2011-02-06|Head out and build a quinzhee for fun - or survival
To the Editor
I would like to express my gratitude for your article in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper (2011-02-06).
I designed and built ice and snow structures such as a skating rink, an igloo, a quinzhee, a dome, an arch, a pyramid, a wall, a fortress, a maze, a tunnel and a toboggan hill for my 3 kids when they were young.
So, I understand when you say "Wait a couple of hours for the snow to settle. The colder it is the faster it will crystallize and harden." I experienced first hand that a few degrees of temperature difference makes a big difference in the stickiness of the snow, low-temperature snow below -15 C would not stick well, etc.
However, I expect that narrow-minded "safety experts" will cry foul over your article. The nanny state may step in to ban the building of snow structures of any kind, as exemplified by article "New dress code infuriates nurses at The Ottawa Hospital" in the same edition of the Ottawa Citizen [Page A1]. :-(
