Igloo Update 1
It would be great to report that we built an igloo on February 14, as planned. However, the thaw that we had last week, followed by some warm rain, pretty much destroyed all the building material, so we had to cancel. Since the temperatures have cooled back down below freezing, we’ve had minimal snow, and lots of sun. I tried snow dances, snow chants, snow songs to no avail. However, the weather forecast includes a possible storm for later in the week. If the storm occurs, we may have enough snow to build. We’ll know later in the week.
Igloo Update 2
After a wonderful 8-10 inch snowfall, we started on the igloo on Saturday, February 21, with a crew of 2-7 workers, depending on the time. We got to the 3rd (of 7 layers), when we had a bit of a mishap. Vance forgot that he was wearing his snowshoes when he stepped over the wall to help the person who was packing the snow into the mold. He dislodged part of the wall and also fell on the radius pole and the packer. It took a while to make repairs and probably the wall repair was a bit off the proper angle. However, we finished a bit more work that day and then went inside to eat and drink, and warm up. On Sunday, Vance and I worked for about two hours with help from Mary late in the day. We made progress but we were freezing since a very cold wind came up. I had on my downhill ski pants and parka and still needed my turtle fur. On Monday, Vance and I worked alone for a few hours after he talked to the ICEbox inventor and got some feedback on how to correct our errors. By now, we were a bit discouraged, but we still made progress, especially getting the entryway done so he didn’t have to climb over the wall anymore, but could crawl under the wall. On Tuesday, we both had other things to do, so no work then. Mary was off work on Wednesday. With three working it went about 4 times faster than with two, probably because the packer (me) didn’t also have to gather and shovel in the snow. Also, the snow set up really fast and was quite sticky. We finished in less than two hours and all crawled inside. While we were in there a wet sleety snow came down but it was so silent and beautiful, with a bluish light that we didn’t notice anything until we came out. Then we went inside and opened a bottle of bubbly that Mary had brought and a few other goodies.
The igloo really is beautiful and can be seen from every window in the front of the house. I’m looking at it right now as I write this. New wet snow has formed a hard shell on the outside. I think it probably will last until late spring when all the snow and piled up snow banks finally melt. What a thrill!
We are ready to build another one soon given certain necessary conditions: snow of course, a day to prepare the site BEFORE starting the igloo, at least 4 people who will commit to working a full day so we finish in one day, and a volunteer to provide the site. Realistically, our next igloo probably will go up next year.
Try this link to see the igloo photos.
