There’s no escaping it — world’s largest snow maze now located in Manitoba

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This article was published 05/03/2019 (2740 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s an a-mazing accomplishment for a Manitoba family in the business of winter fun on their St. Adolphe-area farm.

Clint and Angie Masse have set the record for the world’s largest snow maze, which is now officially listed in the Guinness World Records.

The elaborate snow labyrinth, constructed with two metre-high snow-packed walls, is located about a 10 minute-drive south of the Perimeter Highway on St. Mary’s Road. It welcomes visitors Thursdays through Sundays.

“We feel great. Part of the goal was to be official (the largest snow maze) and we told Manitobans we’re building the biggest in the world but until you actually get it certified biggest in the world — now when you log onto the Guinness World Records website, and you search ‘largest snow maze,’ it’s Manitoba,” Masse said.

“Part of the goal is to make Manitoba’s winters wonderful and show what Manitobans can do and have done in winter.”

The Masse family also received a giant replica certificate that they can display as a photo opportunity for Snow Maze guests.

A quick search on the Guinness World Records official site states that “the largest snow maze is 2,789.11 m² (30,021 ft² 110 in²) and was created by A Maze in Corn, Inc (Canada) in St. Adolphe, Manitoba, Canada, and measured on 10 February 2019.”

The former record of 1,696 square metres was set by Thunder Bay’s Fort William Historical Park in February 2015.

“We had to beat that but we went way large because other people will be building,” Masse said. “Our final measurement of 2,789.11; we beat them by about 1,100 square metres.”

There is also a large snow maze in Snowlandia Park in Zakopane, Poland, which boasted in media reports that its size was 2,500 square metres when it opened a year ago.

“We’re all proud to be part of this. I hope Manitoba’s proud. We have winter. Let’s celebrate with silliness and fun and let’s just do that,” Masse said.

Getting the official record was an arduous process, he said.

On Feb. 10, Barnes & Duncan Surveying, Geomatics & Engineering completed the official survey and measurement under a multitude of Guinness guidelines. The procedure was recorded and the video was sent to Guinness as part of the submission package. Masse said it took him about three days to annotate the video to provide a full explanation for every step of the measurement process.

In the weeks that followed the submission, there were numerous communications with additional requests for evidence from Guinness. It was all part of a process designed to ensure an authentic record and expose any fraud or fabrication, Masse said.

“There was so much back and forth (communications); I didn’t even know if we were going to get it,” Masse said. “They wanted documents before the build and any news footage that came during the build. It was so that they could be sure it was credible.”

Masse said it was “absolutely” worth it and planning for next winter’s Snow Maze has already begun.

Along with more snow sculptures from Lyle Peters, there will be some snow rooms complete with ceilings similar to what is done with ice in ice hotels.

“We don’t know how to do that yet (snow rooms), but we didn’t know how to do the snow maze in October, either, so we’re going to try to figure that out,” Masse said, with a laugh.

He said there’s a surprise coming in August for the family’s other business, A Maze In Corn, which has operated a corn maze attraction in the fall for the past 21 years.

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca