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PICK A
SPOT You
should build your igloo on a level surface where the
snow is at least 3 feet deep. There should be enough
hard snow for your igloo, if the surface snow is powdery
there's probably hard packed snow a bit deeper. Large
bumps on the surface of the snow it usually means that
there is a large object below the snow such as a boulder
or a large stomp, they can get in the way so it's better
to pick as flat a spot as possible. Don't make your
igloo bigger than it needs to be. Mark out in
the snow where you plan to have the wall of your
igloo.
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CUT BLOCKS Cut
out blocks from the area which will be the inside of the
igloo. The lower blocks should be about 1 foot
thick, 3 feet long and 1.5 feet high, the higher
blocks should be about 6 inches thick, 2 feet long,
and 1 foot high. If you size the blocks as I have
said above you will need approximately the following
number of blocks:
Sleeping 1 person, 6 feet inner diameter: 30
blocks Sleeping 2 people, 7 feet inner
diameter: 40 blocks Sleeping 3-4
people, 9 feet inner diameter: 60 blocks
Don't worry if you think you'll have trouble fitting,
once the igloo is finished you can carve out a bit of
space for your feet from the inner wall.
The
hole resulting from your cutting will be the floor
in the igloo so you want a sleeping area for each person
as high up as possible, a general purpose area that
should be a bit lower to allow for mobility, and a
deep entrance hole that extends outside of the igloo.
The entrance hole
should be as narrow as possible
while still allowing you to get in and out
without too much discomfort. The deep entrance hole
will absorb the cold air and release it to the outside
while the warm air will rise and stay trapped inside the
dome.
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BUILD A SPIRAL
CIRCLE Place your
largest and widest blocks in a circle around the hole
where you have been cutting out your blocks, the blocks
should be tilted in towards the center. Start with the
block that goes on top of the entrance hole, the whole
entrance hole must be traversed by one single block with
plenty of support on both sides. Cut the blocks so they
form a spiral, make sure that the block covering the
entrance hole is the largest block.
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TOP
PIECE When all the blocks are in place cut
the final top piece to the right size. If you can wiggle
it out from the inside and lower it down into position
that's great, but if your hole is very circular
this won't be possible, you'll have to put the block on
top of the dome from the outside and then lower it down
from the inside.
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FINISHING Fill
any cracks with snow.
Make a little doorway over the entrance to keep snow
out.
You have to make at least one air hole in the
roof to ensure proper ventilation. Without good
ventilation you could run out of oxygen, very
dangerous.
Smoothen the inside of the dome to prevent water
dripping.
Your igloo is now ready to be
lived in, check your air hole periodically to make sure
it's not blocked. If you've done everything right
you will be quite comfortable.
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