My son Dan, and I were visiting  the annual 2001 Fremont District Freezoree to help fulfill a Webelos requirement for Dan’s Arrow of Light. The badge is Cub Scouts’ highest award, but we were also checking out troops to see if Dan might want to continue on into Boy Scouts.

Everybody was friendly and cordial to the visiting Webelos, but there had not yet been a connection between Dan and a troop.

Central Oregon's winter is beautiful, and Boy Scouts get to experience that at the annual BSA Fremont District Freezoree.

We walked around and saw several scouts were building an igloo. One of the boys, Sean Mueller, disengaged from the activity and came out to where we were standing on the road. Sean welcomed us to Troop 18 and we shook hands.

“Want to help us build an igloo?” he asked my son. Dan’s eyes lit up, he joined the group, and was busy for the rest of the afternoon. He joined the troop a week later, as soon as he turned 11.

That was my first Freezoree, and I’ve been to every one since. There have been years of deep snow or no accumulation at all, blizzards and cold temperatures, and bright, sunny unseasonably warm days, that are characteristic of Central Oregon’s winter. Despite the weather’s vagaries, the gathering is my favorite scout outing. I’ve heard that same comment from other adult scout leaders, and from honorees at several Eagle Courts of Honor.

Last weekend, 189 participants from 17 troops and two Venture crews gathered at Three Creeks Snow Park south of

Troop 18's sled team practices for the big race.

Sisters for the annual Freezoree. The weekend events included troop games competitions, campfire cooking, snow shelter building and skills development. The climax of the activities was the sled race, where troops build racing sleds powered by teams of scouts.

And talk about a good time…Most of us enjoy the manly, macho aura that surrounds snow camping in the dead of winter, (“Dude, guess what I did last weekend?”) But we are quite comfortable in our tents or snow shelters and I, for one, have no intention of toughing anything out.

To remain active in Central Oregon, a troop requires ongoing training. Central Oregon is high desert, next to the Cascades Mountains. The area provides extremes of climate and temperature, ranging from arid desert, to rampaging rivers, to several-foot deep snow in the mountains.

Scoutmaster Phil Brummett shows the steelhead fillet he is preparing for dinner.

Winter camping success starts with trained adults and scouts, and area troops have similar programs. For example, the newest troop in the district, Troop 90, went on its first campout last weekend at Freezoree after only meeting three times. Troop 25’s Venture Crew also went on their first winter campout.  But the adult leaders were experienced, trained and prepared and all the kids did great!

Other troops such as 18, 21 and 23 out of Bend, have been winter camping for decades.

Area troops tend to have similar training activities. As soon as a new boy joins Troop 18, usually in January or February, one of his first tasks is to assemble his Ten Essentials.

In March, there is a desert outing, where new scouts learn how to use a map and compass

An igloo can be quite comfortable inside.

and navigate in areas without landmarks.

Later in the spring, there will be events that emphasize different aspects of wilderness skills training. These skills include first aid, making tarp and other survival shelters, fire building, outdoor safety and campfire cooking.

Winter training intensifies right after the Christmas holidays. In Troop 18, meetings are dedicated to winter camping fundamentals. Scouts learn how to dress and stay cozy, what gear to take along and how to make comfortable, warm shelters in the cold.

For some troops, the weekend before Freezoree is traditionally Winter Skills Day, a day-long session where hands-on skills, such as survival firemaking and hasty snow shelters are emphasized.

Members of newly-chartered Troop 90 went to their first campout at Freezoree.

Troop 18’s meeting before Freezoree is a mandatory pack inspection. Every scout brings in his gear, and it is examined to make sure the scout will be safe and warm.

No one is allowed to take shoddy or inadequate equipment, and individuals within the troop have lots of gear that can be loaned out. No scout or adult has ever been left behind on a Troop 18 outing because they didn’t have adequate gear.

So, by the time Freezoree comes around the scouts and parents are ready to go.

Paul Abbott, Fremont District scout executive, says Freezoree is just one of many outdoor events that contributes to a good, overall scouting program.

“Scouting is about outings and being comfortable in the great outdoors year-round,” Abbott said.“The scouts learn the outdoor skills, but they also learn other mental skills, such as team-building, getting along with others, and working together. Both aspects are important. The character building that comes out all of this makes a better-rounded individual.”

(Leon Pantenburg has been an assistant scoutmaster of Troop 18 for nearly 10 years. His two sons have finished scouting, but he stays involved for the fun of it!!!)

