World Snow Sculpting Championship now biggest event of year for Stillwater

Stillwater is known for hosting popular annual festivals, including Lumberjack Days, Stillwater Harvest Fest and the Rivertown Fall Art Festival.

But those events have nothing on the World Snow Sculpting Championship, which starts Wednesday in downtown Stillwater.

“It’s our biggest draw by far,” said Robin Anthony-Evenson, president of the Greater Stillwater Chamber of Commerce & Foundation. “There’s just so much talent. What they can do with snow is just unbelievable.”

Last year, the event featured 12 sculptures and brought more than 60,000 people to town. Anthony-Evenson expects even more to come to Lowell Park this year to see 16 sculptures created by teams from 16 different countries.

A record 36 teams, representing 24 countries, applied to compete in the event, which runs Wednesday through Saturday. This year’s lineup includes Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, Great Britain, India, Lithuania, Malta, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, Peru, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Switzerland and the United States.

Organizers decided to add four teams to the event, which is sanctioned by Finland-based Association Internationale de Sculpture sur Neige et Glace. “We turned down so many and so much talent last year, and we figured, well, it is the World Snow Sculpting Championship,” she said. “We should have the biggest one.”

Breckenridge, Colo., holds an annual International Snow Sculpture Championships that features 12 teams, she said. “We wanted to be bigger and better and have more teams,” she said.

More teams, however, means more logistical issues, including arranging for visas and finding additional interpreters. Four countries — Ecuador, Thailand, Taiwan and Mongolia — are sending teams that “don’t speak any English at all,” Anthony-Evenson said.

How it works

The three-member snow-sculpting teams will be competing for $4,000 in prize money and the title of “World Champions,” Anthony-Evenson said.

Sculptors will have 68 hours — starting at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14, and ending at 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17 — to carve their sculptures out of 10-by-10-by-10-foot blocks of snow. Teams are allowed to work until 3 a.m. each day and can start anytime after 6 a.m.

Spectators can watch the entire process, visit with the teams and vote for their favorite sculpture; the team with the most votes will win “The People’s Choice Award.”

The competing teams also will have the opportunity to vote for their three favorite sculptures; the top vote-getter will win “The Artists’ Choice Award.”

The prize money will be distributed thusly: $1,500 for first place; $1,000 for second place; $500 for third place; $500 for “The People’s Choice Award,” and $500 for “The Artists’ Choice Award.”

Each team also receives a $3,000 travel stipend and has room and board covered while they are in Stillwater, Anthony-Evenson said. Local businesses are offering nearly $200,000 in in-kind donations to cover the teams’ lodging and food, she said. “We can’t do it without them, there’s no way,” she said. “The (teams) are wined and dined in a big way.”

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Other donations of note: Hudson, Wis.-based Striker Brands apparel company is donating bibs and winter gear, and Red Wing Shoes is donating boots for all the sculptors. “They’re each going to walk away with, like, $1,500 worth of winter gear,” she said.

A volunteer snowmaking crew from Afton Alps is creating a mountain of manmade snow in Lowell Park for the event. The crew hopes to make enough extra snow to construct a free sledding hill on Mulberry Point, north of Lowell Park near P.D. Pappy’s. A limited number of tubes and sleds will be available for visitors to use; visitors also are welcome to bring their own sleds, Anthony-Evenson said.

Taste of the Nations

Flags from Mexico, Ecuador and the United Kingdom, representing some of the 16 teams competing in this year’s World Snow Sculpting Championship, line Mulberry Street in downtown Stillwater. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

Organizers spent last week getting downtown Stillwater ready for the big event. Flags from each of the competing countries line the streets of downtown Stillwater, and 16 restaurants in the St. Croix River Valley are featuring menu items from the selected countries, Anthony-Evenson said.

“Teams want to come here to compete in the event because of the way they are treated,” she said. “It’s very, very hometown, but it’s also international. They’re very excited to be in our country.”

Each team had to submit a sketch of their proposed sculpture as part of the application process; the sketches show sculptures that “blend cultural traditions, technical mastery and boundless imagination,” Anthony-Evenson said. “The artistry and dedication of these teams elevate snow sculpting to the level of world-class performance.”

Sixteen restaurants — one representing each team — are participating in a Taste of the Nations as part of the event. “Taste” runs until Jan. 25 and features restaurants in Stillwater, Bayport and Hudson, Anthony-Evenson said.

Customers can pick up a Taste passport at any of the participating restaurants and have it punched any time they order a featured Taste item. People who collect all 16 punches can return their completed passports to the Greater Stillwater Chamber of Commerce office at 333 Main St. N., Stillwater, for entry into a drawing for a prize package containing $20 gift cards from each of the participating restaurants, Anthony-Evenson said.

Feller, located within the Lora Hotel in downtown Stillwater, is featuring lamb buuz, traditional Mongolian steamed dumplings.

Feller staff picked three countries to possibly feature, and they were assigned Mongolia, said Kadie Frey, general manager of Lora Hotel & Event Center.

“I literally listed them off to our chef and he said, ‘Whatever three are the hardest,’ just for the challenge,” Frey said. “We always like to try different things.”

Executive Chef Chris Whalen is “very diverse as far as what he can cook,” said Jason Miller, Feller’s general manager. “Chef, with his love of cooking lamb and chops and items like that, it was right up his alley to elevate a traditional Mongolian dish with his flair and panache.”

Miller said the event is a great way to get people to come to Stillwater in the winter.

“It’s one way to get the locals out of their hibernation, but also get some folks who typically wouldn’t come out but want to try something fun,” he said. “They can bounce around different restaurants. It really creates a community atmosphere.”

The teams from Great Britain, New Zealand, Mongolia and Taiwan are staying at the Lora Hotel, Frey said. “We invite them into the restaurant for a drink, or coffee in the morning, just to, you know, meet and learn more about them and their countries as well,” she said. “Our director of rooms is very, very into it. She’s making them all gift baskets.”

Big Guys BBQ Roadhouse in Hudson was assigned Switzerland as its featured country. The restaurant, which is owned by Jethro and Amy Lund, is selling a Swiss-inspired grilled sausage and potato pancake dish for $17 and a special “Swiss Kiss” cocktail for $8. The cocktail, created by General Manager Matt Yacoub, features “Stoli Vanilla, Crema De Coco, Swiss Miss Hot Cocoa mix and a splash of chocolate milk blended together,” said Amy Lund.

“Having people from around the world experience our community is incredibly special, and we’re proud to represent local food and hospitality,” she said. “Food is such a big part of how people remember an event, and we love being part of that experience — welcoming visitors and helping make their time in Stillwater truly memorable.”

Partnering with Mia

Event organizers this year also have partnered with the Minneapolis Institute of Art for the first time.

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At a panel at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 11, at Mia’s Pillsbury Auditorium, sculptors from Denmark, Mexico and Turkey will “share insights into their creative processes, their global artistic influences, and the teamwork and innovation required to transform blocks of snow into monumental works of art,” organizers said.

“At Mia, we believe art lives everywhere — inside our galleries, throughout our communities, and even within snow and ice,” said Rob Bedeaux, Mia’s head of marketing. “This partnership brings winter to life.”

“Creativity transcends borders,” Anthony-Evenson added. “Our partnership with Mia strengthens this mission and allows us to celebrate artists who bring extraordinary vision, skill, and cultural depth to a medium shaped by the elements themselves.”