How to Build an Igloo

As the winter comes on you have fewer options for fun outdoor activities, but there is one you may not have thought of: Learn how to build an igloo! Derived from igdlu, the Inuit word for “house,” igloos have been the traditional dwellings of the natives of the frozen northern reaches of Canada and Greenland for thousands of years. Though they are not as common as they once were, often being replaced today by modern building materials and techniques, knowing how to build one means hours of snowy fun for the family and could be the key to survival if bad winter weather strikes while you are out in the wilderness.

Everyone is familiar with the basic design of an igloo. It is a dome approximately ten feet in diameter, sometimes more or less, with an access tunnel. Occasionally, there is a window made from translucent seal intestines or even by a properly shaped block of ice. The access tunnel may be at ground level or, in more permanent structures, it is actually a tunnel dug down beneath the general level of the igloo. This prevents wind from blowing directly into the living space of the igloo, a nice feature given that the average temperature away from the traditional oil lamp that provides light and a little heat is a degree or two below freezing.

Authentic igloos are constructed in the traditional manner with a snow shovel and saw out of solid snow blocks cut from deep, hard snow drifts and snow fields. For those looking for a fun time without the need for traditional methods, blocks can be made using hard plastic boxes as molds for the blocks.

How you use your mold depends on what kind of snow you are working with. Wet, sticky snow is easier to work with than powdered snow. With the latter, you will need to add water, pouring it evenly over the snow as it sits in the mold, and then let it freeze. You will probably be able to make five blocks a day like that with a single mold, so having a number of molds ready and available is necessary. On the other hand, if your snow is sticky, you can create the block, shake it out of the mold almost at once and go on to the next. Regardless of the type of snow you have, spray the box with a non-stick cooking spray to make removal that much easier.

As with any building site, success is all about location. You want a place that is level enough and large enough to accommodate the igloo you plan to build. Once you have determined the location, it is time to level the ground.

You will want to level an area somewhat larger than the igloo. Scrape it down, fill in the dips and divots. It does not have to be perfect, but it should be flat enough and hard-packed enough to build on. If it isn't, you can risk collapsing your structure. At this point, it is time to cut a circle into the snow.

Plant a stick in the center of your building area and attach a rope that will reach to where you plan to build the wall. In a ten-foot diameter igloo, that would be a rope length of five feet. At the other end tie a stick. Now, using that stick to cut the snow, draw a circle in the ground. This will give you the circumference of the igloo and the baseline for placing the blocks.

Now your building space is ready; your baseline is cut and your blocks are just waiting to be put to good use. It is time to build the igloo. The basic construction method is fairly simple and straightforward. Using larger blocks on the bottom and smaller blocks higher up, the blocks are laid down along the baseline you originally cut. You then add a second course and a third and so on, building up the domed structure of the igloo. You will have to cut the blocks so that they slope and therefore incline toward the center.

As you build, you will use fewer and smaller blocks with each tier until the structure is completely closed. It is the weight of the blocks supporting each other that gives the igloo its remarkable stability. Just remember to remove accumulated snow from the interior before closing the dome. Removal is much easier this way than if you had to move the snow through the entrance. Use snow to fill in the cracks, but not all of them since you will need some ventilation in the igloo.

If you decided to dig out your entrance, rather than make a simple hole or tunnel in the base, you will dig beneath the wall and come up inside the igloo. The hole should be just inside the wall, communicating with a tunnel that runs to another entrance hole outside. You can even put a bend in it to keep air and snow from blowing inside.

Once the gaps in the walls have been filled with snow, you are ready to seal the igloo. This is done with a small fire lit inside. The heat melts the interior of the snow blocks, which quickly turns to ice in the cold air. This process continues over several days until the snow blocks are turned to ice. Now the structure will be very strong. With a properly built igloo, a grown man should be able to stand on it without collapsing the dome and the structure should be able to stand up to hurricane force winds.

An igloo is a simple structure and a wonderful chance for outdoor fun during the winter. Now that you have learned how to build an igloo, you can wrap up warmly and go out and experiment. Have fun seeing what you can create.

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