Pogwatigue Perambulations: Breckenridge Ice Festival

For the first time since I arrived in Denver last October, I headed back up in to the mountains. An Ice Sculpture Festival hosted in Breckenridge provided the excuse. I hopped on US-285, which leads southwest out of Denver and pulled over at Kenosha Pass (elev. 10,001 feet) about an hour in to the drive where I scouted out two short trails. One traced the course of an old railroad grade and another led to a scenic overlook of South Park. Back in the car, I turned on to State Highway 9 to cross Hoosier Pass (elev. 11,539) for the final stretch in to Breckenridge. I recognized the mountains on the left, having hiked up several of the peaks in 2009, including Mount Lincoln, still the highest mountain I've ever conquered.

I got to Breckenridge about 2:00 PM and immediately went to check out the sculptures. Fifteen teams spent last week carving mammoth cubes of packed snow into various forms. Judges awarded prizes over the weekend. The festival leaves the finished products in situ for another week, unless nature intervenes. Today was a good day to visit because the crowd was thinner and the artworks still in good shape. In a twist of bitter irony, Team Canada's Ode to NASA, intended to be a representation of the final shuttle launch, was the one sculpture that collapsed prior to judging.

Full Screen Version

To kill the final few hours of daylight, I ate a late lunch and then read for about an hour in a small cafe downtown. I wanted to stick around in order to see sculptures at night. The festival illuminates them with multi-colored LEDs, which change randomly. I forgot to bring my tripod, but the lighting was bright enough for me to get quite a few good pictures without it. I'm glad I stayed. The nighttime viewing greatly surpassed the daytime experience. I stayed until my cold nose decided it was time to go.