More ice sculptures

[Blue_In_AK]

Here are a few more shots of the ice sculptures.

These first two are from the top of the J.C. Penney parking garage, just because I like the view. I used to work in that glass building on the right, on the 16th floor. We had a great view from up there, but it was a bit unnerving during earthquakes. The time here is about quarter to 12:00.

[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

Kids love to play on this ice train
[IMG][/IMG]

This sphere was completely hollow. I'm not sure how they did it...maybe with a balloon.
[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

It's kind of hard to see in this picture, but that's an oyster with a pearl in the foreground.
[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

My husband on ice.
[IMG][/IMG]

[IMG][/IMG]

[Solly Mack]

1. Too cool!

[Pugee]

2. Beautiful!

Thanks for sharing these!

[JohnnyRingo]

3. Play on the ice train?

I always wondered how people enure themselves to ice fishing. There's one way to spot a future ice angler.

[Speck Tater]

4. Very nice. That first picture looks like a real city!

[Blue_In_AK]

5. Are you casting asparagus on my hometown's citiness?

Shame on you.

[kardonb]

8. real city

it is a real city , namely Anchorage . Love that place , it has a downtown that is alive , even in winter .

[Speck Tater]

9. You mean it's NOT an ice scuplture!

[Blue_In_AK]

17. Yeah, I just realized that's what you were saying.

A city, not an ice sculpture ... although at times the difference isn't readily apparent.

[Blue_In_AK]

18. Anchorage thanks you.

. I love it here, too. I've been here since spring 1975.

[Mira]

6. What a great photo - that husband shot!

These sculptures are such a treat to see I appreciate being able to do so in a relatively warm room.

[NV Whino]

7. Those are wonderful

Ice sculptures never fail to amaze me.

[WillyT]

10. You Probably Don't Want To Use The Words... "My husband on ice." On the Internet...

Just sayin...





Beautiful photos, Blue !!!

[Blue_In_AK]

11. Even with the smiley face?

[WillyT]

12. LOL !!!

[Initech]

13. That ice train is a definite win!

[Arctic Dave]

14. It needs to stay cold for another 5 days until I get home.

Looks beautiful in town!

[Blue_In_AK]

15. They're predicting

39-40 for Sunday and Monday. Will you be here by then?

[Arctic Dave]

16. Monday night.

Might down there when I get in.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

19. Where do you harvest your ice? It's really clear!

Those are great photos! Carving ice -- especially in such detail -- is not easy. Anchorage has some talented artists.

I took part in the World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks http://www.icealaska.com many years ago. It was fun but c-o-l-d (minus 20 to 30) at night. The ice was harvested from a gravel pit next to the ice park, and because there was no vegetable matter in the water the blocks were crystal clear -- like the one your husband is looking through.

There were two competitions: the single block contest, where teams of two had 60 hours to turn a 5ft x 8ft x 3ft block weighing about 7,800 lbs. into something wonderful or playful, like the sculptures in your pics.

There was also a multiple block competition where teams of 4 persons had 10 blocks, each measuring 4ft x 6ft x 3.3ft. --about 46,000 pounds of ice total -- to work with. The teams have 192 hours -- 9 am Sunday to 9 pm Friday -- to create their masterpieces. I was on one of these teams with three Russians, which was interesting since neither spoke the other's language. Lots of hand gestures got us through the week. We used a variety of tools -- forklifts, chainsaws, chisels, blowtorches and bare hands -- to create a 25 ft. high abstract butterfly emerging from its chrysalis. We put in about 14 hours a day and completed the sculpture with a couple of hours to spare, giving us time to stand around drinking vodka and watching the other teams frantically trying to finish their sculptures before the clock ran out. We won our category, which was a bonus to a unique experience.

Like above, one competitor did an empty sphere; the difference was that his was big enough that he hollowed it out by climbing inside!

Throughout the winter in Fairbanks ice sculptures would show up all over town. Some were sponsored by merchants -- a giant tooth in front of a dentist's office, a dog sitting patiently beside the front door of a vet's office. Others, like those in the OP, just appeared randomly and whimsically in parks and on street corners throughout town. While I never saw a train -- which is great! -- there were a number of other sculptures for children to play on. At the Ice Park soldiers from nearby Fort Wainwright created a gigantic mastadon with a long slide down its back for the young and young at heart.

When spring thaw came, the sculptures would melt and their water would return to the gravel pit, only to reappear in new and different works of art the following winter. It was really quite magical.

I live in the desert now, and while I don't miss the sub-zero Alaskan winters (it's 50 degrees here and minus 15 degrees in Fairbanks right now), I do long for the ice competition, sled dog races, auroras and good friendships we made.

Thanks for sharing the photos and bringing back so many good memories.

[Blue_In_AK]

20. I'm not sure where they get the ice,

and I can't seem to find it on line anywhere. Maybe Eklutna Lake?

We've been to the Fairbanks ice competition a few times in the past. It's really phenomenal with a lot more entries than our little competition down here. I remember the first year after Susan Butcher passed away they had a huge, bigger than life-size, carving of her on her sled with the dogs running in front and her braids flying in the wind. It was an amazing piece of work. No doubt at all who it was a depiction of.

You must be very talented.

[Alameda]

21. I knew a woman in NYC who worked in speakeasies posing on ice sculpture

...during prohibition. It was the late 70's when I met her, by that time she had full body arthritis, and could hardly move at all.

She had gone to NYC in the hopes of being a famous opera singer.

When ever I ice sculpture she comes to my mind. When I met her she was 94 years old.

I was working with an organization called Village Visiting Neighbors. I visited home bound senior women. They lived in walk ups, but couldn't walk down or up anymore. I would just go visit and provide some socialization. It was very interesting, and very sad.

[Blue_In_AK]

22. I did a little volunteering with some very old folks

when I was in college back in the '60s. My favorite old lady sounded kind of like yours...she was so old that she would hold her head up with her thumb, but, boy, did she have some stories.

[Alameda]

25. Yes, we have tend to forget they were once young...that is until you start getting there yourself

........but but....I'm really only 21 under all the dust." LOL

[LeftInTX]

23. Cool photos and sculptures, but can't help but notice

the tree with the leaves in the 5th picture

[Blue_In_AK]

24. That's a mountain ash.

And what you're seeing is mostly berries, although they do tend to hold onto their leaves even after they've turned.

[samsingh]

26. there's something very pure about ice and snow