Wilson: Along the route, they were treated to beautiful clear blue skies and snow-capped peaks. Be sure to check out the video above on the link showing how this event unfolds, from showing those 20 ft. tall enormous blocks of ice being turned into massive artistic creations in just a few days. Mum’s only regret sharing the video is she couldn’t ditch the ad but luckily you can skip it quickly. That video is from last year but it’ll still give you a sense of what happens. She didn’t find a video for this year by the time we published.
Elsa: I guess it’s quite the deal getting ready for it. Four days of carving and then four days for the public to view. Pretty cool, eh, House Pony?
Wilson: Right you are, Ninja! Mum had a hard time winnowing down the countless pics she took there. But let me first set the stage and explain a little about Breckenridge, a mountain town located in Summit County about 80 miles west of Denver with an altitude of 9,600 ft. above sea level. It started out as a mining camp in 1859. Then in 1961, skiing was introduced and, well, the rest is history. Let’s sniff around, shall we?
Elsa: Yes, yes…let’s snoop and sniff. Here’s a bit of the downtown area. Followed by the bridge where they made their way to the event site. A pic of an old cabin turned into a restaurant follows. And those icicles…holy yikes!
Wilson: Nice, sister. Now let’s see some of the actual ice sculptures. This was one of the first sculptures to greet you.
Wilson: One of mom’s favorites was that dragon. Considering the Chinese Lunar New Year was celebrated this week, she thought it was quite timely.
Elsa: Oooh, ahhhhh. Those are some pretty amazing sculptures. Mom took a pic from way back so you could get a sense of the scale of these things. {head shaking} Talk about impressive! Notice how small people are compared to them.
Wilson: Finally something bigger than me. Heh, heh.
Elsa: Oh get over yourself, dude. This next one was Mom’s favorite and it took silver.
Wilson: Here is the massive bear entry from the team from Mongolia. It makes a statement about the impact of climate change and how it’s affecting nature. Against that gorgeous blue sky, it was quite impressive and hopefully activates people to do something to help out these beautiful creatures whose habitat is constantly being threatened.
Elsa: But the winner…drum roll please was the entry from Team Germany. I know Mom’s German and all, but even she said “meh.” It was created with lots of precision though.
Elsa: Not my favorite but they failed to ask me to be a judge. Their loss.
Wilson: Mum took so many photos at this event that didn’t make this post. With 12 teams, it was hard to show them all and chose the best of the best. All in all it was quite the day. As the shadows started getting longer from the nearby mountain, Mum and her friend decided to try and make a quick exit before all the skiers began to clear out and head home. Both of them were surprised at the sheer number of people on a Tuesday afternoon. But with decent snow and almost spring like conditions on a gorgeous day, I guess everyone decided to call in sick (or maybe even call in too well to go to work). Mum’s city life makes her forget just how many people love getting away to the mountains. Unfortunately driving back on I-70 was a quick reminder of just how many there are out on the roadways.
Elsa: Thanks for sharing these striking images, House Pony. So what’s on your weekend agenda?
Wilson: Give that our temps will likely reach 60ºF (15C) today and tomorrow, we hope it will involve lots of outside sniffing. Hopefully we’ll get several days of pleasant weather. Whatever you do, we hope you have a fantastic weekend. Make sure you get outside to experience all that Nature offers. There’s always some beauty to be found in the season of drab if you just look around.
Live, love, bark! 🐾