I have a video I made as a joke awhile ago in my vids. I can tell you that it is usually pretty sketchy. Why are you having such a hard time making a snow drop in? Pile a bunch of snow up, boot pack it while sprinkling salt on it. Keep doing this until you get it to the size you want and you can stand on the top without sinking in much. Then just carve your drop in out of that and it will last until spring, unless you get some freak warm front that lasts a long time.