The International Snow Sculpture Championship has returned to Breckenridge after a 2-year hiatus. The 30-year long tradition is wrapping up this week with free admission to view the Sculptures.ย
Rob Neyland began the tradition back in 1980 as a way to showcase human creativity through snow sculpting. Teams are expected to bring a kind of creativity to the snow that is far past the common snowman.ย
Artists began sculpting their 12ft, 25-ton snow block last week, on January 24. Nine teams were carefully selected back in August. Each team was chosen based on project proposals submitted ahead of the competition. The teams come from all over the world: Ecuador, Mexico, Germany, New York, Wisconsin, and here in Colorado.ย
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After working endlessly the past 5 days and accumulating around 94 hours of labor, their snow sculptures are finally completed. Each sculpture is uniquely designed by a team of artists and will be judged. Many are very abstract and others are a representation of society, such as a human hand reaching out to a robot. On Saturday, January 29, a champion is chosen.
The sculptures are on display in a temporary outdoor gallery along Breckenridgeโs Riverwalk. The Grand Illumination takes place from 4:30-7:00 when sculptures are lit up. Further bringing them to life.ย