Colorado and Hawaii. Not much in common, right? Different temperatures, altitudes, humidity, precipitation and wind- yet both have recent examples of the incredible strength of our engineered yurts.
Experience over the years has helped us to build a yurt that will stand up to whatever Mother Nature can dish out. We work with customers in all climates, learning and changing to make sure our yurts stand strong. We work with the best engineers and use the strongest materials. While we have confidence in our engineering numbers, we always love real-world stories.
First, let’s talk about this past winter in Colorado. Snow, snow and more snow. On Red Mountain Pass, it just kept piling up. The roads were closed for weeks because of avalanche danger. Two customers sent us incredible photos when they finally got in to check on their backcountry yurts.
San Juan Mountain Guides customers ski some of the most badass terrain in the world. This year they had too much snow, and were forced to close operations most of February while snow piled up and access was restricted. When they finally got into the backcountry, it was by helicopter. Looking down on the usually-familiar scene, they realized their 30’ Alpine Winter Stout yurt was completely buried. They started clearing snow, shooting this photo after they had cleared the roof. After much work, they uncovered the yurt- and reported it survived. Intact. Nate Disser, owner of SJMG says, “It took us a while to find the yurt under all that snow! Once we got it uncovered, we were thrilled to see it standing strong.”
In the same area, Drew and Heather have enjoyed their 20’ Colorado Yurt (with Full Snow & Wind load package) for 11 years. In that time, it has been completely buried in snow twice. Most dramatically this winter, they found the yurt by the “bump” of the dome and the stove pipe. After digging and digging and digging… they got their little yurt uncovered and it was unscathed. Heather says, simply, “We love our yurt.”
Mother Nature had a whole range of craziness for the people of Hawaii last year. Earthquake after earthquake, followed by volcanic eruptions for weeks, then a near miss hurricane. Customer, Rick, sent this feedback: “Best yurts out there. Ordered mine over year ago and it came to big island Hawaii. Set it up in the spring, then the eruption happened a few miles away and the goddess Pele threw all kinds of stuff at it. It’s still as beautiful as ever! It successfully went through a 6.9 magnitude earthquake for 21 seconds. With dozens of earthquakes for many months, she hasn’t moved an inch. Love my yurt.”
Whether you’re buying a Colorado Yurt for high mountains, windy prairie, heavy forest or the wet tropics, rest assured you’re getting the strongest yurt made. We not only have the structural calculations to prove it, we also have incredible stories to back it up.