World Ice Art Championships, Part 2

(by Leslie)

The first competition at the Fairbanks ice sculpting competition is the single-block event. Teams of two people get one 3’ x 5’ x 8’ ice block, and have 60 hours to complete their piece. Robin and I stopped by to see their progress on the last afternoon before the deadline (last Thursday).

Competitors cut their blocks into pieces, and then carve and “glue” (by melting) them back together to make awe-inspiring creations.

you can see the seams in the wings in this one

(the supporting board will be taken away right before the judging)

As you can see in this next shot, a wide variety of tools are used: saws, drills, sanders, files, blowers...

A close-up of some detail work:

I asked this guy if his piece was meant to be Tintin’s rocket, but he had never heard of Tintin, so it was an independent idea:

This alien walking a poodle was Robin’s favorite. Creepy, but cool, she said:

Here’s another close-up photo, showing the “snow” created by the shaving of the ice:

This abstract piece was one of my favorites:

Check out the close-up of the left “wing” of the last photo. I saw him melt the corner of the cube on a hot plate and then “glue” it on.

Robin and I bought season passes to the Ice Park, and will be returning every few days. They light the sculptures up with colored gels at night, which is really boss. I’ll be sure to post some photos of that. And the multi-block competition is coming up next. So stay tuned!