I am considerting a winter campout up on the trail. It occurred to me that if I put my Whisperlite stove on the snow to melt water the heat of the snow will cause the stove to sink into the snow.
If the snow is deep enough to cover up most of the rocks sticking up, how do you get around this problem. Do you carry something to place the stove on or do you just go find a big rock to set the stove on. Obviously a big rock sticking out of the snow would be more exposed to wind etc.
Some people carry a small piece of aluminum sheet metal backed with foam padding (e.g., a piece of an old sleeping pad). MSR also makes a variation on the pocket rocket that you can hang.
Another option that can work well is a 1' x 1' piece of ply wood and wrapping aluminum foil around the entire board. Duct tape the foil in place. Whatever set up you use make sure you keep watching it. The snow underneath your platform can melt unevenly and lead to a pot tipping over.
One of Kurt’s guides showed me a nifty little adaptation he made for his Giga stove. I recreated it for my MSR Pocket Rocket since I have the same teapot as he used. He had devised a spring tensioned wire mechanism that held the teapot on the burner grid. This allowed for hanging the whole rig (pot and stove) from the teapot handle and also allowed you to pour hot water without disconnecting the teapot from the stove. An added benefit is that it kept the pot centered over the burner. The wires did not cover the lid so we could still recharge the pot with snow. This <a href=http://scottm.smugmug.com/gallery/346261/2/13792601>picture</a> shows it to some extent. You may have to select the large view option to see it in some detail. Before someone bags on me for having a hot flame near my ice ax, a rope and hardware the stove was not lit. It does show you an idea for hanging rather than setting a stove on a surface.
I have a small polished aluminum mirror I carry in my first aid kit (used to change/clean contacts) that I have used before. It is about 2.5 by 3.5 inches and is sufficient to hold up my older Coleman Whisperlite. I haven't tried it on the Pocket Rocket I purchased this past summer but I do not forsee a problem.
MSR also makes a foldable metal plate for the their stoves that can be used to set your stove on. They key is to level off a section of snow and pat it down. If you don't do this, as stated before, the stove will tip over. Here's the link:
I've used one of those "asbesto" hot pads covered with crimped metal that you find in cheapie houseware stores and glued a foam pad below it. The combo generally keeps things from melting too far into the snow. I've also used the snow shovel method.
