Build an igloo from snow

“It’s 10am and I am on a Swiss mountain holding a saw. My mission is to help build an igloo by 5pm, sleep in it and – most importantly – wake up next morning. [...] To begin, we draw a circle on the ground using a stick and string as a giant compass. Sawing into the snow, we cut 20cm-thick bricks about the size of an A3 sheet, and place them in a circle, leaning slightly inwards. [...] With trepidation, Rachel and I (the only two to brave a night in our igloo) get ready for “bed”. [...] I zip up, hood up, and wriggle in. [...] I feel like I’m cowering in a snowman’s armpit. I’m not sleeping; I’m playing dead.”

“The first time I built an igloo was after the blizzard of 2010. The snow was powdery and it took several hours of spraying down snow with water and packing it before I got it constructed. That structure was too small for camping, but Landry and I were able to have a picnic inside. When the forecast called for a blizzard this year, my boys started talking about building an igloo. I told them I wouldn’t be doing it unless the snow was wet and packed easily. But after Jonas dumped two feet of light, powdery snow, I changed my mind and built it anyway. Like before, it took a lot of water and a lot of work. This time I made it large enough for three people to spend the night. The end result was a bit odd-shaped; it wasn’t perfectly round like the igloos you see in a story book.”