# "World Ice Art Championships", in Fairbanks, Alaska



## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

I took a trip this past weekend to Fairbanks, Alaska for a number of reasons, but one of the things I did, was to visit the 2009 edition of the "World Ice Art Championships" , an ice-carving competition that attracts teams from around the globe, and is hailed to be the finest found anywhere in the world. Ice carving was added as an event to the Winter Olympics a number of years ago, and this is the premier qualifier for American & Canadian ice carvers. Fairbanks, Alaska, has the best, clearest ice found anywhere in the world for this, and use the biggest blocks of ice of any competition anywhere. The main categories are single-block, and muti-block entries, and the single blocks are blocks of ice 3'x5'x8' tall, and weigh approx 25 tons each. Special ice cutting machines & forklifts have been designed just for this event. All the ice is taken from local gravel pits, and because of the water quality, clarity, and the lack of cracking because of the extreme temps that this water freezes, it provides a quality of ice found no where else, according to the carvers themselves. It is so clear that a newspaper can be read thru a 4 foot block of this ice,....


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

And since 2009 is the 50th anniversary of statehood for Alaska, there was a strong emphasis on celebrating the half-century birthday of Alaska as the 49th state admitted to the US,... one display was carved with William Egan, the first governor of the state, on the left, and our current governor, Sarah Palin on the right.


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

I took a ton of pictures, (over 100), and I don't know how many I'll post, but for sure, none of them do justice to any of the carvings,... there were a lot of smaller "play areas" for the kids,... from ice mazes to ice slides of all types,....


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

Temps are still plenty cold (well below zero at night), so the carvings are holding up real good. I only took pictures of a few of the single-block entries, but here's a sample of what's been done this year,... including a few odd-ball things scattered all over the place, such as this real-working ice phone booth,...


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

All the entries in the competition were named, but I can't possibly remember them all,... but the first one here was called "Northern Lights",... the second is "Moonlight Sonata"


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

The ice park is in an area of town that has a lot of trees left, to help provide shade for the carvings, as just sunlight, even when still below zero, can erode some the the fine detail on these exibits,... these first section of pictures have all been carved from a single block of ice,... and the carvers have 60 hours to complete their work,....


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

And many exhibits have large black tarps hung to further help keep sunlight off the carvings,.... this first one is 2 muskoxen standing on top of each other, and the 2nd is "Reunion", done by a Chinese group.


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

And every exhibit also has multi-colored flood lights pointed at them from various positions, which make these carvings at night a real spectacle to behold,.... but pictures taken at night just don't turn out like I wish they would,... here's a T-Rex, and a skateboarder,...


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

A small dozer with plow blade, and something from a California group,... (who knows what that is,..... )


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

Sometimes it helped to take several pictures from slightly different angles to help get the 3-D effect of how intricante some of these carvings are,... this is some goddess riding a cat-dragon,.... remember, this is carved from a single block of ice,... such a shame that it will soon turn into a puddle of water,...


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

"Escaping Death",... an eagle head, with rabbits running the other way,.... and "Conquering Hunger", some type of eagle-demon catching a salmon,....


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

"Eternal Flame" (French),.... and "Tranquillity",... (Thailand)


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

This one was really cool.... a kingfisher at the moment of catching a small fish,.... with water still running off the tips of it's wings, etc..... (Japanese)


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

"The tree of Life" (USA),..... and the "Spirit of Spring" (Chinese)


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

"Spring",.... (Great Britain) and "Evolution",..... (Mongolia)


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

"Invitation to Life" (Chinese), and "Adam & Eve" (Russia)


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

I have a ton more, but now I'll show the multi-block exhibits,.... these are the "featured" exhibits,... they can have a team of up to 4 members and up to 12 blocks of ice, and each team has 110 hours to complete their work.

First one is "Finder's Keeper's"... 2 eagles fighting over a fish.

Second one is "Do I feel Lucky?" A guy temping an alligator with a couple fish.


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

This one is called "Sea Life".... and features a marlin breaching. These can be as high as 25 feet tall! (it was hard to get this next group in the view-finder of the camera, because they were so large)


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

This was really cool too,... "They Call Her Spirit" (Romania),.... features 3 huge stallions,....


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

Mythology seems to be a big hit with ice carvers every year,... "Guardian Angel" (USA)


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

"Sourdough Band" (Chinese),.... a couple bears, a walrus, a seal & a moose makin' it happen,....


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

Other misc exhibits,.....


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

Then we have the top 3 winning entries,.... (drum roll please,........)

In 3rd place overall, is "King Kong",.... this was intimidating just to stand next to,... 25 ft high,... he's standing on top of sky-scrapers, with his "beauty" held carefully in his lower hand, with a crushed airplane in his raised fist, with another flying by,.... his wrists & ankles are complete with shackles/broken chains,... an amazing ice sculpture!


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

In 2nd place,... an entry called "Stairway to Heaven",... a majestic crucifix, with angels standing guard on both sides,... with a 10-step staircase leading up to it, with each of the 10 commandments written on each step, starting with the first one at the top,.... another towering exhibit with amazing art,... :salute:


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## Alaska Boss (Oct 8, 2005)

And finally,.... the overall winner,... from a team from Japan,... an exhibit called "White Fang",.... an unbelievable display of 3 wolves about to take on a huge bull caribou,... and someone won't live to tell about it,.... it shows their original drawing on paper that they used as a guide,... these artists/carvers almost defy gravity with the way they pose their carvings,... almost like they are stopped in mid-air, yet ice is extremely heavy. It's too bad that more folks can't see these in real life,... the talent that some people have is truly amazing!! :waving::waving:


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## mgg1005 (Dec 12, 2008)

That is awesome. Amazing what people can do with ice!


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## heavyiron (Dec 7, 2007)

Wow. Thanks for sharing. Those are incredible!


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## deere615 (Jun 1, 2007)

those are crazy they have to take so much work


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## WingPlow (Jun 18, 2007)

i can only imagine what those looked like in person

the ability of people in amazing


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## albhb3 (Dec 18, 2007)

I cant make the damn ice candle holders that you fill up water and put in the freezer... I think it would piss me off and I would be sure to break it


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