Snow Sculptures - Amazing Photo Gallery

Have you ever visited some of the Ice and Snow Sculpture Festivals?

If you have, then you know that some things are almost unbelievable even if you see them right in front of you. Just look at a picture of ice and snow sculptures: can you believe your eyes???

If you haven't seen these, enjoy the picture gallery on this hub and think about the next travel place you'll visit!

Ice sculpture is abstract or realistic in form, functional or decorative, made of ice (raw material). Carefully selected and free of impurities (ideal carving ice is made from pure, clean water), clear ice is mostly the result of slow freezing allowed by certain machines and processes which produce clear block of ice looking like snow. Some ice carvers use colored ice blocks produced by adding dyes into the ice, or the combination of clear and colored ice to accomplish a certain effect. The quickness of sculpting depends on the temperature of the environment. If the environment isn't cold, the sculptor might spend ten minutes to complete a sculpture (assuming he/she uses razor-sharp chisels specifically designed for cutting ice and power tools like chainsaws and specialty bits fitted to a die grinder).

Snow sculptures are forms similar to sand sculptures or ice sculptures. They are built outdoors as an art performance, often in the full view of spectators. The materials and tools differ widely (shovels, hatchets, saws). Usually, they are carved out of a single block of snow (approximately 6 to 15 feet on the sides and weighing about 20 to 30 tons). The snow is either artificially produced or collected from the ground after a snowfall and then densely packed into a form.

This art form is traditionally taught in culinary schools. Some large restaurants or hotels use ice sculptures to decorate the table for a special dinner party. A popular theme for a wedding party are two swans representing the married couple.

The lifetime of ice and snow sculptures is determined by the temperature of its environment. It can last from mere minutes to months.

The most famous Ice and Snow Sculpture festivals are:

• Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival, China
  
• The Sapporo Snow Festival, Japan
  
• The World Ice Art Championships, Alaska
  
• The International Snow and Ice Sculpture Festival "Ice, Snow, and Fire, Russia
• The Quebec Winter Carnival, Canada
  

Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival has been held since 1963 in Harbin (People's Republic of China, Northeast China). The Cultural Revolution interrupted the festival until it was resumed in 1985. This place is one of the biggest sources of ice and snow culture in the world, directly influenced by the cold winter wind from Siberia. The average temperature in winter time is -16.8 degrees Celsius but it can fall to -38.1 degrees.

The festival starts on January 5th and lasts one month. The exhibits sometimes open earlier and stay longer, depending on the weather. Ice sculptures made in previous years include: lanterns, slippery dips or ice slides, figures including animals, people and mythical creatures, buildings and monuments of different architectural types and styles. The decoration technology ranges from the modern (using lasers) to traditional (with ice lanterns).

The famous Sapporo Snow Festival has been held in Sapporo (Japan) since 1950. Six local high school students built six snow statues in Odori Park, and in 1955, the Japan Self-Defense Forces (Makomanai base) built the first massive snow sculptures. The 58th Festival (in 2007) was visited by cca. two million people who were anxious to see the hundreds of snow statues and ice sculptures. Today, the festival is held over seven days in February, the main sites currently being Tsudome, Odori Park (International Snow Sculpture Contest since 1974) and Susukino. The total number of statues displayed is around 400.

• The Quebec Winter Carnival or Carnaval de Québec is a winter carnival taking place in Quebec City (Quebec, Canada) every year. The festival starts on January 29th and lasts 17 days.
• The World Ice Art Championships is an ice sculpting contest in Fairbanks, Alaska attended by more than 100 sculptors from 30 different countries every year.
• The International Snow and Ice Sculpture Festival "Ice, Snow, and Fire" has been held since 1995, Perm, Russia (Gorky Amusement Park).

The above ice and snow sculptures are the work of many talented sculptors and carvers and they're very hard to make. People need knowledge, adequate tools and machines and a lot of practice to do something similar. But, judging from the picture on the right taken somewhere on the streets, some people are full of ideas of how to make less quality sculptures, but interesting and funny ones! I would have never thought of something like that! :-)

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