22nd Annual Snow Sculpture Championships – Technical Week

After their alms to Ullr, Breckenridge received abundant snow. Sixteen teams of snowsculpting artists from 12 countries have been selected to carve it up in the 22nd annual International Snow Sculpture Championships in Breckenridge  Jan. 24-28, 2012. Of the 35 countries invited to apply, teams selected include Argentina, Australia, Canada-Ontario, Canada-Quebec, Canada-Yukon, China, Finland, Germany, Latvia/Estonia, Mexico-Ulises, Spain, Switzerland, USA-Alaska, USA-Breckenridge, USA-Vermont and USA-Wisconsin-Franklin. Many of the 2012 artists have medaled at major snow sculpting events around the world.

Volunteers have been stomping snow into the snow block forms like crazy Siberian soldiers and now a force of snow sentinels are standing in the Riverwalk parking lot awaiting the creative endeavors of the snowflake artists. During the Breckenridge competition, each team creates an enormous work of art from these 12-foot-tall, 20-ton blocks of machine-made Colorado snow.

Artists achieve finished pieces after a total of 65 intense hours of work without the use of power tools, internal support structures or colorants – just the ingenuity of the sculptors and a medium that lends itself, if only temporarily, to the persuasion of hand tools. The free event gives rise to a temporary outdoor sculpture gallery in the center of downtown Breckenridge.

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“Winter travelers are often looking for free or low-cost activities off the slopes and the International Snow Sculpture Championships allows all ages to experience Breckenridge’s winter season for free,” said Sandy Metzger, events director for the Breckenridge Resort Chamber.

Snow carving in Breckenridge began as a local pastime during the town’s winter carnival – Ullr Fest – in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The founders of Breckenridge’s International Snow Sculpture Championships are still involved in the event, which is today attended annually by more than 30,000 people.

Breckenridge International Snow Sculpture Championships news facts

•  Sculpting week runs Jan. 24-28, 2012; sculptures remain on display through Feb. 5, 2012.

• Breckenridge Ski Resort makes the snow and the Town of Breckenridge Public Works department hauls it to the event site with dump trucks. With each of the starting blocks weighing in at approximately 40,000 pounds (two tons), that’s about 320 tons of snow.
• Using front-end loaders and a huge blower, snow is transferred from dump trucks into wooden molds. Five to 10 volunteers – snow stompers – climb into the block and stomp the snow to help pack it down. The process is repeated until the mold is full and packed into a full-size block.
• Snow carving in Breckenridge began as a local pastime during the town’s winter carnival – Ullr Fest – in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
• To reinvigorate the grassroots snow sculpting community, event founders in 2008 started the Breck Snowflake Challenge, an amateur snow sculpting competition that takes place during the holidays.

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~SummitSojourns

Featured Photo Courtesy of the Breckenridge Resort Chamber and Carl Scofield