Pitching a tarp on snow with a trekking pole?

Generally, we would cut a piece of Masonite about 2×2 inches, and then wrap enough duct tape around it to make a soft base. The trekking pole handle should fit onto that without slipping off. The bottom surface of the Masonite could slip against the snow, so maybe put one layer of duct tape there.
–B.G.–

Last weekend I pitched my Duomid on snow. I was in the Catskills and stomped down on the snow with my snow shoes. I then used a pole jack from MLD and my LT4s. I jammed the pole jack as firmly into the snow as I could and didn't have a problem. In the morning the DuoMid wasn't as tight of a pitch as when I went to bed, but it could have been do to the frozen condensation on the Silnylon. In the morning I raised the pole about half an inch and it was a very tight pitch. It was very cold (-7*F) and therefore the snow probably didn't melt very much under the pole jack.

On an somewhat related note I thought about a new way to tension a tarp. Instead of using a serious of guy lines with tensioners built into them a spring could be added to the pole jack so that the pole would get slightly longer if needed to tighten the pitch of the tarp. I am not sure if anyone has tried this yet, but might be worth a try.

> I would imagine the pole grip would slowly sink into the snow.
Ah no. You need to go and experiment with snow: it's funny stuff.

What you do is stomp the snow down with your boots and then leave it for 10 – 15 minutes. It should undergo 'firnification' in that time. What this means is that all the little soft fluffy snow flakes bond together and the snow becomes much harder. Yes, this is a bit like packing snow together in your hands to make a snowball.

If the pole does sink slowly in the snow it means that you are sitting almost right on 0 C and the sun is hitting your trekking pole. Than can happen of course!

Cheers

Roger has it right.

– Stomp Snow
– Pitch Tarp/Mid
– Dig Trench

Here's my Duomid. The little "stump" of snow in the middle holds the pole. It also makes a great littel snow table for preparing meals and stuff.

"What you do is stomp the snow down with your boots and then leave it for 10 – 15 minutes. It should undergo 'firnification' in that time. What this means is that all the little soft fluffy snow flakes bond together and the snow becomes much harder."

In North America, this is called "sintering."

–B.G.–

Whatever it is called, it is a pain in the but to dig down 12 inches to get my guy line tied to a dead-man.

I learned my lesson and next time I will just loop the guy line around the piece of wood I am burying and back up to above the snow. That way I won't have to dig everything up.

> next time I will just loop the guy line around the piece of wood I am burying
Chuckle. Yep, much easier!

Cheers