If you are not properly prepared biviing is a very painful experience.
It was our first time biviing on snow, this was near the col de geant, mont blanc massif, at around 3500m. It was summer, so it shouldn't have been too cold.
We were going to bivi beneath the dent de geant, but after walking in circles for a while, visibility was close to nil, we decided to bivi where we were. There was a crevasse quite near to us and we did consider using it, but it looked very deep and difficult to get into. In the end we elected to dig out a small hollow just to get a little shelter. After 1.5 hours of digging we had a 2 foot deep shallow grave. Tom was getting cold so he got into his bag while I boiled some soup. The stove took forever to light. I had a little soup but then had to get into my bag as I was starting to get cold. This is when I realised that the grave was about a foot too short. But that was only part of the problem.
When we got to the torino hut it was around 0230-ish in the morning and surprisingly there was no-one around. Not knowing what to do we ended up kipping on the reception area floor. This is when I discovered that my sleeping bag had a thick layer of ice on the inside and out. thus it was still quite cold. Anyway we were kicked out at 0430 when the hut was waking up. It turned out that it had dropped to around -20C that night.
--- LaurenceIt was our first time biviing on snow, this was near the col de geant, mont blanc massif, at around 3500m. It was summer, so it shouldn't have been too cold.
We were going to bivi beneath the dent de geant, but after walking in circles for a while, visibility was close to nil, we decided to bivi where we were. There was a crevasse quite near to us and we did consider using it, but it looked very deep and difficult to get into. In the end we elected to dig out a small hollow just to get a little shelter. After 1.5 hours of digging we had a 2 foot deep shallow grave. Tom was getting cold so he got into his bag while I boiled some soup. The stove took forever to light. I had a little soup but then had to get into my bag as I was starting to get cold. This is when I realised that the grave was about a foot too short. But that was only part of the problem.
- Spindrift was pouring down on top of us, filling in the grave/trench/hollow.
- The bivi bags were air tight so you either suffocated inside it or ended up swallowing a lot of spindrift.
- And the main problem was that my eurohike 1 season sleeping bag was not really up to the job. I had foolishly thought that teamed up with a down vest and bivi bag it'd be bearable.
When we got to the torino hut it was around 0230-ish in the morning and surprisingly there was no-one around. Not knowing what to do we ended up kipping on the reception area floor. This is when I discovered that my sleeping bag had a thick layer of ice on the inside and out. thus it was still quite cold. Anyway we were kicked out at 0430 when the hut was waking up. It turned out that it had dropped to around -20C that night.
- Bring a shovel. Although ice axes and deadmen do work, a shovel is infinitely better..
- 1 season bags don't work above the snowline no-matter what season it is.
- Down vests are very good, but there will always be the situation where you will wish it had arms.
- Stay organised, don't leave gear lying around the place. Our rope froze and it took a while to bend it into a bag.
- When digging a cave or hollow get the dimensions right.
Version 0 - Original ID 31
Currently on 0