LAKE LOUISE ICE CARVING COMPETITION 2013

(as always click on the first picture for a slide show in a larger format.)                   

The ice carving competition was held on the weekend but we find that so many people go to weekend events that it becomes too busy and  impossible to park or to see much of what is going on with the carving. So being retired, we decided to take a drive during the week and check out the results at our own pace. It turned out to be a good idea as there was hardly anyone around and the highway traffic was almost nil, so a very relaxing excursion all in all. As you can see on the sign above, they've had lots of snow in the mountains.

 The theme of the competition was Music, so somewhere in each piece something of the subject was included. This sculpture was called Bubbles and in each of the bubbles coming out of the 'glass' there are musical notes. I found it really hard to photograph the sculptures and do them justice because there is little contrast with all the snow around them. I think at night when they are lit up they might be more visible. The detail in most of them is incredible. They started carving Friday afternoon and the judging was done on Sunday. Each team had two people working and the teams were from all over the world. Everyone had 15 blocks of ice weighing 300 pounds each to work with.

 I hope you can make out the detail in the wings of these birds.


































I found this next one a bit strange as they are skeletons playing fiddles. My first thought was that it might be a Mexican team doing a Day of the Dead theme but it wasn't. Sorry I can't tell you what country did which carving.

This is a closeup of the one on the left. The ribs and spine look like they would be so hard to make out of ice not to mention the rest of the sculpture.

 This is a train with the bubbles at the top representing the smoke coming out of the stack. Not sure where the music is in this one but the detail was impressive.

 This is a gorilla with four absolutely amazing 'trees' next to it. Again I don't know where the music is but this was the winner of the competition. Wouldn't have been my pick (except for the trees) but they didn't ask me to be the judge so I'll just enjoy. Team Sweden was responsible and took the prize.

 Can't have ice sculptures without an eagle. Not sure what kind of music is involved though.

 The puppet master.

 Cranes ....so much detail it was mind boggling.

Winged woman playing a violin above.

This one of an Native woman on a horse that is standing in water was amazing. Even how they joined the pieces of the horse contributed to the overall effect of the look.

        Below is a closeup of her playing a stringed instrument which looks like a banjo to me, not very native. The delicate leaves above her head on such a thin stalk are very impressive.                                                                                                                                   

The next two are two views of another native woman really getting into whatever she is playing. I like the way her braid is swung out behind her, there is a lot of movement in this piece.    

 Above is the title for the Canadian entry which is to the right. Apparently the ewes are characters in a children's story and all the kids knew immediately what it was about. The ball weighs 100 pounds and is screwed into a socket that somehow they engineered. Wouldn't want to be under it when the sun does it's magic on these sculptures.

 Below is one I couldn't figure out even after reading the description. It was something to do with the Adam's family but the one figure looks very oriental and I can't remember that as a character of theirs.

 Above is the grand ice castle built out on the lake so the skaters can wind in and out of the doors and circle around it. Must look pretty lit up at night. 

That's it for the ice carving part of our trip but as it was still early we decided to go further west on the highway to see what the little town of Field was like. We are always rushing by it to go somewhere else so I thought it would be nice to take a drive in and explore. It turned out to be just a very small community of what we thought were very old houses turned into vacation homes. There are no stores apart from a gas station but there is a good sized school and a community hall so there must be a good number of permanent residents. 

 On our way out of the lake area I was intrigued by this huge icicle hanging off the roof of a cottage. Looks like it has been building since winter started. It is yellow from the cedar shingles on the roof. On modern buildings you seldom see big icicles like this anymore but these buildings are old and not well insulated or equipped with good eave troughs.

 Oh oh, what's this coming up the valley beside the highway? Maybe this isn't such a good idea. It did get a little blustery but it turned out to be confined to a few miles and ended at Field.

Looks ominous but interesting.

Nice when winter just happens off to the side and not on the highway.

On the left the trees got no snow and have pretty much shedded all the hoar frost that covered them before.

 Here we are on the bridge at Field looking back at the clouds we just drove through.

 Just a little bit of snow to cover the trees which already had tons of hoar frost on them. The mountains are so beautiful in winter and as long as the roads are good I love being in them. Quite a different feel from summertime.

Here we have much bigger icicles that are formed from melt water and natural springs on the mountain rocks.

 The three pictures above are of the fences built to keep the animals off the highway. We loved the look of them all lined up at the sides of the highway looking like giant lollipops. Some of those caps must have been close to three feet wide and we could not figure out how they stayed on top defying gravity. Some would be hanging off just one side so it must have been freezing rain to stick them that securely to the post. 

Time to head home but had to include this picture of Mount Rundle in all it's magnificence. It is hard to imagine the force that pushed it up out of the ground to such a height.

Above is a picture of the mountains taken while we were driving through the tunnel of the animal overpass. Just a little fun with the camera. 

Home smoggy home. YUCK!   We need to turn around and go back to experience what real air smells like.