When I was in the 6th grade, my entire class went on a day-long winter survival trip in the wilderness. North of the great city of Toronto, Ontario, where I was born and raised was -- and is still -- very much farm country with lots of open space, trees, ponds, small and large lakes, lots of plant and animal life – a real outdoors-person’s dream. Granted, urban sprawl has diminished the open space in southern Ontario to a significant degree nowadays, however, the province in its entirety is 570257.83 square miles in terms of total land area - about 1.3 times the size of the state of Texas, just to give you a sense of proportion.

It’s huge, and despite being Canada’s most populated province, it’s got a lot of open wilderness to explore and to be wary of during the famous (or infamous) cold Canadian winters. So what to do, if you’re caught out in the middle of nowhere in that vastness that is the cold Canadian North? Well, I learned a great deal along with the rest of my 6th grade classmates on that cold but very bright winter day.

WATCH: Storm Survival Tips

Picture a clearing in the middle of a dense forest. A foot and a half of snow is on the ground and the wind is blustery, coming straight out of the north at 15 to 20 mph. We were dressed for the occasion, however, from head to toe, in our little snow-suits with multiple layers underneath, hats, scarves, gloves, boots – you name it.

We were safely protected from the elements and were ready for this challenging survival test. Our instructors and supervising guides put us into groups of 3 or 4 students with the objective of securing a location and materials to construct a winter survival shelter. We had about an hour to make a go of it; my team discovered a fallen tree after searching for a few minutes in the underbrush and deep snow – that was our starting point. In some areas the snow was 3 or 4 feet deep with some depths a few feet deeper.

My team immediately recognized that we were on to something; the large tree served as a solid foundation for our shelter. We gathered cold dry brush, fallen tree branches, leaves, twigs, dry tall grass and used it as a framework for the covering – picture this material, the branches in particular, laid on the tree, like a roof, creating a triangular configuration. Once laid across, like leaning planks covering an awning, with one end on the ground and the other leaning on the large thick tree trunk, we insulated the structure with snow, packing it on top and from the inside until it was fortress-like, completely sealed and reinforced. SNOW IS A GREAT INSULATOR FROM THE COLD AND THE WIND (interesting isn that considering in this case we are using it to combat itself…) The only problem was that the tight quarters were only good for two people, 6th grader-size, squeezed-in, a snug fit. But they would certainly be protected from the elements.

We joked that because the shelter could only allow for two occupants, we, as a group, would have to take turns…or build another shelter. We’d flip a coin for it…or do the rock, paper, scissors game. The one thing for sure, we learned that exposure to the elements is no joke. You don’t ever want to be in a position where you had to make a shelter. If your car breaks down, stay in. Crack a window to keep the circulation of fresh air constant. And if you have fuel in the tank, run the motor for 10 minutes each hour just to help keep you warm. Moreover, you have to wear the appropriate clothing; you can lie down in the snow in a decent snowsuit and not freeze on contact. Not so if you are wearing jeans or cotton pants for example – they’ll absorb any moisture from your skin or from the snow and ice and can freeze on and into the fabric itself, and in turn, FREEZE YOU! I wouldn’t mind doing another survival exercise like that I did so many years ago. That was a lot of fun, a great childhood memory of mine.

Have any winter survival stories to share – we’d love to hear from you!!

GA