A Problem I Never Faced in Manitoba

My snow fort had been looking rather neglected, and I hadn't been in it for a few days, so yesterday I decided to closely check it out. After twenty minutes of vigorous work I realized that, with its collapsed roof and frozen interior, my fort was not going to become the palace it once was. I was not going to go inside after only twenty minutes of work so I decided to make a new igloo. The many snowfalls here in Gaspé made multiple spots for a new snow fort possible, but I wouldn't settle for any less than the best. Opposite the corner of the yard where my first fort was I found a beautiful location for my second.

Something I realized while digging was how different the topography here is than what I am used to. The neighbour's yard is at least ten feet lower than mine and the land between the two properties is extremely steep. When I was making my fort on the edge of my yard what I didn't realize was that I was slowly making my way to the icy drop off leading to the neighbour's property (no, the drop off does not lead to scuba divers who want to find clownfish for their fish tanks).

When I felt that it was wide enough, for the time being, I decided to dig to the ground, which I thought was only a few inches below me, so that I would be able to sit in the fort. My excavation was taking awhile, but I didn't think too much of it at first until I realized that I wasn't hitting the ground, I was digging deeper and deeper into the neighbour's yard!

By the time I was done my igloo for the day, the floor had two very distinct levels. One level was on the property where I live, and the other in the built up snow on the other side of the mini cliff in the neighbour's yard. Maybe I should've dug all the way to the ground, but I don't think I would have been able to get out of my fort if I had, and it would have taken a bit of time.

It was difficult getting the snow out the door and on multiple occasions I had just a sliver of light filtering though the wall of snow I had thrown in front from the trough I was in. It has never happened to me before where the opening of my snow fort has been level with the ground and the inside substantially below it. By the time I leave here there will probably be a whole tunnel system in the Labbé backyard, I just hope I don't dig to far and end up at the bottom of the small, icy cliff in the neighbour's backyard.