This winter there has been a lot of snowfall in the Colorado Mountains.   Everything is white and beautiful.   However, for the international snow sculpture competition, snow made at Breckenridge Ski Resort is used.   The snow is made with a specific ratio of snow to water, some of the best for sculpting.   This January was the 30th Anniversary of Snow Sculpture Champions.   Here we are in Breckenridge, Colorado.

Breckenridge festival 2020

This train is not part of the competition, but is snow glow art with light and sound, and sadly, operates only after dark.

Snow Glow Art, not in competition

We live less than 2 hours from here, and we will be home before dark.   Let’s look at some of this year’s snow sculptures.

Team Turkey. Puzzle Circle

Turkey sculpted this Puzzle Circle.   These creations are carved from a 20 ton block of snow that is 10 feet by 10 feet and 12 feet tall.   Team India won Artists Choice Award with Triumph Over Evil.

Team India. Triumph over Evil

This year 16 teams from the USA and around the world competed.  No power tools are allowed during the sculpting.   Many teams make and bring their own tools.   Just can’t find many snow sculpting tools in large stores.   Team Mongolia created Social.

Social by Team Mongolia

Notice the details in the hands, fingers and fingernails.   Amazing.   Team China completed Bride.

Bride by Team China

So intricate.   For environmental awareness, Teddy the Yeti is on display.

Teddy the Yeti

Zeb tries out this seating area.

Sit with Teddy

Nice, but a little chilly.    The small humans loved this bench.   Toyota sponsored this event.

Festival sponsored by Toyota

A very nice vehicle of snow.   Snow blocks were made the week before sculpting began.   Sculpting began Monday, January 20, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. and ended Friday, January 24 at 9:00 a.m.   That is when judging began.   Viewing continued through Wednesday, January 29 at 7:00 p.m.   The sculptures were taken down then.   This year was cold enough, but some years sculptures melt and fall early.   Breckenridge tries to prevent anyone from being injured by falling sculptures.  Unfortunately we are not showing all the team entries.   This post would just be too long, and it is rather long as it is.    All of the sculptures were award winning quality, but let’s look at those that did win.   Third place to USA Team Wisconsin.

Third place Winner. Duplicity of the Soul. Team USA Wisconsin

This is titled Duplicity of the Soul.   You must look from both sides.

Third place winner. Duplicity of the Soul. Team USA Wisconsin

Energy flows through and each person must choose how to live their life.   Second place to Team Great Britain.

Second place Winner. Nice to Meet You. Team Great Britain

Titled, Nice to Meet You, this should bring a smile to anyone that has ever owned a dog.   Or perhaps, full blown laughter.

Second Place Winner. Nice to Meet You. Team Great Britain

Again this is best viewed from two sides.   We will admit, we loved them all, but this from Great Britain is our favorite.   And first place to Team Mexico.

First place Winner. Greed. Team Mexico

Titled Greed.   We love these snow sculptures.   Remember that Breckenridge is also a great ski area.

Gondolas to transport skiers to top

The gondolas take skiers up the mountain.

Rocky Mountains of Breckenridge

And the mountains are beautiful, snowy and very tall.   Visit Breckenridge for snow sculptures, skiing or any of the other great festivals during the year.

Zeb the Duck is back!   The International Snow Sculpture Championships in Breckenridge, Colorado, one of my favorite festivals, was last weekend.   Let’s go look.

Let’s go see the snow sculptures!

This one did not win an award, but I loved it.

Mindful from Team Turkey

Team Turkey says the mind is an amazing machine.   When a man and a woman develop a relationship, they become connected at the deepest level and their minds work as one even when they are apart.   The bumps on the top are a zipper to put the two minds together.

Team Turkey’s Mindful. Other side

Here is the other side of this sculpture.   Even the pupils of the eyes are carved in snow.   These sculptures, carved from 25 ton, 12 foot tall blocks of snow were finished and judged Friday evening.   We visited them Monday.   And look what happened over the weekend.

Team USA Wisconsin. 3rd Place but now fallen

This creation from Team USA Wisconsin, A Dance Devine, collapsed after being awarded 3rd place.   This was three leaf like figures dancing within a vine structure.   At 9,600 feet (2,926 meters) above sea level the intense Colorado sun can be brutal on snow sculptures, but the sun with 30 degree (F) temperatures are delightful for human and duck spectators.   The Thinker crafted by Team China earned 2nd place this year.

Thinker. Created by Team China

The Thinker also won Kid’s Choice award.   The apple represents wisdom in the Bible and it represents gravity in Newton’s law.   In modern times it represents technology.   The orangutans represent humans.   This design means thinking is a necessary part of human evolution.  To enter the competition each team submits their design and a brief explanation of their sculpture.   We appreciate the help understanding everything the artists are trying to express in their sculptures.   First place went to Team Mongolia-Erdene.

Team Mongolia Erdene. Secret. First place winner

This is titled Secret.  Women talk about a lot of things.   But they sometimes save their secrets.   They save secrets and mystery in their minds.   It’s like a locked chest.

Team Mongolia Erdene. Secret

A side view of this creation.   Secret also won People’s Choice Award.  Glad this do not melt and fall.

