Just a snowball’s throw from St. Adolphe along Highway 200, a new world record is taking shape. Inspired by the popularity of their fall corn maze, A Maze in Corn is working hard at stretching out their season by creating one of the most spectacular winter playgrounds in the world, including a potentially world-record-shattering snow maze.
Clint Masse of A Maze in Corn and Amazing Ziplines rarely sits still. Already this past summer, plans were unfolding in his head for a winter fun park that would see families return to his acreage for some cold weather adventure. What he didn’t realize at the time was the scope of what he would embark on.
“We had a poor weather fall, so that was a tough one to take,” says Masse. “So, I thought we could extend our season. I think, as a customer, going to a snow maze would be great, but a Guinness World Record snow maze.”
Masse says, in planning the snow maze, one of his employees suggested going after the world record in keeping with the theme they’d incorporated into the previous season’s corn maze. This past fall, maze goers were challenged to locate stations dedicated to Guinness World Records held by Manitobans. This winter, Masse hopes to become one of those record holders.
In his go-big-or-go-home style, Masse set out to determine what he’d need to accomplish to compete with past Guinness record holders in Thunder Bay, Ontario, and Poland. Then he designed a maze that was bigger than both of them.
“I think mine’s more intricately designed, and [there’s] more expense [involved],” says Masse. “Ours is much neater and tidier.”
From there, he contacted the people at Guinness and set the ball in motion.
“You can wait six months for them to accept your application or you can pay them $700 and they review it right away,” Masse says, who opted to pay the fee. “We have the confirmation letter that they’ve accepted us. [There’s] no guarantees of course. If everyone sees and hears how big we’re making it, then they could start making another one that’s bigger.”
Along with some hired help, Masse set to work, employing his snow-making machine which will draw from the bordering Seine River diversion to help compensate for the lack of snow on the ground. With the use of plywood forms, similar to pouring concrete, the team will be erecting 4,200 feet of two-foot-thick snow walls, all six and a half feet high.
In the end, he projects 32,000 to 35,000 square feet of maze—and it’s being built right now, at a rate of 200 feet per day.
“We’re still just trying to get a rhythm, but once we do maybe we’ll get to 300 feet per day,” adds Masse. This, of course, assumes that weather is on their side. “Rain would be really bad and, of course, minus 30 wouldn’t make it as fun, but also crazy winds can blow everything around.”
When it’s complete, Masse has the option of paying someone from Guinness to come out and judge the behemoth structure or he can submit verifying pictures and documents signed by a Notary Public. To save money, he’ll opt for the second. He expects to hear from Guinness in mid-February.
“They don’t give us a nickel,” Masse muses in response to prize winnings. “It’s just something that Winnipeg and area can be proud of.”
And somewhere amidst this hectic pace, Masse is planning to expand his winter wonderland beyond a world-record maze to include a 40-foot snow slide, an area where children can build snow forts with pre-made snow blocks, and sleigh rides led by a team of Clydesdale horses.
He jokes that whether or not they win the Guinness World Record, he’ll likely have some toques and T-shirts made to commemorate the event. Opening day for the winter fun park is anticipated for January 2, fingers crossed.
