This tip comes courtesy of the Jackson Hole Outdoor Leadership Institute.

The photos were first published in this Facebook post.

Carrying a lightweight tarp as part of your emergency shelter system is an excellent idea for lots of reasons. In addition to the obvious use as a tent-like shelter to sleep in, here are a few other options.

• lunchtime quick shelter for you and a small group (sit on your packs and pull the tarp over you.)

• package an injured person and drag them out in snow

• as the outer layer of “thermal burrito wrap” to package an hypothermic or injured patient with foam pads and sleeping bags / warm clothing while you wait for rescue in a cold environment

• as an extra layer over a simple bivy bag, offering more protection for your upper body and some covered room to move around

And, for today's post, it's a key component of a snow trench winter shelter.

The basic concept is simple, and the photos below show it pretty well, but here's a step-by-step. (The photos below are for people with ski touring equipment, but if you don't have it you can improvise.)

1. Dig a rectangular hole that's wide enough for you and your ski buddy, and about 4 feet deep. (If the snow isn't that deep, you can excavate down to bare ground and then build up walls on three sides.)

2. Place your skis across the top (If you’re below timberline and don't have skis, branches would work also)

3. Put your tarp over the skis. ( A 7’ by 9’ tarp is about the minimum size you can use)

4. Use your ski poles to anchor the four corners of the tarp

5. Pack some snow down around the edges of the tarp

6. Dig a separate access hole, and carefully build an arch so you can get in and out of your trench

7. If you have an proper sleeping bag and sleeping pad, you're all set. If you don't, you better dust off your bushcraft skills, and go collect a bunch of conifer boughs to place under you for insulation, and on the side to keep snow from falling in on you.

There you go, fast, reasonably comfy, and constructed without any advanced igloo building skills or getting sopping wet from trying to dig a snow cave.

There are lots of good quality tarps out there.

Ski rescue sled tarps

If you spend a lot of time backcountry skiing, you might want to carry a rescue tarp. Use it as a quick lunchtime shelter, a more serious overnight pit shelter, and a toboggan-style rescue sled. Check out the one below, made in Seattle by High Mountain Gear. 

• Use the discount code ALPINESAVVY10 to get a 10% discount from High Mountain Gear!

Here's a tarp I have that I like a lot, the Pariah Sanctuary Sil tarp. The main thing I like is the price.

Note that the link below will show you tarps in several shapes and sizes. I have the 8’ x 10’ “flat cut rectangle”. The sewn tabs at the the 16 tie out points are well made, and it comes with all the goodies you need to set it up, including six ultralight stakes, 60 feet of 1.5mm Dyneema guy line and a carrying stuff sack.

(And note how to pronounce the name = “Pariah” is pronounced like the woman's named, “Maria”.)