LONDON, Ont. - When Jake Morgan settles down to watch Olympic hockey this
weekend, he’ll do it inside the ultimate Canadian rec room, with a naturally
ice-cold beer at his side.
The London, Ont. man and a crowd of lucky friends get to watch the games
inside a nine-metre-high hut dug out of snow, also known as a quinzee.
“It’s the ultimate man-cave,” Morgan said. “Why do it? Why not? You get
snow in Canada. Life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.”
Complete with a built-in TV set, cable hookup and seating for up to 12, the
snow hut was ready for Friday night’s Canada vs. Slovakia game and the medal
rounds this weekend.
Food and beverage were optional, but likely.
“We might have a few brown-bottle pops. That goes hand in hand with watching
hockey in Canada,” Morgan said.
“And if you’re in an igloo, what else you are going to do? The beer doesn’t
get warm, so you can’t complain about that.”
Morgan comes by his love of outdoor snow buildings naturally.
“My dad made one in my yard for my sister and me. We ended up sleeping out
there. I guess I was born into it.”
Morgan, his wife Mercedes, friends and neighbours began pushing wheelbarrows
full of snow into the backyard of his Carfrae Cres. home a few weeks ago.
“We’ve taken the snow from their lawns, front and back,” Morgan said of his
helpful neighbours.
“So, when it was a foot of snow deep everywhere, there were blades of grass
on their lawns and our lawn.”
Once the snow pile had settled a bit, the crew got out the metal shovels.
“Dig in, dig up and dig out,” Morgan explained.
Crews dug enough snow out to leave walls and ceiling about two-thirds of a
metre thick.
“The longer it stays here the safer it gets,” he said. “The structural
integrity actually increases over time because it turns into a brick of
ice.”
Morgan, a London real estate agent, made the quinzee much homier than a mere
snow shelter.
He carved out a shelf for the TV - its back end sits outside, to keep the
hut cool - and used about 25 metres of cable to bring the signal in from his
indoor living room. Snow benches along the sides and back of the hut give
everyone a clear view of the TV.
Morgan also has an extension cord ready to hook up a crockpot for chili,
room for a few candles and air holes to let the smoke out.
There’s no need for a heater, he said.
“The key is to keep your bum dry. You have to sit on something plastic and
possibly on a towel or a blanket,” Morgan said.
“As long as you’re dry, you’re warm because there’s no wind in there. So it
is actually warmer than being outside.”
The more people he crowds in, the warmer it gets.
But there is limited seating, and Morgan warned those who got an invitation
to the weekend games to RSVP him soon.
“I have other people who want to show up. It should be a full house.”
Morgan is a self-admitted hockey fanatic. He’s launched a Facebook site,
Bring Outdoor Hockey to London! in hopes of getting 35,000 supporters for
municipally-funded outdoor rinks in the city.
Lucky for him, his wife Mercedes loves the quinzee as much as he does.
“I can stay out of her hair. She can do what she’s got to do without me
getting in the way.”
Even the family cat enjoys sitting in the hut, Morgan said.
The cat’s name? No word of lie . . . Chilly.
“Not the food,” Morgan said. “As in cold.”
