A snow fort worthy of the name has to be something special. A place where kids will want to hang out in until their toes go numb, big enough for the whole gang at once. Ideally, it should have doors and windows (but no worrisome roof), perhaps even a "snofa" where the kids can chill out in style. And while we're dreaming, how about a fridge for juice boxes and a custom snowball firing range? Who could build such a dream house? You can. Grab your gloves, some buckets and shovels, and let us show you how.
Any Way You Slice It
Our snow fort has a classic four-wall design, but the architectural options are as varied as Eskimo words for snow. The walls were constructed wooden-block style from snow bricks. Using a snow shovel, we quarried crude blocks from the surrounding snow cover and placed them near the building site. Then, using a cookie sheet as a snow knife, we sliced the blocks into finished bricks and finally lifted them into place on the walls.
NOTE: Our Montana snow was freeze-hardened and compacted, which made it just right for brick slicing. For wet snow, see the molding techniques in Bricks By the Bucket. If your blocks aren't holding together, try letting them sit overnight to freeze more solidly.