For more related SurvivalCommonSense.com tips and stories, click on the highlighted words:

• STOP: Use this exercise to reduce stress and focus your thoughts.
• Write a note to let people know where you went, before you left.
• Take your Ten Essentials on every outing.
• Dress with the right fabrics.
• Have a plan to make a tarp shelter.
• Carry lightweight, compact firestarter.
• Find the most effective fire ignition system.
• How to make charcloth, a material that can catch a spark from any source.
• Use charcloth as an effective method of catching a spark to make a fire.
• It can kill you: Hypothermia

It was just supposed to be a quick, hour or so outing on cross-country skis. The day was beautiful; you got into the ground-covering groove and ended up going a lot further than planned. And why not? What a great day to be out in the backcountry!  Didn’t pay much attention to the clouds coming over the mountains, because you were having too much fun. Then, without much warning at all,  Mother Nature shows her other side and  turns vicious and deadly.

STOP, then look around to find an area out of the wind. The area on the right is probably the most sheltered.

The sky darkens, the wind starts to blow, and there’s that awful, sinking feeling that, somehow, you have really screwed up. The wind increases, blowing snow sideways and viability drops to nothing. You must do something immediately, because it will be only a few minutes before the full force of the storm hits.

You start to panic. Maybe the best plan is to turn and ski as fast as possible back toward your car….wherever that is…

Before you do anything: STOP (Stop, Think, Observe, Plan). Get off your feet, and calm down. Control the urge to act hastily. Accept the reality of the situation: you can’t possibly outrun the storm. You must make a shelter, quickly.

Here’s how to make a quick snow trench shelter with a tarp. You will need a tarp or quilted Space Blanket with corner grommets, Texsport Blue Reinforced Rip-Stop Polyethylene Tarps
a small snow shovel, Black Diamond Deploy 7 Shovel
an insulated backpacking sleeping pad,Stansport Pack-Lite Camping Pad
bright flagging Flagging Tape 1-3/16″ wide, Solid Colors, 14 to choose from
and a signal whistle. Fox 40 Micro 2 pack
 (All these items are essential if you are recreating in snowy back country.)  If you work effectively, it should take about five minutes to make a trench shelter that can save your life.

Here’s what to do when you’ve calmed down and can focus on the task at hand:

• Look around and decide where the wind is coming from. Find a snow drift, tree, thicket, terrain feature etc. to get out of the wind. You want to be on the lee (downwind) side of any windbreak where the least wind is.You’ll be able tell where that is by the depression, or the snowdrift in front of it.
  

  If the snow is compacted, you may be able to cut blocks, speeding up the excavation.

• Dig a trench, about waist deep, two-to-three feet wide, and six feet long. The entrance should be on the downwind side so the wind doesn’t blow directly into the shelter.
• Put your skis and poles across the trench to support the tarp. If available, you may want to also put some long tree boughs across the trench. If there is time, and enough boughs, line the floor.
• Stretch out the tarp on top of the skis and poles, and then shovel snow on all the edges to keep the covering from blowing off.
• Tie long streamers of flagging to trees around the shelter so it is easily visible.
• Get inside the trench, and hold your whistle in your hand.

Rescuers may be on snowmobiles, and may have difficulty hearing shouting over the wind, engine noise, two-way radio headsets and helmet liners. So, as soon as you hear engines, start blowing on your whistle, and keep blowing. The universal signal for distress is three spaced whistles. If you left a detailed note before you took off on the trip, your survival emergency should be over soon.

Recommended Reading:
Surviving a Wilderness Emergency
98.6 Degrees: The Art of Keeping Your Ass Alive
Camping’s Forgotten Skills: Backwood Tips from a Boundary Waters Guide

Preparations before you leave can make any outdoor excursion safer, and there is no substitute for prior planning and learning the right skills. Here are some survival common sense tips that can help. Click on the highlighted words for more information and complete stories:

Place skis and poles over the trench, then cover with the tarp.

• STOP: Use this exercise to reduce stress and focus your thoughts.

• Write a note to let people know where you went, before you left.
• Take your Ten Essentials on every outing.
• Dress in clothing with the right fabrics.
• Have a plan to make a tarp shelter. Know how to make an emergency shelter in all seasons.

Bend, Or. – If you get caught in the woods in deep snow and a storm is headed toward you, there won’t be much time to take shelter. You will need to know where to get out of the wind, how to make or find a quick shelter and how to ensure you are found by rescuers.

