< The reviews are in for In the Heart of the Beast's 'Winter Dreams' | Main | In jazz there are no mistakes, only opportunities >

Twin Cities snow sculpting team to compete in China

Posted at 9:22 AM on December 14, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Sculpture

There are some competitive sports for which Minnesotans have a particular advantage.

Beach volleyball would not be one of them. But snow sculpting? You betcha!

Minnesota Big Snow, a champion snow sculpting team from the Twin Cities, is traveling to China to compete in the International Snow Sculpting Competition.

Image courtesy Minnesota Big Snow

The festival, which takes place January 10-13, 2012, is one of the four largest in the world, and attended by over nine million spectators. It takes place in the city of Harbin, which happens to be the international sister city of Minneapolis.

Minnesota Big Snow, which got its start in the 1996 Saint Paul Winter Carnival, is the only U.S. team invited to this competition; fifteen teams in all were invited from around the world.

As with most sports, snow sculpting comes with its own particular equipment; Minnesota Big Snow uses a two-man lumberjack saw, chisels, handsaws, curry combs and a handful of dental picks, among other things. No power tools are allowed.

Image courtesy Minnesota Big Snow