2016 Fire and Ice Festival at Cave Lake

 We had the good fortune to go to the Fire and Ice Festival at Cave Lake last Sunday. A snow and ice sculpting contest goes from Friday to Sunday, with judging Sunday at 3 pm. We've entered before, but warm weather canceled the competition. We had thought about entering this year, but didn't have quite enough help. Those who did enter had fantastic conditions, and we were eager to see how the sculptures were going. I like to see them Sunday because they are almost done.

Darth Vader and Jabba the Hut were in one area.

We saw a very detailed carousel. Ice poles (made from putting water into PVC pipes the night before) ran through each animal. One of the keys is to set up forms on Friday, fill them with snow, then let them freeze overnight so you can carve on Saturday. Another key is to have some artistic talent! These folks had a lot.

This tortoise was eye catching and huge.

The boater getting ready to spear a fish wasn't large, but the attention to detail was amazing.

Moby Dick/Plan C

Although we were too late to enter the contest officially, we could make our own unofficial sculpture. So the kids started digging.

We met up with some friends who were willing to lend a hand. That entailed putting Desert Girl into the middle of the snow volcano.

When she came out, Desert Boy wanted his turn. We sculpted around him.

Somehow we managed to squeeze in a snowball fight! Or was it a lava fight?

The snow sculptures are just one activity going on. We saw people ice fishing and even catch a little trout. We hadn't brought fishing gear, so we tried our luck with ice bowling.

You can make your starting point anywhere you want in ice bowling. And you can put up as many pins as you want.

We watched the ball connect. Strike! Or at least a few pins down.

Ron showed off a secret talent: juggling bowling pins. I was impressed!

Then it was on to sledding. I enjoyed sledding too so didn't get many photos.

Next we wandered around again, picking out our favorites and wondering which ones would win the competition. I'll give you the names and then tell you the judges' selections at the end of the post.

Ranger Danger

SOS Snoopy

Dunk-Ump

The Golden Carousel

Shelby

The Frost Awakens---A Galactic Standoff

Cave Lake Trout

Camo Cues & Brews

A Giant Tea Party

May the Force Be With Us

Cave Lake Cat House

The Guardians of Luke's Light Saber

And saving the best for last: our big volcano, with two nearby little volcanoes. We did this in about two hours.

Snow Volcano

The top winners the judges selected were:
Tied for first ($750 each): Ranger Danger and the Guardians of Luke's Light Saber
Third place ($250): The Frost Awakens---a Galactic Stand-off

Which one is your favorite?