Vol 2. Edition XIII

February 05, 2008

Questions for the SnowKing
1. How long does it take you to build the snow castle?
2. Are you in your 50s?
3. Do you have help building snow castles?
4. What do you do in the summer?
5. What was your childhood like?
6. Why did you start building snow castles?

Answers for the little girl who asked the questions

Hi there Little Girl,

Thanks for your letter with the Questions, I'll try to answer them as best I can.

Your first question: How long does it take, is asked by many, many people! And to build a castle is hard work so we take our time at it so nobody gets hurt. We start at the beginning of winter (which is usually in November) when the ice on Great Slave Lake freezes. Walking on the ice at this time is VERY DANGEROUS and so we take special care to make sure it is thick enough before we can walk on it, usually 6" of ice, and your Mom says it's ok, then you can walk around. This is the perfect time to cut ice for windows. We use big saws and lots of safety equipment in case of accidents. And good thing too because once, one of my crew fell in the water. He didn't get hurt and we pulled him out right away but we sent him home so he wouldn't freeze.

After the windows are cut, we start planning the design of the castle. This is VERY difficult because everyone on the crew thinks that their ideas are the best and so we have to all make compromises (and hopefully not too many).

By the time all the compromising is finished we take a break for Christmas and start actually building in January. We won't stop until we're done but hopefully that will be after February. So, pretty much all winter long is how long it takes to build.

Your second question: Am I in my 50s? is also asked by many people and I usually remind them that things and people age slower in extreme temperatures and it's been awhile since I was in my 50s, but bless you for asking.

Question 3 asks: Do I have help?