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For snow sculptors, a forecast of cold is welcome news

Video

Snow Sculpting Championship, 2009

Highlights from the 2009 U.S. Nationals Snow Sculpting Competition in Lake Geneva, Wis. Click to play

Crowds flock to Lake Geneva to watch teams from around the country take part in the U.S. Nationals Snow Sculpting competition. File photo.

LAKE GENEVA -- As this story is being typed on a drizzly Sunday afternoon, the snow outside is melting faster than the Wicked Witch of the West in a Jacuzzi. While some might cheer this news like relieved Munchkins, this soggy development makes others nervous.

Luke Dehtiar is definitely in the “not pleased” category. The Michigan native has a vested interest in the weather staying cold. Very cold. Freezing cold, in fact.

“We were certainly struggling last year when they were melting as we were carving,” he said. “Let’s hope it gets colder. Let’s hope for good carving conditions.

“If it’s warm, it’s like trying to carve mashed potatoes.”

The carving conditions Dehtiar refers to are vital to the United States Nationals Snow Sculpting Competition, hosted right here in our neck of the woods.

Move over Vancouver; you aren’t the only ones handing out medals this winter. On Monday, the competition’s organizers will begin erecting 9-foot blocks of snow in Riviera Park in Lake Geneva. The actual sculpting of these frozen mediums gets under way Wednesday and ends at 11 a.m. Feb. 6. The public can watch art emerge from the nothingness of white from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. during the three days of sculpting.

Ensuring there will be enough snow for the elite, three-person teams to work with isn’t a problem.

The snow, according to Mary Rokel of the Lake Geneva Chamber of Commerce, is provided by Grand Geneva Resort & Spa’s Mountain Top ski facility.

Still, cold temperatures help the carvers, who come from around the country.

The competition is the centerpiece of Lake Geneva’s annual Winterfest celebration, a festival of family and fun along the banks of Geneva Lake. Weekend activities include horse-drawn carriage rides, helicopter rides, children’s entertainment in the famed Riviera Ballroom, a “meltdown” sale in the town’s downtown business district and a winter carnival at Grand Geneva Resort & Spa’s downhill ski facility.

The sculpting teams collectively put in more than 120 hours each to create intricate, gravity-defying sculptures from three ton, 9-foot-high cylinders of snow. The sculptors, men and women of all ages and from all walks of life, relish the opportunity to work side-by-side with the best in the business, each hoping to be crowned national champion.

Read the full story in the e-edition of Walworth County Sunday, PAGE 16A.