Indrek Leht, who attracted visitors with snow igloos in Nõmbra cattle estate in Rooküla in Anija municipality, tried making an ice hotel for the first time this year.
“Tänavuse’s winter weather is väga heitlikud. That’s why we decided not to turn the snow igloo into an ice hotel,” he said.
The owner of the Nõmbra ranch and forest restaurant told that during the winter, snow was collected in a big pile, when the weather remained steadily cold in February, snow blocks similar to fibo blocks were cut from the snow pile with a saw, the walls of the ice hotel were laid out of them, and tables and chairs were built inside: “In the Arctic, where igloos are built, there is snow dense, yet light. For us, the intermediate melts make the snow heavy, so it is difficult to build a dome, it tends to collapse. That’s why our ice hotel is also without a roof, if necessary, we can put a textile roof on it.”
The idea of the ice hotel came from the owner of the Nõmbra forest restaurant in Northern Finland and Sweden, where they have been built for decades. The most popular is the Jukkasjärvi ice hotel built every winter in Kiruna, Sweden, where sculptors have also made most of the interior, including beds, tables and chairs, out of ice and snow. The construction of the hotel starts in October-November, and due to the arctic cold, it usually lasts until April.
“You won’t live there for several days, but you can spend one night among animal skins,” explained Indrek Leht.
Read more in the Messenger of March 15.
