Environment
Contest: Predict the Death Date of the Big Brown Mountain

About a month ago, my fellow blogTO writer and photographer Joseph documented the strange winter phenomenon that is urban snow mountain making.
I suppose a lot happens in over four weeks time, because the massive snow mountain near Kipling station has melted down a bit but more surprisingly yet is that it's undergone a major colour change from white to dark brown. And this isn't an April Fool's joke.
That's right - the brown heap depicted above, that looks like a giant mound of soil is actually nasty, dirty snow that's been collected from locations in and around the west end of Toronto.
As you can see here, the thing is still huge. I put it at about 50 feet tall at its highest point, and have estimated it's area on this Google map.
To see the thing in its full glory, check out these two panoramic stitches:
- panoramic 1
- panoramic 2
Just for fun, let's see who can predict the date (without going over) when the complete melt of this big brown mountain occurs. I'm going to throw out a (totally uneducated) guess of May 8th.
Make a comment below, stating the date at which you think the mountain will see its final day.
I'll head over there once a week to check up on things, and as it gets smaller and the weather warmer I may visit it more frequently so as to not miss the final moment of the snow mountain's existence. I'll let you all know when it happens, and announce the winner.
Winner gets bragging rights and the glowing admiration of your fellow blogTO readers.
April 13th - UPDATE:
It's still there, and still huge.
April 24th - UPDATE:
It's still there, and still huge. It barely looks any smaller than it was in the photos above, taken on April 1st!


Discussion
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I'd like to know the answer.
There are also a couple of bins nearby that presumably are used to pull off more substantial solids as they reveal themselves (shopping carts, car parts, and the like).
Will the layer of dirt speed or slow the melt?
I imagine the brown residue will speed up the melting process? Since the darker colour will absorb more light/heat?
A mountain that big will take a long time to melt. Mid-June is a good guess. Back in the day, ice blocks covered with sawdust for insulation were the cooling system of choice...
I wonder how many pennies are in there.
And maybe we should run a separate contest to see who comes closest to predicting how much change (coins) is in the heap ;)
I wonder how many cigarette butts are in there. Dirty smokers. :-)
LOL. I was wondering how long that would take for that to be referenced.
@ GMD
June 28th?! No way!
I can't see it lasting through the month of May.
All the rain we'll probably get will kill it faster.
June 12.
Back in 1999 (yes after those massive January snowstorms) the snow mountain down on Unwin Ave. near Cherry beach survived into August. Yep, all that dirt acts like a Thermos to keep the cold stuff cold.
But I don't think the dirt will insulate... it's a dark colour, so it'll trap the heat from the sun and warm up the snow/dirt clump of... ummm... goodness or doom? I can't decide yet.
but man that things HUGE!