Leaving no footprints in snow

Exchange the techniques and skills needed to walk the shadows. Post your guides and how-tos here.
Post Reply
User avatar
mib
Moderator
Posts: 137
Joined: Wed Aug 31, 2005 9:36 pm
Contact:

Leaving no footprints in snow

Post by mib » Sat Feb 16, 2008 5:13 pm

Winter (in temperate climates in the northern hemisphere) is the worst time to operate in. the extreme low temperature is a hazard, but the worst part about it is the snow which leaves telltale footprints, a dead giveaway that you were there.
It's against my policy to leave large amounts of footprints in any area I am operating in. that is the reason why I seldom go on winter operations. but last night everything changed because I found a way to traverse the snow without leaving footprints. As we all know there are several different types of snow, from very powdery, light snow to heavy, wet snow. Sometimes after the snow there is freezing rain and sleet. when this happens the freezing rain or sleet hits the preexisting snow and forms a rigid crust on top of the snow. I'm sure most of us have seen this phenomenon many times and have hit upon the idea to walk on top of the crust. this is the principle which allowed me to walk on the snow without leaving footprints.

With practice I was able to walk on the crust without it breaking. in this way I traveled about a mile through the woods. I did break the crust a few times but for the most part I was just gliding on top of the icy crust without leaving any traces. I found that it was most efficient to be on all fours doing this since it spreads out the weight more.

There are disadvantages to this method. first of all it's going to be pretty damn cold, so wear warm clothes. ( I was doing this with nothing but sweats thin gloves and sneakers but don't emulate me.) also the icy crust can make an awful racket due to the friction between your shoes/boots and the crust itself. while doing this I had to alternate my body position rapidly for traction balance, speed or stealth. even if you are careful you're probably going to break the crust a few times. if you are on top of a hill you will most likely be sliding down the hill pretty fast so you need to keep your cool, no pun intended. another disadvantage is that if someone sees you you are pretty much screwed because there may be nowhere to run. you could always just run like hell but that leaves footprints. it'll be your decision what to do.

ruzam
Member
Posts: 27
Joined: Mon Jan 28, 2008 3:20 am
Location: Canada
Contact:

Post by ruzam » Sat Feb 16, 2008 5:19 pm

I need to investigate all methods further, fucking Canada....
Ye.

Evil_0ne

Post by Evil_0ne » Sat Feb 16, 2008 6:36 pm

Yeah, snow does suck because from about november to mid march there is snow where I live which makes it almost impossible to op. (i usually don't op during those months.) Good idea even though I can't really use it where I live. Damn suburbs...

darkhunter
Member
Posts: 4
Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2008 2:39 am
Contact:

Post by darkhunter » Tue Mar 11, 2008 7:28 am

I just use a rake to cover my tracks. Yes you can see the tracks but I use the rake to destroy the mentioning of treads and then also walk on other tracks that are already there.

User avatar
stealththief
Member
Posts: 524
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2006 2:20 am
Location: Hidden
Contact:

Post by stealththief » Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:51 pm

darkhunter wrote:I just use a rake to cover my tracks. Yes you can see the tracks but I use the rake to destroy the mentioning of treads and then also walk on other tracks that are already there.
A field expedient for this is to drag a stick with a bunch of leaves (or since its winter pine needles around behind you, that way if you need to ditch it you dont really care.
Image

User avatar
Blackcell
Member
Posts: 39
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2007 1:22 am
Contact:

Post by Blackcell » Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:58 pm

I personally like operating in snow and cold weather. You chances of running into people is very slim and a person chasing you would give up fast. The key to operating is simple anti tracking methods, or just travel in snow storms. If you cant wait for a storm just try to cover the tracks with a branch brush. One way I found somewhat useful in low snow is to jump from tree trunk to tree trunk. Finally I found what the best way was to just really closely destroy the track in the infil and extract area and in the middle it didnt matter to much unless you were being followed, then esacpe and evasion anti tracking tactics come into play.
"Si vis pacem, para bellum"

Post Reply