Boy Scouts and instructors examine a snow cave as part of the Tenth Annual Winter Survival Skills Day in Bend, Oregon.

That lesson is particularly important to learn in Central Oregon, where tourists flock to enjoy the snowmobiling, downhill and cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and other winter sports.

Unfortunately, many people head out into the backcountry with no idea of the inherent danger, or how quickly they can end up in a potentially life-threatening situation.

The ability to make a quick survival shelter can save your life. That was the message last week to Boy Scouts from two veteran search and rescue volunteer instructors. Every year, Central Oregon Boy Scouts and guests participate in a day of winter survival training prior to the annual Fremont District winter campout “Freezoree.”

This year, at the tenth annual Winter Skills Day,  about 25 scouts, parents and guests focused on building emergency survival shelters. Instructors were Jim Prestwood and Todd Teicheira, both fathers of Eagle scouts, and Boy Scout volunteers with Bend’s Troop 18. They are also Search and Rescue volunteers.

An important part of making an effective survival shelter is to first understand that you are in a bad situation and then

This tree well would be a good place to dig an emergency shelter out of the wind.

slow down and weigh your options. A good exercise, one instructor told the scouts,  is to STOP: Stop, Think, Observe, Plan. Know your limitations and know what you can do.

“Be realistic. Even if you know how, have practiced and have the tools along, you won’t have time to make an igloo,” Teicheira said. “You may only have a few minutes before a white-out sets in. Look at the terrain and see how you can use it.”

Start by finding areas with piled-up drifts, tree wells, fallen logs, or other terrain features, he said, that show where the wind blows and piles up snow.

“Get behind a snow drift, fallen tree, in a tree well or some sort of terrain feature that is out of the wind,” he advises. “Get on the lee side, where there is a depression or less snow pile-up, and then start making your shelter.”

Don’t waste time trying to make a big, spacious emergency shelter, Prestwood said, because a smaller space will insulate more effectively, be warmer and be faster to make. Take along something to make a shelter with, such as a tarp or a quilted space blanket with grommets on the corners.

“Look around and figure out how you can combine your gear with the terrain features,” Prestwood suggests.

Quick combinations include digging down into a tree well and covering the opening with the tarp; digging a trench to cover with a tarp or space blanket, or making a three-sided dome out of  snow blocks.

This trench was dug in about five minutes. It will be covered with a tarp, and supported by cross-country skis and poles.

Once the shelter is complete, Prestwood recommends tying a bright handkerchief, flagging or something easily seen near the shelter. Then he suggests, get inside, out of the wind and hold your whistle in hand, ready to blow.

“The search and rescue people may be on snowmobiles. They might not be able to hear you yell over the engine noise, and through their helmets,” Prestwood said. “It may be hard for you to hear through your shelter, too, particularly if the wind in blowing. As soon as you hear an engine, blow your whistle and keep blowing.”

The searchers may see the markers before they find the shelter. Once they see some evidence of the lost person, Prestwood said, the usual protocol is to report the location on their radios and concentrate the search.

Both instructors carry small tarps, flagging, whistles, insulite backpacking sleeping pads, heavy duty space blankets with grommets at the corners, parachute cord, collapsible snow shovels and bivey sacks to make emergency shelters.

They also carry the Boy Scout  Ten Essentials gear, Prestwood said, which is the basis of all the gear they carry on winter rescues.

Scout volunteer Pat Simning tries out the snow block shelter he built in 30 minutes.

“We carry a lot of the same survival gear you scouts do when we go on a mission,”  Teicheira said.  “I got a lot of my start in wilderness survival training in scouts.”

Editor’s note: The best winter survival shelter suggestion would probably be to carry along a four-season winter tent whenever you venture into the backcountry! But most people won’t be burdened with that extra weight, so you better be prepared some other way!

For more information on survival common sense techniques, click on the highlighted words:

• STOP: Use this exercise to reduce stress and focus your thoughts.
• Write a note to let people know where you went, before you left.
• Take your Ten Essentials on every outing.
• Dress with the right fabrics.
• Have a plan to make a tarp shelter.

Although the Tri-State area has seen recent temperatures in the 50s, no matter what a certain groundhog decides next month we officially have several more weeks of winter.

