From 'corny' idea to Guinness record? Manitoba man wants to craft world's biggest snow maze
A Maze In Corn operator's planned snow maze would be 1 kilometre long, cover 4,200 square feet
Clint Masse is on a mission this winter season — to put St. Adolphe, Man., on the global stage.
To do that, the long time corn-maze operator is changing gears this year in an attempt to build his first snow maze — and not just any snow maze, but one that will be the largest in the world.
The planned maze, if completed would run one kilometre long and cover nearly 400 square metres (or about 4,200 square feet).
"It just seemed like it was attainable. There was a huge stretch, but if you're gonna swing, let's swing for the bleachers," said Masse, owner of A Maze in Corn near St. Adolphe, about 25 kilometres south of Winnipeg.
The idea came to Masse after a friend brought up the Thunder Bay, Ont., snow maze, which was recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records in 2015.
"We had this snow-making equipment from another project. So, we're looking at the math and we think it's doable," sais Masse.
"There is a chance that we can actually build this. We went to work, designed it up and we just jumped in with both feet."
He's trying to hit a home run with his first at-bat, but the lack of snow so far this season is among the curve balls thrown his way, causing the maze's completion day to be pushed back.
"There's all kinds of things when you're working in winter with water, lots of challenges. Mother Nature is not throwing anything into the party right now. We don't have any snow on this property."
'Our absolute worst season'
The project comes with a hefty price tag of $50,000 for Masse, who is coming off his worst year in the business since opening the corn maze.
"We're always at the mercy of the weather," said Masse. "This is our 21st season of the corn maze. This just happened to be our absolute worst season."
The lack of business was not enough to slow him down, but rather incited his desire to recoup the losses this winter.
"We just thought, we're not getting out of the corn maze or the weather business, so you just need a bigger sample. You need more days. Now we're going into winter."
He's planning to build a snow hill adjacent to the snow maze, where kids can climb and slide.
Going forward, he hopes the maze will become a Christmas experience for families.
Masse plans to provide more escape exits in his snow maze than in the corn maze, and will have staff monitoring from above as temperatures continue to drop.
"The biggest difference, of course, is the size, the density of a maze," he said.
"You need a lot of territory to make a reasonable maze in corn, because the walls … are two feet wide."
The planned completion date is the start of the new year, but with a little co-operation from the weather, Masse hopes it might be ready by Christmas Day.
