A Dawson City man has spent the winter turning freshly fallen snow into a mighty fortification outside his home.

John Hanulik started stacking blocks of compressed snow into a castle complete with a tower and rampart in early November 2024 and has worked almost every day since to get it to where it鈥檚 at. He鈥檚 dedicated himself to a building project like this in past winters but noted that the tower he accesses using a step ladder is new this year. 

鈥淚 just make a mould out of some boards and stuff and throw snow in there and stomp it, and then come back 20 minutes later, it's rock solid. Throw another layer in, stomp it,鈥� Hanulik said 

He is left with two rectangular blocks after he cuts the square chunk the mould creates in half. He has been making the blocks each day and adding it to the structure the next day.

鈥淚t鈥檚 totally Lego. I mean, they're all smooth, but when the snow touches each other, it freezes right on,鈥� he said of the construction process.

Hanulik noted interest from kids in the neighbourhood who come by plastic swords in hand to play on the structure. 

Along with an eye for snow castle construction, Hanulik has plenty of medieval props on hand to bring the structure to life.

He competes in Buhurt, a full-contact sport that sees competitors fighting in medieval armour with blunt weapons. He noted that people from Dawson have been on Team Canada in the sport, competing as far away as Europe and Mexico City. He and some Dawsonites are going to Calgary soon for the next round of national team tryouts. 

Hanulik is already considering designs for next winter鈥檚 castle but expects this one will remain standing for a while longer before it melts away. 

Contact Jim Elliot at jim.elliot@yukon-news.com