Thread: Escaping a snowed-in cabin.

My characters are trapped in a small, snowed-in cabin.

They must escape.

I haven't decided what objects are available, but please make suggestions.

The story is set in the 1920s.

Any suggestions welcome, no matter how silly.

I am tearing my hair out over this one.

escape from the area, or are they just buried in the cabin?

They just need a means of getting out of the cabin.

They will have access to traditional mountaineering and hiking equipment circa early 20th century, as well as a log fire and a gas lamp.

There is a dead body in the room.

The genre of the work is horror.

The more creative, the better!

well they have food at least, but they'd have to freeze the meat to prevent rot and such. And they have water from melting snow. It's a matter of fresh oxygen. there was this movie called, i think, My Side of the Mountain, where a boy builds a hut in a hollowed tree and gets buried in a storm. He tried a fire but because fire burns oxygen and the smoke had no where to go...the chimney and such being blocked(you can have it unblocked, but if escape was the only way, I'd go through the roof, sure snow will fall in, but at least when it stops pouring, they could crawl out, make a ladder out of table legs and beds, or make shovels dig out the front door/window. Depends on anyone is hurt also, because then you have to carry them out, make a sled, a harness to pull, pack the meat(or can goods if you want )

The roof is an excellent suggestion, however, I should have filled you in on the unknown and evil forces that stalk the tundra around the cabin. The cabin scene occupies only one chapter of the novel, but takes up a large amount of the story time.

I was thinking that the place is accidently burned down, forcing the characters to leave in a haste. Or is this an already well-established cliche?

well if its snow buried, there wouldn't be much time for digging a hurried escape. it depends on the snow. Running fast through snow is hard. One could make a temporary set of snow-shoes, but that takes time, still would make the running away a bit easier (lol well running with snowshoes and a pack is no heaven either)

evil forces? what sort? Tundra has no trees, mostly flat or low rolling hills. I spent about 2 years in the high arctic, and then another 10 in the north. Temperature is a factor, location is a factor. normally you need five times the amount of wood for burning through the night than you believe. falling in the water, a factor, wet/sweat. you have footprints also, hard to hide and that ole cowboy trick of swinging a branch across the trail doesnt' hid but rather points just as well.

If this is only one chapter, then i'd stick to the internal workings of their mind, in enclosed spaces people act differently, become independent to their survival at times.

sounds interesting. I wish you luck, and am sure others will be along to share their thoughts/experience.

You should drop off at the welcome thread and introduce yourself

oh, as for cliche or over-told stories. any story can be told a million times if each is told well

The force is ambiguous, but would most appropriately be described as a ghost of sorts.

There are two characters of roughly middle age, and a corpse.

There are problems with the conventional method of digging themselves out:

1. They are tired and starving, and there is no practical place to deposit the dug out snow.
2. It seems like a boring and predictable method.

I was thinking that in the struggle that leads to one of the three becoming a corpse, one of the gas lanterns becomes dislodged, setting fire to the cabin, and the two remaining characters hack their way out through the roof with a pickaxe.