Long time lurker and this is my first post but I feel somewhat knowledgeable enough to comment. We have a cabin in Alaska with snowmachine only access in the winter. I have slabbed out spruce logs using an Alaskan Chainsaw Mill to provide the decking for a dock. I’m currently messing around with cutting 10”x10” timbers from spruce trees blown over in a wind storm.
First off, unless you have a LOT of time, I’d rethink building the cabin from local trees. Ours is a recreational (weekend) cabin and cutting lumber with a chainsaw is not quick. I can buy it at the yard, load it in the truck, drive it up to the trail head, load it on a freight sled, and tow it in by snowmachine much faster than cutting it. However, if you have large blocks of time and a strong desire to do this, it can be done.
After much looking around on this site and others, I ended up building my own guide rails to make the first cut on a log with the Alaskan Mill. It looks like a plywood ladder and it is in 3 eight foot pieces that I can bolt together depending on the length I’m going for. I can carry or haul it to the downed tree and set up on it. This takes the most time but once it’s on and level the first cut leaves a nice flat surface on the top of the log. Adjust the mill to the depth you want and make your second cut. If you are doing a two sided log you are done cutting at this point.
As for milling in the snow, plan to get at it earlier in the winter when the snow is not as deep. It’s a drag to have to shovel 3 feet of snow off your log before you can even start. Limb the logs before it snows. Use your snowmachine the day before to pack in a trail next to the log and out of the woods to your main trail. Boot pack/shovel the snow along both sides of the log then too. Give it overnight for the snow to set up and you will have a much easier time moving around with a saw. You really don’t want snowshoes, you cannot maneuver around a log wearing those.