Lots of gear!
Scouting the lay of the land for good locations.
A moment to check out the spectacular view.
"Where are the canoes?"
Time to head down the hill with the gear.
Pile up that snow! Spectacular weather on Day 1.
Hard work, but also very fun.
A veteran shows how it's done.
Experience makes for good technique.
We weren't the only ones enjoying the snow.
Higher! Higher!
"Whee!"
Air guitar king, or snow dome master?
"Wow, this is BIG!"
Heave ho!
Finally, it's time to start digging out.
Hollowing can be more work than the piling up.
It's hard to get the snow you are digging out past your body.
Notice the sticks in the mound? They signal when you get as close as you should to the outer edge, thus keeping the dome strong.
Scoop, scoop.
"Ding, dong, the witch is dead!".... Oh, sorry, that's another story.
Once you are in this far, you need a helper to clear out the tailings that you are digging.
If you have enough people, it works well to dig from both sides and join in the middle. Here's the moment of breakthrough in the middle, a very happy time!
The first cross-dome handshake!
The work isn't done yet, though. There is still quite a bit of snow to remove before it's time to move in.