That’s why Scott Smoot, vice president of the Mason-Dixon Council of Boy Scouts of America, said it’s best to remember the Boy Scout motto: “Be prepared.”

Smoot, 38, of Clear Spring, has been a scoutmaster for 10 years. He also owns his own construction and home-improvement company, which means plenty of long hours in harsh weather conditions.

Boy Scouts of America doesn’t offer a winter survival merit badge, Smoot said. But Scouts do have a wilderness survival badge.

A Scout must show that he knows first aid, describe how to survive in certain weather conditions, demonstrate three ways to treat water found in the outdoors for drinking and know the proper clothing to wear outdoors, among other things.

The Scout must also stay overnight in a shelter the boy has built.

“We usually do that in the spring, summer and fall, but not winter,” Smoot said.

Some units, he said, do a winter-survival camping trip. This past weekend, some Scouts in the Mason-Dixon Council held a Winter Camporee in Needmore, Pa.

We came up with two basic scenarios and asked Smoot about the best way to handle each situation.

Lost in the woods

Scenario: It’s a relatively nice day for January and you decide to go on a hike by yourself, forgetting to tell anyone. Instead of going on a familiar trail, you decide to go among the trees. Dressed in a pair of sneakers, thin socks, sweat pants and a light jacket, you venture out for what you think will be a quick hike. As you realize it’s starting to get dark, you head back in the direction you think you came. In a few minutes you’re lost. Really lost. And the worst of it all? You forgot your cell phone.

Solution: The biggest mistake was that the happy hiker forgot to share his plans with anyone before venturing out.

“You should always tell someone where you’re going, what you’re doing, your plans for the day and when you plan to return,” he said.

Having a plan, he said, will allow someone to quickly alert help.

• Carry a backpack filled with the 10 essentials. Items in there will help anyone stuck out-of-doors for long periods of time.

• Don’t eat snow. If you’re dehydrated, don’t be tempted. If you absolutely need something to drink, melt it first than drink it. He said it can dangerously cool your body temperature if you eat snow over a long period of time.

• Wear layers and dress properly. Sneakers aren’t meant for hiking. You need footwear that’s waterproof and that protects your ankles. Sweat pants can get easily wet, which can mean loss of body heat as the sun dips down. Smoot suggests wool or a man-made synthetic material that can wick moisture away from the body. And a light jacket isn’t enough to protect your body.

“That’s when you use those extra clothes to change into to get dry,” he said.

• Take a breath. If you are lost, calm down and don’t panic, Smoot said. Look around for geographic features to help you figure out where you were when you came in.

• Stay put. If you are completely disoriented, it’s best to stay in one spot, he said.

• Find shelter. If you realize that it’s going to be a while until help arrives, Smoot said to make shelter. Block yourself from the wind, he said. He suggested going under a tree, especially a pine. The needles can help act as bedding, and the branches can protect you from the wind. In the morning when the sun comes up, Smoot said a pine tree’s branches will allow the sun to come through to warm you up. Falling through the ice

Scenario: It’s been cold enough to freeze the local pond, so you and some friends decide to go out on it and have fun. The ice holds you at first, but you venture out even farther. Big mistake. Within a minute, the ice has cracked and you’re now in the icy water.

Solution: Smoot said sternly: “Don’t go out on it.”

Smoot said most years, the weather hasn’t been cold enough to even freeze the water thick enough to support the weight of a person.

This winter, it has been cold enough over long period of time to freeze up some areas, but with this recent influx of higher temperatures, the heat has already done the damage.

This year, many bodies of water have frozen over. But don’t be tempted. Falling through thin ice into freezing-cold water is extremely dangerous.

“A person can lose motor skills quickly in cold waters,” Smoot said.

According the U.S. Search and Rescue Web site, a normal body temperature averages 98.6 degrees. Shivering starts in at 96.5 degrees. Amnesia sets in at about 94 degrees. A person will slip into unconsciousness at 86 degrees. Death usually happens at 79 degrees, the site reports.

Either in or out of the water, Smoot said don’t panic.

If you’re in the water:

• Turn to the direction you came. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said this is the strongest ice.

Use something sharp. Use a screwdriver, nails, anything sharp to poke and grip the ice and use as traction to pull yourself up. Place your hands and arms on the unbroken surface, the Minnesota DNR suggests, and dig in with the object.

• Get rid of extra weight. If you can’t get yourself out, make sure to take off your backpack. As a last resort, take off the heavy clothes. These will weigh you down as you try to tread water.

