Played hooky yesterday and spent the day at Chena Hot Springs, touring the Ice Museum and enjoying an incredible lunch. The Ice Museum is a fantastic tribute to ice carving and carvers alike. The temperature is maintained at a constant 20-24 degrees. Many of the carvings are duplicates of carvings that have won prizes in various competitions. There are beds which can be rented for between $500 and $600 a night, made entirely of ice. All you need are a few Caribou blankets and you’ll be snug as a rug. After lunch we ventured out to the hot springs to watch the brave folks soaking in the Sulphur springs. It has a sand bottom and most people stand at about waist level. That leaves the area above the waist exposed to the minus zero-degree temperatures. But I was told you get so warm that there is a “cool down” section of the pool. Maybe next time I’ll be brave enough to bring a bathing suit. The sixty-mile drive back to Fairbanks is prime moose viewing. Alas, we saw a lot of footprints but no moose. Such a wonderful day!
And back at the fairgrounds, the Youth Competition was waiting for the Awards Ceremony at 8PM to find out who, with what sculpture, took home the honors. It was also Kids’ Day at the park and every child under the age of 18 was admitted free of charge. Free hot dogs and marshmallows were being offered at the fire pits in front of the Awards Stage. The sculptures carved by youth under eighteen are quite amazing and were judged using the same standards used for judging professional competitions. The hour came and the First Prize was awarded to Uniscorpishrimpicorn With A Mohawk”. I was told that idea and title came strictly from the imagination of its sculptors, Oliver and Leo Shepard. Second Prize was awarded to Peter Park for his rendition called “Graceful Beauty”. It is indeed a graceful and beautiful peacock. Third place (my personal favorite) went to Becket and Garret Eames with their “If you Can’t Beat Em, “Making”. It shows the Titanic sinking beneath the ocean after colliding with an iceberg. I love it because of its technical skill and imagination. Fourth place went to “History in the Making” by RoseMary Grainger and Shelby Banning. This sculpture of Denali will give you goosebumps because you can’t help feel the love that went into the carving of it. Please stop by the Fairgrounds to enjoy all nineteen breathtaking Youth Classic entries.
Today began a second family snow carving competition that ends at 4PM Sunday. There are four teams: 3 teams of 2 carvers and 1 team of 4 carvers. Have fun and good luck to you. It will be fun to watch their progress through tomorrow.
The clocks move one hour ahead tonight. What this means for Ice Alaska is that we will be open until 11PM every night from now on and night is the best time to experience the ice illuminated with color lights making everything a bit more magical.
