Press Release February 22 2020
Ice Alaska, Presenters of the 2020 World Ice Art Championships is proud to announce the winners of the Multi Block Classic:
1 - The Heart of the Universe - by: Karlis Ice, Mija Puncule, Ainars Zingniks, Mintauts Buskevics , Team from Latvia. This was their first visit to Alaska and their first exhibition with the World Ice Art Championships.
2 - Temple of Guardian by Junichi Nakamura, Shinichi Sawamura, Kiroaki Kimura , Takeshi Wada , Team members from Japan
3 - Not Forgotten by Steve Brice, Heather Brice, Steve Dean, David Smith, Team members from USA Alaska and Ohio..
4 - Legend of Black Mamba by Angelito Baban, Duane Schmelhaus, Fermin Gomez, John Flottman, Team members from USA and Canada. NOTE: this team also won the Online Viewers Choice Award
5 - Spirit of the Forest by Ivan Loktiukhin, Vadim Polin, Bair Pagmitov, Patricia Leguen, Team members from Russia and Canada.
This year’s Multi Block Classic featured 11 Teams. Each Team had 4 carvers and 9 blocks of ice. The Carvers are allowed to work around the clock. This year because of the near -40F temperatures the morning of the event, the Safety Committee elected to delay the start by 3.5 hours. The first two days of the competition there were other cold weather challenges with the equipment and electronics used in the process of carving the ice, so the close of the competition was moved to 11:00 p.m. to allow the Artists an extra two hours of work time.
The next competition, the Double Block Classic will begin Sunday, February 23rd at 9:00 a.m. and will conclude Tuesday, February 25 at 9:00 p.m. There are currently 17 Teams signed up to compete. Each Team has two carvers and two blocks of ice.
The 2020 World Ice Art Championships are located inside the Tanana Valley State Fairgrounds. Entry is through the White Gate, Gate is open from 10:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online through AKTickets.com or at the Gate.