If you’re helping:

• Get a piece of wood. Or maybe even a hiking pole, he suggested, to span the hole in the ice. This will help keep the person above water as you quickly try to figure out how to get them out. Don’t throw the item to the person, he said, always slide the object to the person in the water.

• Don’t to walk them. Although it’s tempting to walk on the ice to the person, if the ice didn’t hold your friend’s weight, it probably isn’t going to hold yours.

• Get something long – a long stick, a pole, a ladder – something to help you safely reach the victim.

“Only as a last resort get on the ice yourself,” he said.

• If you must go on the ice, lay on your stomach to help distribute your weight across the ice, Smoot said. You can make a chain of people to get to the victim if needed.

• Get them warm. As soon as the person is out of the water, immediately get him out of his wet clothes. Smoot said he always carries an extra sleeping bag when hiking for extra warmth in such situations.

“If you have a camping stove with you, sit the person beside it,” he said. “You want them to get warm.”
CRYSTAL SCHELLE, can be reached at crystal.schelle@herald-mail.com

For more Survival Common Sense tips, click on the highlighted words:

• STOP: Use this exercise to reduce stress and focus your thoughts.
• Write a note to let people know where you went, before you left.
• Take your Ten Essentials on every outing.
• Dress with the right fabrics.
• Have a plan to make a tarp shelter.

By Donna Healy

Published in the Billings Gazette, Jan.17, 2010

Cold weather and icy conditions can lead to hypothermia, no matter if you're in the wilderness or some urban setting.

Winter’s cold can kill, but the precise body temperature at which a person dies from hypothermia remains elusive.

The lowest recorded core-body temperature of an adult who survived accidental hypothermia is 56.8 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the medical text “Wilderness Medicine.” A core temperature is the temperature of the body’s vital organs, normally about 99.6 degrees F. in humans.

Because humans are warm-blooded, we need to maintain a fairly constant core temperature. Here’s a description of what typically happens when we don’t:

Outdoors, in winter, the first danger sign may be achingly cold fingers because your body lets your fingers chill to preserve warmth in the vital organs.

“The body doesn’t think the hands are as important as the vital organs, but, unfortunately, if you’re trying to get out of trouble, your hands can be very important,” said Dr. Warren Bowman, a retired  Billings doctor who spent 30 years as the medical adviser to the National Ski Patrol.

Bowman wrote a chapter in “Wilderness Medicine” on the “Essentials of Wilderness Survival.” At age 80, he’s reworking a sixth edition of the chapter’s text.

Initial fumbles may become stumbles and mumbles as a person suffers from the biting cold.

By the time your core temperature sinks to 95 degrees, you’re likely to be shivering uncontrollably as your body tries to generate additional heat. Two degrees lower, and cold clouds your judgment and your behavior.

At 91.4 you’re apathetic; at 89.6 you’re in a stupor and your oxygen consumption has decreased by 25 percent.

At 86 degrees, your heart pumps at two-thirds of its normal output. Like a cold-blooded animal, your body loses control of its own temperature, a medical condition known as poikilothermia.

“Once you’re at 86, nothing that you can do will warm you,” Bowman said. “Your temperature will coincide with the environment you’re in.”

A degree lower, and you might suddenly feel hot and start stripping off layers of clothing, a behavior described as “paradoxical undressing.”

At 82.4 degrees, you’ve entered a state of severe hypothermia. Your oxygen consumption and pulse are half the normal rate.

“Your heart loses the rhythm of the heartbeat,” Bowman said.

Instead, it writhes.

At around 80 degrees, you lose the ability to move. At 77, the brain’s blood flow is one-third of normal.

What’s labeled “profound hypothermia’’ occurs when the body’s core temperature sinks to 68 degrees. At 66 degrees, an electroencephalogram, or EEG, a tool used to measure the brain’s electrical activity, ceases to chart brain waves.

“It sort of straight lines,” Bowman said.

For more related SurvivalCommonSense.com tips and stories, click on the highlighted words:

• STOP: Use this exercise to reduce stress and focus your thoughts.
• Write a note to let people know where you went, before you left.
• Take your Ten Essentials on every outing.
• Dress with the right fabrics.
• Have a plan to make a tarp shelter.
• Carry lightweight, compact firestarter.
• Find the most effective fire ignition system.
• About Leon Pantenburg
• Use charcloth as an effective method of catching a spark to make a fire.