- 1). Find a suitable location. The snow should be at least 40 inches deep in order to enable the necessary depth for excavating the igloo floor, plus a layer of insulating snow beneath the excavation.
- 2). Scribe a circle roughly 60 inches in diameter for a 2 person igloo. This is done by holding a ski to the ground at 30 inches from the body and turning in a circle, to leave a rough 60 inch diameter circle around you. Excavate the floor of the igloo using the snow shovel, around 30 inches deep.
- 3). Excavate an entrance pathway, 30 inches deep and around 30 inches wide for the doorway.
- 4). Cut snow blocks from compacted snow with the snow saw. Cut the bottom blocks 10 inches thick and 15 inches high, with a length of about 25 inches.
- 5). Shave the snow blocks with the snow saw to refine the shape. Angle the tops by about 10 degrees and make them slightly concave inside. The degree of angling and curving of the bricks increases as the igloo gets higher.
- 6). Lay the snow bricks along the edge of the excavated circle. Place two bricks upright one either side of the entrance, and a third across the top of these two bricks.
- 7). Scrape the tops of the laid bricks with the ski to maintain a uniform angle. Do this with each new layer of bricks.
- 8). Shovel out any snow that falls into the floor of the igloo after every two rows of bricks.
- 9). Form the dome of the igloo from the inside with assistance from a helper. Attach the last spiral of bricks at an almost horizontal angle. The bricks will not fall through because of the friction of the snow.
- 10
Build an arch of snow bricks over the entrance way, around 25 inches long. - 11
Heap snow over the igloo, and rub it into the cracks between the bricks; fill any larger cracks with a wedge of snow brick. Cut a 3-inch-wide hole near the top for ventilation. - 12
Smooth snow over the inside over the igloo, filling up any cracks from within.
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