How To: Build a successful fire in the snow

In this outdoors how-to video from fitclimb.com we're shown how to make a fire in the snow. The first step is to find a good flat spot, or make a flat spot yourself. Next, we look for trees with dead branches and break those dead branches off for the wood. The key here is to be organized because you'll have to carry this wood back to your camp. Next, you want to make a platform for your fire to keep it from sinking down as the snow melts. Here, we're using the bark from a dead stump for a platform, but you can use lots of different things. Now that we have our platform and our wood, we're show how to prep the wood. The main thing here is to get the wood into three or four distinct sizes. We're also shown how to find some good materials for your tinder. Now we're ready to start the fire, and here we're using a magnesium stick. These are good because they will light even when it's wet outside and they last a long time. The key to using the magnesium stick is to scrape it with a knife 90 degrees to create a spark. You have to push hard and slow. Once you have a flame, you flip over the tinder, as you want your tinder to be over the flame. If you were organized as explained, you'll now have quick access to your wood. You'll know when to put on more wood when the flames break through. You want to spread the wood out so there's dead air space between the wood. And that's how you start a fire in the snow. If it were snowing or raining down on your, you'd have to take extra steps to keep the wood dry, but if you follow the right principles you should be able to get a fire going.