Thread: Ideas for a hidden hut! Please help!

Originally Posted by Platinum Pete

Anybody else get one of those igloo maker tools? Are they that much better than cutting blocks with a snow saw?

Yeah, just got one this year. it works really well and is great for setting up multi-day trips. Throughout the year when the snow sucks, we put them in locations that will be great for the spring ski-mountaineering season. No more carrying around tents for overnight trips, and they are super-comfy.

I'm thinking Igloo is the ticket. As much as it might be nice to have windows, front porch, wood stove, etc... All that junk sort of wrecks the backcountry feel that I enjoy so much. No matter what way you slice it, it's awfully nice to know that my tracks will all melt in the spring, as would an Igloo.

I'm planning on giving this a try in the spring along route 4 in the Sierras. Lots and lots of miles with not a soul in 'em.

I have found it amazing that when you get on the John Muir or Pacific Crest Trails it's like a backpacking freeway, you'll see five or ten people a day and every lake as a half dozen tents around it. But, if you get even three or four miles from the trails, it's totally empty. Not even any footprints. Of course, I think this is PERFECT, as the point of all this back country stuff is NO PEOPLE and STRUCTURES. So, the fact that hiking gapers don't get off the trail is really quite nice.

I'd feel pretty crumby about leaving a shack standing in the forest long after I'm gone - I like the melting Igloo idea a ton. BTW - there's no reason not to insulate the thing on the inside. If you're too cold, a couple of sheets of closed cell phone (like the roofing insulation) is really light and would be easy to pack out in the spring. Leaving no trace, no camper graffiti on the mountains.

Great thread - B-))

Originally Posted by SkiOrDie

BTW - there's no reason not to insulate the thing on the inside. If you're too cold, a couple of sheets of closed cell phone...

That's gotta be expensive.

Originally Posted by snoboy

Come visit us in Rossland and check out the XC ski shacks. THey are what you want IMO.

All Aframes, as they take the snow load well. All built with local materials, and covered over with a tarp (replace every few years). Cheap, and require few real carpentry skills...

OTOH, I am now coveting an igloo maker.

Let see some pics of these. THinking I need a summer project while my knee recovers.......

Pull up last year's volume of Powder and find the article 'Ferals'...

I spend a fair amount of time stumbling across shit people have left in the woods. I've never found a recently built structure, but plenty of old unmarked cabins, mining sites and leftovers from logging operations. I'm continually amazed at where I end up and what I find there. So here are some thoughts.

Be prepared for the local agency to dismantle/burn your structure. It might be worth it to look into where the local agency has future prescribed fire or fuels treatments planned. Might.

A 044 makes a lot of noise, you can hear them for miles. Use a whip saw if you can find one, or if you think a chainsaw might make too much noise. There is also a way to pipe the exhaust into a bucket to make the noise quieter, but be prepared to fuck up your saw. If there is someone lurking who has a radio and they hear a saw in an area where there aren't supposed to be any, they will figure it out.

Straight lines in nature stand out. Hell, anything not natural stands out to those of us who spend a decent amount of time in the woods. IE- Roof line, walls, door openings, trash, people, etc. Tarps and other such materials are really obvious too from looong distances, even the brown ones. Avoid anything shiny (glass, metal roofing material).

If you could find a stand of subalpine fir to build it in, it would be much harder to find. Another advantage is that you can just place "deadfall" over it to make it look more like the existing fuel bed. And lots of smaller trees to disguise it as well.

Avoid leaving to many obvious cuts if you do use the local timber. Stumps and bucked logs are incredibly obvious from long distances. French cut bucked logs, flush cut stumps and rub dirt over them to make them less obvious.

You might even contemplate digging it into the side of a hill to disguise it further.

IMO- Building covert huts in a NP isn't cool. Keep it on the NF lands, they have roads and clearcuts all over them anyways.

Originally Posted by KQ

Remember this?

Man's tree house dream comes true


Detmer, center, and his roommate relax after a days work in the living room of his tree house.



The tree house is suspended 20 feet up in Douglas firs and cedars near the summit of Stevens Pass, Washington.


