February 28, 2005-- Ice world beckons to your doggone soul.
Take five or six weeks of building time, about 15,000 tons of snow, roughly 500 tonnes of ice and you have either a Guinness-record ice cube or an adventure fit for any wanna-be Arctic explorer.

So it's not really the Arctic but in your mind it can be. Made up of massive walls of compacted snow and soaring crystal-clear ice sculptures, pillars and columns, the Ice Hotel outside Quebec City is a surreal wonderland at the epicentre of winter activities.

Your first question is whether or not the hotel is cold. The quick answer is no -- not in the least. Inside the hotel the temperature is about -3 degrees C and the thick slabs of snow act as a barrier to bone-chilling winds. You're also dressed for the cold, from your thermal underwear and ski pants to warm jacket, toque, snow boots and gloves. The only way you may get cold is to wear cotton layers; synthetic is good but wool is best. The problem with cotton is that it traps humidity, making you feel cold, especially if you've done anything that requires exertion, such as lifting a glass of Absolut Mandarin vodka for a nightcap.

Nothing really prepares you for the experience. It's not just the weirdness of walking into a building made entirely of snow and ice -- it's the smell, the light, the peacefulness and the crisp air that makes you feel as though you're on another planet. Like a scene from a sci-fi movie, you walk in and can't help but run your gloved hands along the flawless ice, stare at Roman arches of snow that support the immense weight, then scream in horror as the ice monster pops out to destroy you.

Just kidding. But it does feel sci-fi in a good way -- no ice monsters, just fellow ice-meisters.

It's such a fun experience that everyone is always smiling -- and it's not just the vodka. The ice bar is incredible, with solid, four-inch-thick clear-ice slabs that serve as tables and counters, and intimate, four-person nooks carved out of snow with ice benches and tables. Don't freak: the benches have fur pelts on top so you won't get chilled while sipping a drink from a giant ice-cube glass.

Then it's on to the hot tub -- one of two large tubs outside the hotel but protected in a small nook surrounded by fir trees and with a sauna a few steps away. The water temperature is perfect and you feel as though you could be submerged for hours. But after the sauna, which really warms you to the core, it's bed time.

After such relaxation, you have to try to remember what they told you when you checked in about readying yourself for sleep.

First, make sure you go to the heated bathroom trailer. You don't want to have to get up in the middle of the night to make the trip. (Even if you have to but can't stand the thought of getting out of your cocoon, you could try what I did: just set a new personal best.)

Boots off, thermal underwear, toque and socks on -- and that's about it. You put your clothes and jacket in a bag that can serve as an additional pillow under your sleeping bag or just scrunch your gear into the bottom of your sleeping bag.

The sleeping bags keep you toasty as it comes with a special liner that you get into, then into the bag before attaching the special overlayer on top. As an Ice Princess (I'm always cold), I fully expected to freeze but within about three minutes had taken off my extra fleece sweater. I was snug and comfortable. The only thing that feels cold is your nose. Ice princesses hate having cold noses, so I put my scarf around my head and snuggled into a state of complete and utter bliss. There is no sound. It's so quiet and peaceful, it's an other-worldly sleep.

The beds are on raised ice platforms a few feet thick and topped with foam mattresses that are covered with quilts. Each of the 32 rooms has its own theme, from the Love Shack -- with long-stemmed red roses frozen into peek-a-boo frames in the ice walls -- to one room with an ice slide, perfect for young kids. My room featured an intricate headboard of sweeping ice ridges and curls of ice on each side of the bed -- fit for an ice princess.

The Ice Hotel has more than 3,000 guests in a short season that runs from early January to April. Up to 55,000 people come each season just to stop by and have a look at this beautiful structure..

The newest attraction is the ice chapel, where up to 30 weddings are performed in one season. Makes sense -- some brides have a secret passion for white-fur detailing and an excuse to wear comfy snow boots under a floor-length gown. The chapel features a carved cathedral window that is breathtaking and even more spectacular when rays of sunshine peek through and refract throughout the chapel. No wedding planner could set up such a show.

The next step for the Ice Hotel is to build one at Sun Peaks. Hotel president and CEO Jaques Desbois says negotiations are underway and the Sun Peaks area is the ideal climate to support such a venture. The hotel would draw from a huge tourism base from the Northwest U.S., as well as B.C. and Alberta.

From the Ice Hotel, you are within minutes of snowshoeing, cross-country sking, snowmobiling, ice fishing and -- the piece de resistance -- dog sledding. Aventure Inukshuk is a marvellous operation right near the Ice Hotel and they'll take you to the doghouse (that's a good thing) to set up the sleds.

The dogs -- all 150 of them -- are on alert and voicing their pleasure before you arrive. They sense it's time for a ride and by the time the dogs are harnessed, they are excited, pumped and, I'm sure, thinking they'd like to bring you all the way to Alaska. And back.

It's a total rush as the dogs pull you away along the track, through bare bushes and trees and looping around small lakes. These dogs are born to run and that's what they do best. When I took control of the sled with my guide as my passenger, I frequently had to use the brake because these dogs are fast and I'm somewhat of an idiot with speed-related gear. What a thrill. After a great ride -- what might have been about 10 km -- we returned to the doghouse. John, my guide, walked up to each of the six dogs on our sled and thanked each one. So I did the same -- and fell in love with these good-natured dogs who are happiest with a good run and a pat on the head. No one in our group tipped a sled or ran over any people or dogs, so we were rewarded with a look at the sled-dog up-and-comers: the pups. It was a sea of legs and little faces as we approached the pen with the big fur mass within. Dogs don't get much cuter than this and the same thought was going through everyone's mind: I want one -- and I can move to the Yukon, build my own sled, live on berries and just spend my dog days dog-sledding.

But it was geting late and we did what anyone would do in this situation: we headed back for lunch.

After the sled ride, there are other activities that celebrate winter but somehow I didn't see myself bonding with a fish. I've since heard that many dog-sled operations don't let you drive. I feel privileged to have been a musher and very connected with the land of ice and snow.

And after graduating the ice Hotel, I think it's fair to bump up my title from ice princess to Ice Queen: Arctic-like survivalist and dog-sledder extraordinaire.

Works for me.

Source: The Province, Electronic Edition

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