Last week, as temperatures dropped well bellow -20 C, students at Marie-Anne-Gaboury School in Winnipeg looking to make the best of the winter weather got to work building an outdoor classroom made entirely of snow.

“We dug out blocks and then we brought them back to the front with sleds,” said Sophie, one of the Marie-Anne-Gaboury students.

Up to 400 students from kindergarten to Grade 8 worked to build this massive snow fort designed to emulate the extravagant snow sculptures of Winnipeg’s Festival du Voyageur, Western Canada’s largest winter festival. The fort was built in just four days.

As this snow fort begins to melt away, the kids already have big plans for next year.

“Maybe one of the fears this year is maybe we’ve set the bar a little high,” said Marie-Anne-Gaboury principal Tyler Milloy.

“I can only expect that our students are going to want to push the envelope for next year and shoot for something even bigger.” ​​