Wednesday, February 12, 2003 Posted: 10:09 AM EST (1509 GMT)

STEVENS PASS, Washington (AP) --With a chain saw, a rope and a hatchet, Tony Detmer built his three-story dream house -- suspended 20 feet up, in a stand of Douglas fir and cedar.

Detmer, 31, often starts his day with a plunge into the snow below. In the deep chill of a mountain morning, he said, the jolt is better than a cup of coffee.

"There's something about being off of the ground," he said. "I feel lofty. I want to fly. This is the closest I can get."

Detmer began working on the tree house in the fall of 1999. The deck went up first. Then straps were wrapped around trees to hold up parts of the house. The whole thing cost less than $2,000, most of which went for a 3,000-watt generator to run a saw and a television.

"I never used a level, it's all by eyeball," he said.

Detmer's girlfriend, Betsy Delph, 23, and another roommate, Brett Hoisington, 19, also live in the house, which has a wood-burning stove and a rope swing on the deck.

Detmer sleeps on the third floor. The only way to get there is by climbing over a couch, up a wall and through a small, square hole.

There are no bathrooms, and showers come once a week at a nearby ski area.

Detmer's envisions a worldwide community of tree houses. In the meantime, he wants to build a village in the trees, and have rope swings connecting all the houses.

"I've pretty much been a monkey all my life," he said. "This is what makes me happy."

awesome place. worked with Tony for a few years up in the rentals dept. i heard that part of the roof and decking collapsed this winter due to the unbelievable amount of snow we have gotten so far. hopefully he gets it back together....

^^^ Congrats, no doubt you used the search function to revive this oldie.

Reading the original post in this thread reminded me of an article I read in Skiing magazine while waiting for MiniGadget at the orthodontist's office.

Some people have hudge balls, read Shelter from the storm for proof of same.

Originally Posted by Tippster

That's gotta be expensive.

I would think you could at least cut that expensive in half by using open cell phones?

i would say this: if you build it somewhere marginally sketchy, like on the top of a cliffy area, it will be less likely to be found. also i will second the pot and bean construction

Im in BC. I was thinking of building a rustic hut, built out of logs from the forest.

Any tips on how to build one of these using a chainsaw(and maybe a few nails?)

The one we built several years ago at the local ski area is still there and in decent shape (not sure if others have kept up on it, we haven't). First we chose an area near some larger cliffs that wouldn't see too much traffic but we also wanted it to be relatively accessable from the normal runs. next we tried to find an area where snow creep would be less of a factor (as the resort averages more than 700in a year) so we looked for small outcropings or shields to minimize the impact. We ended up finding an overhanging tree that had been there for some time and had shed the creep of many winters, we dug into the hill and made a bit of a bench with rocks and a log holding it up we also dug a trench on either side to mitigate irrosion. we used the overhanging tree as our main beam and roof support to which we attached (with 10in bolts) a few 6 to 8in trees that we cut from the surrounding follage. we scored some metal roofing, that was a bit bent up, from under the base of the lift which worked well as side walls which we supported with trees as well.

All told it probably took 12-15 trips up the 45+minute hike from the house to complete the thing. foggy non rainy days were the best because you didn't have to worry about the silent paragliders skimming the slopes less than a hundred feet up (we had a few close calls). We used dewalt drivers, handsaws, hammer/nails, bolts with washers and nuts, a spade, lots of boo and area closure line that was abandoned and some random lumber that we scrounged from the area.

Its pretty tight with 4 people but comfy with 3, follow the white rabbit.

Another possibility, I questioned it for longevity, but we have had no problems in the years since construction.

We found a grouping of trees & went from tree to tree with planking (tongue & groove) then used joist hangers to support a few 2x8's from tree to tree as well, then put the roof on top of that with one structural 2x running down the center of the structure.

Be sure to seal any wood that will spend a large amount of time under the snow or in contact with the ground.
Also, cut the trees that you're going to tie to before you start, about 5 feet above where you think you might go to, I had to pay an arborist to do it after the fact!