The Artists’Choice Award was bestowed on Time.

Time by Team Mongolia Tserendash. Artists’ Choice Award winner

This sculpture by Team Mongolia-Tserendash was a favorite for me, Zeb the Duck.   Time is the most powerful thing in the world.   It is honest because no one is given more than 24 hours a day.  It is immutable because no one changes the rhythm between minutes, seconds, and doles.   It is forceful because no one can survive from death; even the smartest one, the strongest one, and the most beautiful one eventually gives up along the time that goes gradually and endlessly.   But, the humans use time in their own rhythms, in relatively different way.   How they use time develops who they are.   This 28th Annual International Snow Sculpture Championships was presented by Toyota.

Toyota. Cosponsor of event

And by Breckenridge Brewery.

Breckenridge Brewery. Co sponsor of event

You may remember from prior years here, that no power tools are allowed in the creation of these snow sculptures.   All hand tools, sometimes as small as a potato peeler, are used on these snow blocks.   So interesting to see and notice so many little details.  There was one more sculpture I want you to see.   Catch & Release by Team USA Breckenridge, Colorado.

USA Breckenridge. Catch & Release

It is about the adventure, not just the prize.   Taking a journey down to the river in pursuit of catching a fish is less than the whole story.   This fisherman says after the fight, you finally reach down to collect your prize, unhook your lure, smile at your accomplishment and then just turn around and release this magnificent award back to nature.   At the end of it you take home nothing more than a sense of relaxation, a picture and a few fish stories.   Catching and releasing; a way to ensure that the fish will be there the next time to strike the fly and create the next memory.

Team USA Breckenridge, CO Catch & Release

The fisherman is done for the day, and so am I, Zeb the Duck.   We hope you are exploring and enjoying your home town and our incredible world.

400 tons of snow??   Really?  And we are going to see it?   Back to Breckenridge, Colorado we happily view these entries for the 27th annual International Snow Sculpture Championships.

Breckenridge, Colorado

We love this event.   First place was awarded to Team China for Mermaid.

Team China

These mermaids look like they are underwater.   Second place belongs to Team Sweden.

Team Sweden

Titled:  4 (Ever) Wheels Reflection.   Team Sweden wrote  “This sculpture is a reflection of the car as a cultural tool and an extension of our bodies.   The car constitutes the duality of freedom and dependency.”    OK, so how did all this snow get here?   Breckenridge is a ski resort and they made the snow.   The City of Breckenridge hauled snow, in dump trucks, to the sculpturing area.   The snow, dumped into forms, is packed by humans jumping on it.   Each block of snow is 10’x10’x12′.   Each of the 16 blocks weighs 50,000 pounds.   That is 400 tons of snow!   Third place went to Team Mongolia for We are One Family.

Team Mongolia

This seems to be the front of the sculpture.   But, the back and sides were a bit different, and Zeb and Soapy want you to see this view also.

Team Mongolia

Also awarded is People’s Choice award.   Spectators vote by placing one dollar bills in the voting boxes in the Thaw Lounge.   This year was the first time there was a tie vote.   And, the two winners were Team Mongolia for We are One Family (also third place winner), and another Team Mongolia for Before It’s Too Late Protect Earth From Today!

Team Mongolia

Team Mongolia’s sign says  “This lizard on a human palm represents the intertwindedness of humans with nature.”   This was our favorite sculpture this year also.   We really liked all 16 of these entries.    Team Iceland’s, Ancestry In Ice was great.

Team Iceland

The Viking ship was perhaps the greatest technical and artistic achievement of its time, they say.   Team Italy names this STOP!

Team Italy

They believe our worst enemies are within ourselves:  They are our own fears.  Team Breckenridge, the host city, entered Life Saver.

Team Breckenridge

This is a tribute to the National Ski Patrol, established in 1938.   The National Ski Patrol provides eduction and emergency care and safety eduction.  They also are the main Search and Rescue group for the mountains.   We thank the over 28,000 members, serving over 650 patrols.   But not all snow was entered in the competition.   This one is for fun.

Just for fun

At first, kids could play and climb here, but then the weather got warmer, a little thawing, more freezing, and now it is covered with a layer of ice.   Still climb inside, but outside is too slippery now.  This year there is a new sponsor.

Sponsored by Toyota

Toyota sponsored this 27th International Snow Sculpture Championships.   For the competition, no power tools are allowed, only small hand tools.   The sculpting began Tuesday at noon and the ended Saturday at 9:00 a.m.   Then the judging begins.   Many teams work through the nights to finish these masterpieces.   But, remember this is a mountain town, a resort town, a ski area, and a great place to visit.   On main street we like this Colorado Store.

Breckenridge Main Street

And we especially love the benches made of old skis.   Breckenridge received a lot of snow the week before this competition.

Snow

Much of it is still here, in town and thankfully on the mountains.   Looks like it was windy also.

Crazy icicles

The icicles look like they were blown as they froze.      We love Breckenridge.   They have many festivals during the year, but it is fun even without festivals, any time of the year.   We hope you visit soon.