A Very Interesting Eggloo

[Fish36]

The Eggloo named Robin Hood.

-11 footer - Igloo number two - Eggloo number one-

Hey all!! I thought this would be a good example of a sagging Igloo. And a testament to Ice Box systems versatility for building Igloos. Have fun!

We have been getting warm weather with snow then rain. Then weather in the 20’s wind in the mid 30’s and 3 inches of new snow for New Years Eve. Time to build number 2. By the 3rd the weather climbed back into the 30’s and 40’s during the day and close to freezing at night. Hear is the way things went.

My wife and I started the igloo at around 1 pm New Years Day, good weather below freezing little wind until about 3. Then it started to blow, with high winds forecasted (35 mph) for the evening and next day. We worked through the first four layers and stopped on the pole change of the 4th to 5th layer. Kids needed food and drinks as they had sledded the day away as we built. (3Hrs)

The next day we had help from the kids and started back to work. The first thing I noticed was the shape of the igloo was no longer consistent and round. I got two blocks done and then the pole was to long. It was now egg shaped. The wind had been brutal and changed the shape of the lower end of the Igloo. Well at this point, I decided I would adjust the pole length each time I had to move the form box if needed. This “no surprise” made things very difficult and sometimes the form could only be moved 6 to 8 inches or the prior block would break. Other times the form had to be completely separated from the prior block and space left for the angle to work. The process was slow but we decided to take the challenge and complete the igloo which was now an eggloo. 3 more hrs to complete. 6 hrs total.

It is now Jan. 8th and in Robin hood form the eggloo is still standing. It rained for more than 6 hrs yesterday and the weather has been in the 30’s and 40’s during the day teens during the night.

I think we are going to have to head north for some stable weather for a longer lasting igloo.

Thanks !!!

[Igloo Ed]

Heh, I like the Robin Hood name.
That's pretty good time for an eleven footer and only your second one. Two people also, that's a lot of work.
I've only completed a couple igloos the next day but each time the igloo had sagged a bit from the previous day. One was only three courses high and the other four courses high. The one with four courses sagged a lot more than the three course one. At the time, I thought the two igloos were built of the nearly same consistency of snow and attributed the extra sag to the fourth layer leaning in more.
On the one that sagged the most I cut off the last couple blocks, that had sagged the most, and then finished the igloo. On the one that didn't sag as much I finished the igloo without cutting off the last couple blocks and dealt with it each time I came around the igloo. I wished I'd cut those blocks off as well by the time I finished the igloo.
With your igloo sagging at the bottom and tipping like that I wonder if you built the first layer with the fresh snow and then built the higher layers with the heavier old snow. I have done that lots of times but I mix the two types of snow together if I want an igloo to last. The fluffy light snow can't support the weight of the upper denser courses.
Sounds like you worked yourself out of a pretty big mess though, good going.