support and could see the sky through the clear plastic.

^^ Me being warm in my shelter ^^