Aaron Hermes and his buddy had just returned from a winter break trip to Colorado that included skiing,
snowmobiling and dog-sledding.
They still hadn’t gotten their fill of snow and fresh air when the "Polar Vortex" of 2014
descended on Bowling Green.
The 2010 Bowling Green High School graduate, currently a junior at Bowling Green State University, got
the bright idea of building an ice-block igloo in the back yard of his campus neighborhood rental home
on Crim Street.
"I called two friends who are on the BGSU sailing team with me" and they were immediately on
board with the idea.
"We used recycle bins to make the (snow) blocks."
In all, four friends pitched in and for eight straight hours they labored to construct an igloo-style
block house ascending nearly seven feet tall.
"It definitely took awhile, and my body is paying for it now," Hermes said late Wednesday.
He and one of the fellow builders, both construction management majors, decided to spend the entire night
in the structure on Sunday night. The temperature was 19 degrees at midnight, and fell steadily from
then on.

They didn’t get a lot of shut-eye, he admits, but a small pit fire they had going inside the icy walls
made it almost bearable.
Besides, the construction was airtight, except for the breathing holes.
"We kept putting water on the cracks" between blocks and they froze solidly shut. "After
we had some heat inside the igloo it, too, melted and then it really was airtight."
"It’s Day Five now, and it’s still standing," Hermes noted.
"We’ve constantly had friends stop by" for igloo time, with room enough inside for five to sit
comfortably. "We were out there periodically for three days and nights" although nobody has
opted to sleep inside it since Monday.
Perhaps the onset of minus-40 windchill and the Level Three snow emergency that lasted through Tuesday
night – two solid days – had something to do with that.