Also, we started the building with the outside, then dug the floor to level afterwards & put a 2x floor in.


btw, anyone who builds without using some bitch (bituminous material, check your spec book, it's in section 7) is missing the most important thing in completion of a watertight structure.
Grace ice & water isn't called amazing grace for nothing!


I've been wanting to put a log structure up on my property (storage), I'm curious how that will go, never built out of logs only before.

Anybody have any pics of these sick cabins, I too just read the article in "skiing mag" and thought it was awesome.
Pics anyone?

Reading this thread is like looking at dope in High Times

When I was a kid I had a fireplace in my 2-story fort that we built ourselves! It really sucked when my buddy accidentally dropped a bucket of hot ashes on me when he was emptying it. Plus I caught hell from my mom for smelling like fire and having all these holes in my jacket. Great thread!

We started out hauling a trailer up to good ski country with sled access.Built a snowroof over the trailer and an addition. Enterd through the addition which had a wood stove for drying gear.
A few years later we moved it to some different terrain. 14 years later it is still there. Since then we have put up 3 more. The last one 3 weeks ago.
We have built a cool timberframe which we packed in ( look on the attachments at page 1 for pics). The log cabin we built at location with local materials. Skookum. A couple of chainsaws, log scribe and a bunch of keen skiiers. Not to mention lots of beer and bud. Its hidden well.

I helped build this one.

My friend had permits to place it there. It has since been purchased by the American Alpine Club. I live in an area that sees alot of summer transients. Come to AK. live in your shack in the wilderness for the summer than leave. The woods are full of this junk. It has changed my attitude towards building shacks. Stick to snow caves at least when your gone they are gone.

Originally Posted by SkiBumOfVT

So I'm going to build a little hut and I'm wondering how to support the roof? There's going to be a ton of snow on top of it come midwinter and I don't want it caving in on us.

I have built two that survived 600 inch seasons. Best low impact, low-vis method to build a bomb proof inbounds hut is to find a nice thicketed tree cluster and suspend the roof's load bearing beams from the live trees using woven nylon climbing webbing. Or you could cut the seat belts out of dead cars, same thing. Its cheap and works far better than nails or rope. Sunrots very slowly. I would give every major load bearing element a redundant support(i.e. two separate slings). Stay away from cheap plastic tarps, use woven cloth. Pile loads of brush and branches up around the walls to break up the outline. A good site includes a canopy of thick, low evergreen branches that make it hard to see from upslope. Regardless, expect patrol to find it, so take responsibility for keeping it free of litter and running out the trash. I leave grocery bags in mine and most visitors put empties and butts in it.

FYI- If you are caught by the freddies doing this on national forest leased ski slopes, the fine for cutting live wood without permit is $100 for the first tree and $50 for each additional. There is also a fine for building unpermited structures.

All you need is an axe and a huge roll of twine. Everything else you can get from whats around your spot. Sure, you feel bad for cutting trees down at first but you'll get over it

Originally Posted by BFD

I helped build this one.
Come to AK. live in your shack in the wilderness for the summer than leave. The woods are full of this junk. It has changed my attitude towards building shacks. Stick to snow caves at least when your gone they are gone.

I see your point.

No transients here...
here's my baby




if you're going to do it, do it right.

We used trash from a fallen down ill conceived hut nearby to build some of ours.

when I build mine it is going to utilize pre existing features not only for ease of construction and low dollar input but for concealment too. I'd like to find a large downed tree that fell sideways across the slope hopefully off the ground at part of it. there I'll slope whatever ~4" logs across to the slope so it has a lean-to roof. a couple crossmembers will tie all the logs together. I might rabbet cut into the main log to catch the roof logs better. heavy sheet plastic over that then sod. then dig back into the hill for a floor/walls. I'll dig a fireplace into the hill with a piece of heater duct for a chimney. probably have to support it with rocks or some metal box from the garbage pile or something. heat and cooking ability are nice.

Make sure the door opens inwards.

Great thread! I'll have to get some pics of my buddy's treehouse.

Here's Tony Detmer's Stevens Pass Hut: http://www.cruciblecreative.com/pdf/PowderFallLines.pdf