Need helping building an igloo? Montreal businessman has your back

Play Snow creator Eric Villiard fills snow between the grid frame of his igloo structure, a product he’s looking for support to manufacture out of Montreal. (PHOTO COURTESY OF PLAY SNOW)

Here’s the plastic frame Villiard designed and built, which is meant to withstand the weight of heavy snow. (PHOTO COURTESY OF PLAY SNOW)

Here’s the final product: the igloo, tunnel and castle fort frames all filled in with snow for winter play. (PHOTO COURTESY OF PLAY SNOW)

A Montreal man says he has re-invented the igloo to create a safe and easy winter activity for children and adults.

Eric Villiard, a Montreal-based entrepreneur and former World Cup skier, has developed a polyurethane grid and frame which, when filled in with snow, can make an igloo in your yard — that’s safe for winter play.

“I had a bad experience when I was about 10 years old. The snow was really sticky and I was building myself an igloo,” Villiard told Nunatsiaq News. “But it collapsed on me and I couldn’t move. Fortunately my dad saw me and ran out to dig me out.”

Flash forward 30 years; Villiard is now father to two young children, aged three and six. After a heavy snowfall, both kids love to get outside to dig tunnels and build snow forts.

“That’s when I started thinking about creating a plastic structure or honeycomb to withstand the weight of the snow and play inside of it,” he said.

That took Villiard some time; he couldn’t find the right materials to build the dome shape he wanted. He eventually went to an industrial designer who helped him design the grid he had in mind.

The custom-made polyurethane pieces fit together to make his igloo model or prototype, which Villiard has dubbed “Snow Play.” Along with the igloo, Villiard has also constructed a tunnel that connects the igloo to the frame of a castle-shaped fort.

“There’s only this one prototype,” he said. “Right now it’s to find the investors to kick off the company.”

The investment will pay for four iron moulds, to be made in China at a cost of $250,000, which would be then pressed in Montreal.

A crowdfunding campaign launched in 2015 sold 100 igloos, but fell short of Villiard’s goal. So now he’s secured six investors and has two interested retailers, but he’s still looking for more support to get his business off the ground.

He hopes that once he has the money to begin manufacturing the structures, that he can charge about $250 per unit.

Things are looking good for Snow Play; since the beginning of the month, local media have picked up on Villiard’s project and sparked an interest among Quebec families.

“Things are starting to unfold now,” he said. “And we finally got some snow.”

When asked what he knows about the traditional Inuit igloo or snow house, Villiard admits he’s only ever seen a real one on television.

But he knows their construction requires skill and the right type of snow to build — neither of which is in large supply in southern Quebec.

“It’s really difficult to build a real igloo,” he said. “You have to be an expert and the snow has to be perfect. I wanted to make it easy for the consumer to build one.”

There’s an expression in French that starts “vendre un réfrigérateur à un esqimau,” or “to sell a fridge to an Eskimo,” used to refer to a successful salesman.

Villiard said the same expression could apply to his initiative.

“I would be really proud to sell an igloo to an Inuit person,” Villiard laughed.

You can check out his prototype at www.playsnow.ca.