Igloos!

[unbibium]

A few months ago, I started to wonder about igloos. I'd always see them in cartoons and childrens' books, but I never saw them in photographs or on television. The closest I've seen to an igloo is that ice hotel they keep showing on the Travel Channel.

I wondered.... a building made of ice? Wouldn't that be cold? In fact, wouldn't it be impossible to be warm inside there? I figured I'd better look it up on the Internet.

Except I always thought of this while I was walking home, and forgot about it by the time I got to an Internet connection.

Then, this afternoon, Fark pointed me to an article on how to make one. And the claim is that you can even cook in there. How about that!

Just in time for summer, eh?

I think that spending a night in an igloo just made my list of things I'd like to try just once in my life.

Comments

[pootrootbeer.livejournal.com]

They have one of those Ice Hotels in Quebec... only costs like CDN$200 a night to stay there, I think.

Re:

[pentomino.livejournal.com]

The budget traveler builds his own.

[infrogmation.livejournal.com]

You can probably find illos thanks to the handy index to back issues of National Geographic at your local library.... I recall seeing N.G. tv specials showing life of Inuit living in igloos.

Or rent/borrow "Esquimo Quinn", the mother of all docu-dramas (they actually hauled their silent cameras etc up to the arctic, rather than aproximate exotic place & people on a set as was the usual practice at the time).

"I think that spending a night in an igloo just made my list of things I'd like to try just once in my life."

I won't feel deprived if I never do so, but to each their own.

[lots42.livejournal.com]

I would think it traps body heat and such. I've scene and read about Igloos in national geographic and it's some pretty cool housing.

[reverendluke.livejournal.com]

Igloos are made of snow, not ice. This is key. Snow is actually a pretty good insulator, and the fact that it's white and reflective on the inside, along with the domed shape, make the radiant heat from a small oil lamp sufficient to heat one. The doors are low, and the sleeping platforms are raised, so when you sleep, you're actually up where the air is warmer. It's still not really warm compared to say, Tahiti, but they apparently stay in the 40s when the outside temperature is around 20 below, so it's warm enough that the residents can at least shed their outer garments.

I only know this because I recently took a cultural anthropology class, and the Netsilik Inuit were one of our case studies. Pretty interesting, really, considering it's a culture where technology has basically allowed them to thrive in an environment that's not particularly suited to human habitation.

[mezdeathhead.livejournal.com]

well, being that i'm a canadian (insert you fucking canadians jokes here), i figured i'd talk some shit.

when i was in 5th grade winter camp, we learned all sorts of outdoor winter survival stuff. if you're trapped in a snowstorm and the snow is deep enough, it is even suggested that you dig a hole in the snow to keep yourself warm in. your own body heat in a small space is enough to keep you going.

that, and igloos actually have little chimney type situations going on, so that a fire can be made for even more heat, without melting your house.

my neighbor and i made an igloo once when we were about 10. we slept in it, just for the experience. i can't say that it was any different than camping.