The journey began on Sunday, February 1st, when Steve Griffiths of Berlin, NH entered an ice sculpting competition in Meredith. Each carver had two blocks of ice, weighing 300 lbs each, and five hours to create an ice sculpture with a fantasy theme. Steve chose to do a dragon, and found himself winning first prize, a plane ticket to Fairbanks, Alaska to compete in the World Ice Art Championships.
Over the next month, Steve planned his trip to the 49th state as well as the design that he would do for the sculpture. He entered the single block event in the abstract category, where each carver is given a 9000 lb block of ice, 8 ft tall, 5 ft wide, straight out of a man-made pond, and three days to carve the block. The single block allowed for a two man team, but Steve decided to go it alone. "I called a couple of my ice carving buddies to go out as my teammate, but because it was only a month away, they had already made business and personal commitments that they really couldn't get out of."
The single block event hosted 40 teams entered in either the abstract or realistic category. Carvers came from Japan, China, Russia, Czech Republic, Italy, Belgium, Malaysia, and the US. Carvers had from 9 a.m. Wednesday of that week, till 9 p.m. Friday evening to finish their piece. Steve felt honored just to be competing at that level and often found himself stealing away from his site to watch some of the best carvers in the world do their work. Temperatures ranged from the 20s to below zero over the course of the competition, and were perfect for ice carving. When it was over, Steve managed to finish 4th out of 17 teams in the abstract category. His design is a man holding a bass instrument. "It was gratifying to just compete and finish the piece the way I wanted to."
Steve placed well for his first year in Alaska, but stressed that the whole event is really about the experience of carving in a unique location and seeing the public's reaction to their work. "The best part of the trip was watching the kids come into the ice park, and watching their wide-eyed reactions to the sculptures. I also enjoyed the camaraderie between the ice sculptors. We were always willing to help one another out with lifting ice, lending tools, and giving each other advice."
Steve is Assistant Professor of Culinary Arts at New Hampshire Community College in Berlin, NH. He teaches ice sculpture as part of the program, and competes at various competitions throughout the winter. He was excited to come back and discuss his experiences with the students, as well as show them the pictures. Steve wished to thank his employer for allowing him the time to go to Alaska. He stressed though, that "The biggest thanks goes to my wife. She was at home taking care of our two young children while I was off competing all over New England and Alaska over the winter months. I owe her a lot for the support she continually gives me."
The World Ice Art Championships are organized by Ice Alaska, a non profit organization that has an incredible volunteer effort behind it. "We had Fairbanks residents who took a week's vacation from work to help out with the competition, whether it was harvesting the ice, or feeding the carvers the daily meals. That says a lot about the generosity of people in that area" said Steve. The single block competition is followed by the multi block, four person team competition. Competitors are given 10 blocks, or about 40,000 pound of ice to produce their creations. Pictures of the event can be found at www.icealaska.com
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