Stefan Ohrhallinger, the Concordia PhD student who made headlines in the Journal de Montréal last month for building an igloo on Mount Royal, has done it again. Yesterday, he trekked up to the top of the mountain to build a second igloo, which he says is 1.5 metres in diameter and height “and is very comfortable for two people.” He posted some advice for igloo-builders on his blog:
Last sunday I went again the the Beaver Lake on the Mont-Royal to attempt the construction of a new igloo. The old ones have melted away without any traces left. The snow was a bit disappointing – since the temperature went several times above zero, its structure was not homogeneous and the blocks tended to break at first. What I finally did, was to cut the blocks larger along the surface, since I would only get 10cm in depth, that worked better.
(…)
So when it got dark, I got some hot wine and take-out from the chalet, went back inside the igloo, lit the candles and called my girl-friend to come for dinner. It was incredibly romantic and cozy with the storm coming up outside and after an hour it was getting relatively warm, the snow walls were already getting soft and transforming into ice.
I noticed that it’s good to bring something to isolate the floor properly though (sleeping mats, although fur would be ideal and more appropriate) and wet clothes (from the construction) are not the best thing to wear when it’s warming up due to the cooling effect from evaporation
Stefan tells me that he hopes to build another igloo before the winter — this time with help. If the current cold, snowy weather keeps up for another couple of weeks, conditions on the mountain should be perfect. Anyone up for a big igloo-building party on Mount Royal? Let us know.
One comment
That is way too cool!! (No pun intended.) If I lived in Montreal, I would so be up for an igloo-building party. Way to go Stefan for creating such an awesome adventure.