Surviving Alaska's Winters

The Scoop: Survival expert Ross McFadyen talks about how he acquired the skills to master one of the toughest, unforgiving regions on earth. Then he offers 12 tips to help you survive Alaska's winters, and beyond.

I graduated as a USAF Survival Instructor in 1987 after having spent many months living and surviving in all the major climates encountered on our planet, (Arctic, Desert, Ocean, Jungle and places in-between), that gave me the credentials and skills of an expert in global survival. But, in order to be properly able to teach other people how to survive in the wilderness, my training really never stopped.

I attended many other military courses including the Arctic Survival School at Eielson AFB in Alaska. For me the school was just a refresher since all of the knowledge taught there I already knew, practiced and taught to my students at the Combat Survival School at Fairchild AFB in Washington. Since the Survival career field is so small, I knew almost all of the instructors at the "Cool School" and I stayed after my class had graduated to help teach subsequent classes.

During all of this training there is no hotel to go back to. You leave civilization and you don't come back for days. If your needs are to be met, you meet them yourself. This includes water, food, shelter, fire, signal, etc. I have lived in snow caves, igloos, fighter trenches etc. I have melted snow and ice for water and thawed, butchered, cooked and eaten snared animals for food. I have stood IN the flames of a fire to dry my clothes and stay warm in -70+ degree weather.

I have provided specialized primitive survival training to many special ops teams in many foreign countries. After leaving the military, I provided survival training to individuals, civilian and government groups including the NSA. I am an expert at living and instructing primitive survival skills in every environment on the globe.

Basic Survival Tips for Alaskan Winters:

1. Drink more water than you think you need. If possible, two gallons a day would be great. The cold, dry environment brings on dehydration rapidly. You'd be surprised at how much water you lose just breathing. Ice produces much more water than snow - about a 1:1 ratio.
2. Never eat snow or Ice. Melt it with a fire or in a container (i.e. plastic bag ) between layers of your clothing - not up next to your skin. To help the snow or ice melt faster, leave a little water in the container when adding new.
3. Do not sweat! If you become warm in your clothing, shed some. Sweating in your clothing will cause hypothermia later when you begin to cool down and the sweat becomes ice. This simple technique could prevent your untimely demise.
4. Dry wet clothing by rubbing it with snow. This technique works really well if you have no fire.
5. Dig through the snow to the earth below, if possible, when building a shelter in the arctic. This technique can raise the temperature inside your shelter 18-22 degrees above the outside temp from the radiant heat emitted from the earth itself. Just imagine that difference if the outside temp is 0 degrees.
6. Make your shelter only big enough to fit yourself and your gear. This prevents wasting heat on too large a space.
7. Create a sleeping platform in your shelter that is a little higher than the rest of the area inside. The lower area becomes a "cold sump" and this will help raise the temperature where you sleep and work.
8. Ventilate your shelter by poking a small hole through the top of the shelter at about a 45 degree. This will allow for fresh air circulation especially if you are using an external heat source like a candle for instance. This hole must be maintained to prevent it from plugging.
9. Seal all shelter openings (except the ventilation hole) to minimize heat loss. You can create a 'door plug' for your shelter entrance by laying out a large piece of material and piling snow in the middle. Gather the edges of the material up until the snow is in the center like a balloon. Then tie the ends and pull the plug into the shelter entrance behind you. The temperature inside a snow shelter can be raised up to 45 degrees above the outside temp with body heat alone.
10. Help prevent water and food from freezing again by digging a 'snow refrigerator' in the snow at least 18 - 24 inches deep and placing your water and food inside. Then cover the hole with at least 8 inches of unpacked snow to insulate the contents.
11. Don't touch any frozen surfaces with your bare skin. You will get contact frostbite.
12. Prevent snow blindness by wearing sun glasses. The suns rays are reflected from all directions off the snow and ice. If you don't have sunglasses, improvise eye protection with a small piece of material about as wide as a belt and long enough to cover both your eyes. Cut a thin slit (about 1/8th inch wide) in the middle of the material length wise over each eye. It's best not to do this while wearing the material. :) Then tie this around your head with the slits in front so you can see out of them. It takes a little getting used to but it's much better than having sunburned eyes.

The views expressed are the author's alone and do not represent the official position of the Discovery Channel.

Article posted on April 13, 2009

MORE OPINIONS | MORE EXPERTS