Ice carving has a time and a place: cruise ships, all-you-can-eat buffets, corporate holiday parties. But despite there being a nationally-sanctioned competition in Stowe, VT, this January, it was not the time or the place to whittle a 600-pound block of ice into a beautiful sculpture. At the city's annual ice carving competition, temperatures reached into the low 40s, a.k.a not ideal. Trumpets made of ice and entire humans carved from the cold stuff melted and shattered throughout the day.
But the theme was Olympic Spirit, and the contestants forged ahead like there was a gold medal on the line. For the 18th year in a row, Stowe welcomed around a dozen ice carvers to compete for $10,000 and a national title. The entrants carved Olympic flames, snowboarders, and even Tonya Harding into ice.
The judges tally points based on a number of factors, like creativity and how every contestant works the ice and uses their tools. But according to one of the judges, it comes down to whether or not the carving makes you say "That's so cool!" or "Uh, what is that?". In the end, in was Jeff Scarpa's snowboarder that made the judges scream "Cool!", but to him, it's the vibe of the whole competition that matters more than who wins or who loses. "Everybody here is best friends," he says, "People that you just met today, it's like a close knit family.
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