Seth Jankowski and Will Deaton pose in front of their functional igloo.
Cassandra DeVries | Collegian
A 12 foot wide igloo appeared on the lawn outside Galloway overnight after the snow storm two weeks ago. When freshmen Connor McCormick, Will Deaton, Ty Ruddy, Seth Jankowski, and Colsen Conway were bored Wednesday evening, McCormick convinced his friends to build an igloo, thinking it would be an easy feat.
“We thought that if we built an igloo, it would just be really quick and easy.” Deaton said. “But Connor goes to make the outline, and he just does this giant circle.”
Jankowski also doubted their ability to carry out McCormick’s plan.
“I thought, there is no way we are going to build that,” Jankowski said. “But Connor said that we’d find a way.”
They started by gathering snow in garbage cans and storage bins. Once the bins were filled, the friends stomped the snow into bricks and placed the bricks around the circle’s circumference. The bricks towards the top were surprisingly heavy, requiring one or two people to hold them in place while the others packed them in with snow. Each layer took approximately an hour. As the walls grew, Gallaway’s snow supply shrank, forcing the builders to traipse further and further away to make their bricks. By the end of the night, the only snow left around Galloway was part of the igloo. As the igloo slowly developed, many people stopped to contribute or encourage the builders.
“Throughout the night, random people showed up to help for 20 to 30 minutes, even at 3 a.m.,” Colsen marveled.
Some people carried over snow, others made bricks, and most came for moral support. Around 11 p.m., a group of unknown girls brought the builders candy. At midnight , security stopped to investigate, Colsen explained.
“Right as we got the top done, security showed up and asked what was going on.”
A few hours later, the police arrived on the scene, talked to the builders and volunteered to take pictures of the Galloway men and their igloo.
At 1 a.m., McCormick, Deaton, Ruddy, Jankowski, and Conway started on the ceiling and committed to finishing the igloo that night. After a quick trip to Taco Bell for sustenance, the men of Galloway built the doorway, smoothed the exterior, and sprayed the igloo with water to harden its outer shell.
The completed igloo had walls two and a half feet thick and weighed an estimated 3,000 lbs. The five friends easily fit inside. Satisfied with the giant snow hut that now dominated Galloway’s lawn, McCormick, Deaton, Ruddy, Jankowski, and Conway headed to bed around 4 a.m.
During the following days, students stopped by on their way to and from classes to admire the igloo. They took pictures, crawled inside, and speculated about its creation. When yellow stains appeared on the igloo’s surface, rumors circulated that Simpson residents vandalized the igloo by urinating on it. However, the builders confirmed the yellow stains were merely lemonade, albeit lemonade from Simpson.
Despite the igloo’s popularity among students, McCormick soon decided the igloo needed a few renovations. He settled on a fire pit to make it more homey. Collecting wet sticks and cardboard, the Gallowayians dug a fire pit in the igloo’s ice floor and doused the sticks and cardboard in a healthy dose of lighter fluid. They carved a small hole in the top or the igloo for ventilation, and lit a fire. While the fire took off instantly, the smoke from the wet wood overpowered them leading to a hasty retreat. Not to be thwarted by nature, McCormick ordered a mini wood stove online for $16. Once it arrives, the group wants to spend the night in the igloo. McCormick is also debating adding a TV, so igloo visitors should not be surprised if extension cords start running between Galloway and the igloo. While only time will tell how many amenities an igloo can accommodate, affordable housing is now only a few hours of work and a yard full of snow away.
