Fun With Ice

I ran across an article the other day about a man up in Alaska who, with his family (seven kids!), builds a giant snowman in his front yard. In years past, the snowman has reached in excess of 15 feet tall. I think it's nothing short of awesome, but apparently his neighbors disagree and he received a cease-and-desist order from the city when he started building the base of the one for this year. Here's the news article about it:

Giant snowman rises again in Alaska — mysteriously

Somehow, a giant 25 (!) foot snowman appeared in his yard last night. Totally awesome. I stumbled upon the following video, which really shows the sheer magnitude of this beautiful creation. Well worth watching.


After showing this to my wife, she remembered that when she was a kid her mother told her about ice sculptures that were made in Wyoming when she was a kid by people who just used a garden hose. I went searching online for this, and finally found one that took my breath away. Check it out:

Just the sheer size of this thing is astounding. I've spent a little time in Wyoming, and it can be cold like you wouldn't believe. Nevertheless, while I supposed making sculptures in this way was feasible, I'd never seen it done on such a grand scale. This particular one dwarves the truck in the foreground, and even the house in the background. Truly remarkable!