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Snow sculptors compete in Breckenridge to turn 25-ton blocks into bears, birds and more

A man in a red snow hat and black snow jacket and snowpants works outside with a hand tool to sculp the top of a snow sculpture that looks like a polar bear. Next to a smaller snow polar bear is a bigger snow polar bear extending its paw.
Breckenridge Tourism Office
A member from Team Mongolia carves their piece, "Battle for the Last Ice Island," featuring multiple bears on Jan. 22nd, 2025, in Breckenridge, Colo. Team Mongolia is a returning team and is one of 12 competitors at the event.

A temporary, yet spectacular art show is on display in the streets of Breckenridge, but the medium used by all the artists is the same: snow.

Sculptors have finished up their creations for this year’s International Snow Sculpture Championships in Breckenridge – and they’re much more impressive than the average snowman.

Teams work nonstop for 94 hours to carve and sculpt works of art out of 25-ton, 12-foot tall blocks of snow. That means working even in the arctic blast temperatures from the past weekend.

Five snow sculptures stand in a line from left to right. The first two are obscured by orange ladders, and the last four sculptures have people working on all sides of the sculptures. The first sculpture appears geometric, the second one looks like a dragon, the third one looks like two birds with their beaks touching, the fourth one has two triangles back to back but one is pointed up and one is pointed down, and the last one looks like vertical waves, almost like lettuce.
Breckenridge Tourism Office
From left to right, teams work on snow sculptures from Argentina, Wisconsin, Canada, Germany, and South Korea sit near downtown Breckenridge. Each team gets a 12-foot, 25-ton block of snow, but some teams choose to take some of their snow and add it on top to make the sculpture taller.
A white cloth with Korean text sits on a cream table. On top of the cloths are several hand saws and chisel tools, some with plastic handles and some with wooden ones.
Breckenridge Tourism Office
Sculpting tools from Team South Korea sit on a table. Many snow sculpting tools are custom creations, developed as these sculptors have honed their craft over the years.

“I think it was -8 degrees or so whenever we got to the blocks, and this morning, woke up, got to the parking lot to a balmy -16 degrees,” joked Tim West of Team Breckenridge, talking about the second day of carving. “The cold snap is real, I can tell you that. It’s very challenging at those temperatures.”

In the competition, there are a total of twelve teams. Two are from Wisconsin and one is from Breckenridge. The other nine come from around the world – like Argentina, India, Mexico, or South Korea – and they stay with host families in the town during the competition.

“We love to see multiple languages being spoken throughout the week,” Melissa Andrews with the Breckenridge Tourism Office said.

While it may sound surprising that warmer climate countries are competing in a snow event, Andrews said these competitors are artists through and through.

“They are sculpting in various materials, be that snow, sand or other wood and similar sculpting materials throughout the year,” she said. “So they actually have some really cool environments in which they can practice.”

The teams cannot use any kind of power tools. Andrews said she has seen teams with chicken wire, pickle forks and more. Some other teams, like West’s team, invent their own hand tools and get creative with what they can use.

A man in a brown beanie, a grey jacket and black snowpants kneels on the right side of the image on the ground in the snow. He is holding a snow circle no bigger than the size of a tire. Five kids that appear to be kindergarteners in colorful puffy jackets stand and watch as another kid around the same age takes a small hand shovel and drives it into the snow.
Breckenridge Tourism Office
A snow sculptor meets with local school children and allows them to try out one of his snow tools on a chunk of snow. The sculptures are in town, so any visitors are allowed to go up and see the sculptures as they are working on them and ask them questions.

“We use saws from 12 inches to, we have a saw that is seven feet long,” West said. “We use plane tools that could be like a cheese grater, all the way up to something that has like a nail plate on it.”

After teams are done carving, five judges from the art community will grade each piece based on technical skill, creativity and expressive impact. Then they will award gold, silver and bronze medals. The artists from every team will also pick an artists’ choice, and visitors can vote on a people’s choice. Team Mexico took home the gold last year.

A small model depicts Greek mythology character Icarus muscular and naked with his arms stretched out beside him. Behind his arms are wings and a big circle that goes around his whole body. It appears he is rising out of some clouds or clump at the bottom. In the background, sculptors work on bringing the model to life in the snow using tools, ladders and platforms to reach hard areas.
Breckenridge Tourism Office
Team Wisconsin-SnowOne's model of their piece, "The Ascent of Icarus", sits on a table near their sculpting area. Teams will use models as a reference for the larger-than-life version in the snow, and all teams are required to submit one before they can be approved to compete.

“They're looking at what they have accomplished in terms of being able to utilize snow in ways that are unexpected and surprising and impressive,” Andrews said, “as well as what story and what message they are telling, and what is that expression that they have brought to the viewers.”

The town has hosted the competition for more than three decades. Andrews loves how it brings everyone together.

“It is an amazing display of camaraderie and community in this global network of snow lovers,” she said. “Our Coloradans know and love this event, and they're coming out to see really such amazing feats of snow.”

This competition means a lot to West. When he moved to Breckenridge 20 years ago, he never had any experience crafting with snow. But a few years later, he heard of a competition in town called the Breck Snowflake Challenge – an event made by pro snow sculptors on Team Breckenridge that were looking to pass the torch to new team members. West ended up placing second in the competition, and he was asked to join the team.

Two sculptors stand next to a tall orange ladder on the left side of the image. On the right is a giant upside down triangle made out of snow. In the background are other snow sculptures.
Breckenridge Tourism Office
Team Breckenridge is known as the team for making solely lifelike sculptures, so this year they decided to combine lifelike and geometric concepts. Their sculpture, "Peak Performance" features an upside-down triangle on one side and a skier going down a mountain on the other.

“This was just a complete pastime, and now has become a passion,” he said. “The snow and the winter festival atmosphere, it gets in your blood. And so I knew right away when I moved here, this was just something I had to be involved in.”

A man in a black beanie and a black jacket with a skull/snowflake design works with a long wooden hand tool on sculpting a dragon face and head into a snow block. A large orange ladder sits in front of the design. Another sculptor works on the mouth of the dragon.
Breckenridge Tourism Office
Team Wisconsin-Snowblind shapes a dragon's head for their sculpture, "The Power of Transformation." Judges will assess the sculptures on skill, creativity and expressive impact.

This year, his team made a sculpture called “Peak Performance.” It’s a mixed design featuring a geometric, upside-down pyramid on one side and a lifelike skier going down a mountain on the other.

Even though his main job is running a fly fishing outfitter retail shop in town, West has been competing with Team Breckenridge now for 15 years. The team has been to competitions in Japan, Italy, France and other areas of the world. But he said it’s special to have an event like this in his backyard.

“You cannot be a part of this town, a community member, and not just fall in love instantly with this event,” he said. “It is the epitome of Breckenridge in my mind.”

Sculptures will be on display through next Wednesday. Visitors who come on Saturday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. will need to make a free reservation online in order to control crowds.

I'm the General Assignment Reporter and Back-Up Host for KUNC, here to keep you up-to-date on news in Northern Colorado — whether I'm out in the field or sitting in the host chair. From city climate policies, to businesses closing, to the creativity of Indigenous people, I'll research what is happening in your backyard and share those stories with you as you go about your day.
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