Packing out a tent platform

November 28, 2024

If you rush the job you will end up sleeping in a bowl by morning and many things will not stay  where you want them in the tent. It takes time for the snow to set up -- for the snow crystals to interlock. It’s temperature dependent and there is not much you can do to speed things up.  My sister Jane and I allow at least 45 minutes regardless of the weather before we lay out the ground cloths. (I still use one in the winter. My current one is made from 1 oz Dyneema, very light. It extends a foot in front of the tent giving a place that can be  swept free of snow and then used for a variety of things.)

Begin by skiing along the sides of a rectangle big enough to hold the tent with a 1 and half to 2 foot margin all around. This will allow for a walkway around the tent and it makes shoveling out the next morning much easier if there is a big overnight snowfall. Better too big than too small because later enlargements take that much longer before they will bear weight without the skis on. Next side step the rectangle a few times. Don’t try to pack the surface down evenly  at this point. It’s a waste of time.

 Now take the skis off and posthole the entire platform with steps around a foot apart. This is hard work. Then kick snow into the postholes like you would kick a soccer ball using the inside of your foot.

I had been meaning to write about this topic a long time ago and never got around to it. It’s often fairly easy to pack out the tent platform in the later part of the ski camping season but at in November and December in the Pacific Northwest, it’s not uncommon to have to pack out the site in one or two feet of fresh unconsolidated snow.  When you arrive at the campsite, it may look like this:

Boot packing comes next. Do it evenly but with special attention to the area that will be under the sleeping bag.  Don’t stomp or you will break through the snow that is now starting to set up.

When you can walk easily around the tent platform, put the skis back on and level the site with closely spaced side steps both parallel to the long axis of the tent and crosswise to it. Fill in any divots with a shovel full of snow. Scrape one ski sideways to finish things off. It should have taken around 45 minutes to get to this stage but sometimes it may take an hour if the snow is very deep and it’s cold. At this point the snow is not completely set and it’s easy to break through with stiff soled ski boots on.  We switch to our camp booties and we also avoid stepping where the tent will go.  Here’s the result:

Now it’s time to set up the tent. Once it’s up you may find that the platform is not quite as firm as you would like in higher load areas, say where you will be sitting when you get in the tent. Before loading the tent,  gently whack these areas with the flat of your hand. The shock will help  speed up the  interlocking of the snow crystals. The more time that passes before you put weight on the snow the flatter your tent platform will be in the morning but it the weather is bad, compromises may be necessary.

Finally we dig a small pit for our feet at the entrance to the tent making a nice place to sit. When everything is finished the platform may be well below the level of the surrounding snow.

Here’s why we take the time to make a nice tent platform: It’s easier and safer getting around the tent to adjust guy lines, etc. With camp booties on, it’s all too easy to slip and possibly fall into the tent if the tent platform is not level.  In addition, if there is a big dump of snow having a nice platform with plenty of room around the tent makes shoveling out so much easier. And when it comes time to pack up, having a large flat area shoveled free of snow is a real plus.

About us: Jane and I have been doing this for a long time. I started in the early seventies. We are both getting close to 80 now, but we are still out there, as in the shot from November 2024 above.