This is now our tenth winter in Alaska and this winter thus far has been one of the coldest we've experienced. Our first winter in 98-99 also saw a prolonged period of subzero temperatures. But, I set a new record for myself this past weekend.
That same first winter of 98-99 when I was an intern at the Alaska Family Medicine Residency we went out to Eklutna Lake for a weekend and learned to build snow shelters, start fires, and make mukluks out of the remains of supposed plane crash debris. This was the beginning of a strong tradition at our program called the Winter Wilderness Survival Workshop. Attendance is mandatory for all the first and third year residents, but I think I can safely say that the majority both look forward to and enjoy it. Because of or despite the fact that all the first year residents must make and sleep in a snow shelter for the night.
This year I got to be one of the lucky faculty to help put on this workshop. It was at the tail end of our cold 11 day stretch of subzero temperatures. Our high on Friday (the day we built our snow shelters) was -25 degrees F. The low was -37. I must confess that I, along with another of the hosting faculty, did not sleep in a snow shelter but instead hunkered down by the wood burning stove in our cabin. However, lest any of you think that we carelessly subject our residents to such element extremes, I must tell you that the temperature in the occupied snow shelters varied from 18 to 33 degrees ABOVE zero. Which is precisely why they are great shelters and a great survival tool. A good sleeping pad, however, is key. I nearly froze as an intern because I was sleeping on a 3/4 length foam pad. And the folks that came in to the cabins earlier in the night did so because their sleeping pads were inadequate. You are, after all, still sleeping on snow!
Although one of our third year residents that grew up in Interior Bush Alaska brought her brood of 4 kids under 7 years old, my kiddos stayed at home with Russell and built forts with the furniture, quilts, pillows, and sleeping bags. It was inspiring to see these kids outside and almost unphased by the frigid weather. I went home and told Russell we were being pansies with our kids! But, lucky for Natalie and Liam, it has warmed up. In fact, Russell and I were depressed to see that it was raining earlier this evening.
Russell is off to Juneau tomorrow evening to spend four days visiting Kevin and Aleria, our new nephew, Atagan, and old friends from his Forest Service days that he hasn't seen in too many years. The kids and I will play in the slush that remains after our "warm" spell.
