Well, I think I've finally got the hang of this snowmaking thing, though it's definitely not the sit-in-the-truck-and-read-or-knit job that I expected. And for the better, really, because I would have gotten bored pretty quick had that turned out to be true. Quite to the contrary, Zeman and I have found ourselves running around almost constantly during our 16-18 hour shifts of snowblowing. The guns freeze up, the pumps die, the compressor needs more fuel, a bulldozer wants to cross the unfinished bridge...... and all these little problems are much harder to deal with at -30. At least that's as cold as it's been so far, but I'm expecting worse to come.
Our first couple bridges were tiny and we blew them in less than one shift with lots of help from my dad, who was training us. Our third bridge was also small and was the first one that we did more or less on our own. Problem after problem left us running around the whole time and we ended up with what should really get an award for the worst snow bridge ever made.
But dad must have figured that that bridge was enough of a lesson in how not to build a snow bridge that we should now know what we are doing. So, when we arrived at the shore of the Kantah river ( a 80 foot crossing with 12 foot banks on either side [= a very large snow bridge]) he explained where the bridge needed to go and left us to our own devices. Oh, and he told us that although this bridge normally takes four days of around-the-clock blowing to finish, the dozers wanted to cross it the next day at 2 pm. Yikes. The next day at 10 am, Robbie and I were panic-stricken. We had never even seen a properly-built snowbridge and so had no idea what it was supposed to look like before the bull-dozers flattened it out. So I called dad for some confimation:
"Hi dad. It's Chris. Um, I'm a little nervous about those cats trying to cross this thing today. What should the bridge look like when we're done blowing it?"
"Well, it sould be 30 feet wide and you should be able to drive your truck across. Could you drive across?"
"Um. I could...um...well, I might be able to ice climb up it..."
"Oh shit"
"Oh shit"
But thanks to the very understanding and talented dozer operators, we were able to turn our two monsterous mounds of ice and snow into a decent-looking bridge that we actually could drive our truck across. Phew. And now I really do think that we've got it figured out. Now, if only this stupid chinook would end so that the temperature would drop again so we could get back to work.
Mount Reesor, North eastern BC
The Chic Chocs, Northern Quebec
The volcanoes in Mount Edziza recreation area, Northwestern BC
