Six hours until the end of the 2021 World Ice Carving Championships Multi-Block. A horn blows signaling the competition is over. The carvers drop all their tools and their sites must be clean. They then leave and the team of judges come in. A team may be disqualified for staying or reentering their competition site after the ending horn has sounded and before the judging process has been completed.

 Each sculpture is scored separately by each judge and they watch as their scores are entered into the computer. The first judging criteria is first impression (15 points) and is often based on the first glimpse of the finished piece. How does the sculpture influence your feelings? Does it make you think, laugh, cry, feel anger or fear? The second criteria is creativity(15 points) and refers to the newness and originality of the design. Expansion of the art and technique of ice sculpting are encouraged.

Next judging criteria is composition(15 points). This is how the sculpture is organized according to the principle of art and design, balance, unity, movement, contrast, emphasis, pattern and alignment. Next is degree of Difficulty(15 points). Is the sculpture a challenging project for a professional ice sculptor?

The last three criteria are Precision(15 points), Presentation(15 points) and Proportion(10 points). Precision refers to the accuracy of lines, objects, planes, surfaces and textures. Textures and planes will be judged from 360 degrees. Presentation is how the sculpture is placed on the site and presented for maximum impact. Lastly is proportion and this is the relationship between elements of the sculpture to the whole with respect to size.

Judging is done under white light only. When the judging is finished, the teams of carvers may switch to colored lights to enhance their masterpieces. The colored lights make these already incredible sculptures even more spellbinding and magical.

The award ceremony will be tomorrow, Sunday, at 8Pm. Bring your cameras when you come and be ready to be impressed.