www.Grandshelters.com

Winter almost didn't happen this year, with snow arriving later than anyone can remember. But we finally got some of the white stuff, and after building a few practice igloos for fun and exercise, I headed out with a friend for a quick weekend of igloo camping. Just in time too, as after this temperatures have been high and the snow melting fast.

Here are a few photos of our campsite.









I've got my fingers crossed in the hopes that winter will get it's second wind here so I can sneak in another trip.

-Martin

thats awsome i think u stole all our alberta snow

mwatts:
Don't feel too jealous about our having gotten some snow.
It's Feb 16 today and the high is supposed to be 3 degrees above freezing.
I'm going out this morning to try building a 7-footer solo before it's all gone.

-Martin

It has been a weird snow season with most areas not getting anything that lasted. You're pretty lucky up there near Algonquin with the snow coming late but pretty much lasting until the next storm.
How did your friend do in building the igloo?

My camping partner was terrific in building the igloo. He'd used the ICEBOX before, but not in several years, so I handled the form and he did the shoveling for the whole build. The man's about 10 years older than I and has boundless energy, so he didn't mind doing all the shoveling. If we hadn't stopped to talk so much, we'd have completed the 8' footer we built in well under 3 hours, I'm sure. But we started early in the day so we took our time with it. He sent me an e-mail the other day to say that he went into the woods to see how it was holding up after 2 weeks time and despite the thaws and rains we've had, it's still standing. It shrunk, but still has an interior height of 51 inches (above the sleeping shelf), so it's still serviceable.

Having built my first solo igloo a few days ago (a 7-footer in 4 hours), I'm now planning a short solo trip. The snow's still around and we got a bit more today, but the temperatures are uncomfortably high (+1 C usually), which makes for damp camping. I prefer it when the highs are closer to -5 C or cooler the air and snow are crisper and dryer and one doesn't get wet so easily.

-Martin

I too, much prefer the colder temperatures when snow camping. It got to -27F. one night with day temperatures around -15F. on our Yellowstone trip and I found it more comfortable than the trips close to 0 C. Chris Townsend said it was the driest winter camping trip he'd ever been on.
It is something how conducive the igloo building is too conversation when the team is experienced and the building is going well. Quite often I hear, "Hey! Let's get back to it, I'm getting cold".
Your igloo sagging 10 inches in two weeks is about what I experience here in warmer temperatures much like you had. It's good you get the shape right. I forget exactly the recommended height to diameter ratio for a sturdy igloo but the ICEBOX built igloos are pushing the numbers. I think the 7,8 & 9 footers were around 85 to 90 % shorter than the recommendations and the 10 & 11 footers were around a whopping 75% shorter than recommended.
Those recommendations however were for a traditional block built igloo. The ICEBOX igloo is much different with ALL the snow being packed and with the entire igloo essentially being once piece/block.