ice sculptures can sometimes be a delicate balance between daring and stability. At special events though, this should be an illusion; an ice sculpture fail shouldn’t be a real possibility. This leaping ballerina ice sculpture was at the Degas House in New Orleans.
updated 10/25/23 with the crash video, a couple headers, and some links; 8/15/23 with seo and tweaks
ice sculpture fail: when ice falls 3
an accidental competition crash
Before, I’ve talked about ice falling during parties or brunches. That’s when an ice sculpture fail is not ever supposed to happen. Those sculptures should be very safe: structurally robust enough so that they won’t collapse until well after the guests have left and stable enough so that there’s no chance of toppling over.
However, during competitions, the carver often turns those rules on their head: the sculpture MIGHT not collapse until after the judges have finished and if the sculpture doesn’t at least LOOK as if it might topple, then perhaps the carver should redesign it and try again next time. Daring is the norm and danger is ever present. Ice sculpture fails in competition aren’t even that unusual.
Because I’ve tried very hard at times to push my own limits during competitions, I’ve had numerous ice sculpture fails. I believe that if I’d never had a piece fall during competition, then that would be a sure sign that I wasn’t going nearly far enough with my designs. Once, during one of the NICA National Championships (2001), I’d carved a serpent and dragon intertwined. I wasn’t completely happy with my piece, but I felt that I had pretty well pushed things structurally. I was, however, confident that my piece would hold, so I left to look at the other carvings when my heat was over.
Probably because the sun had come out not long before, my confidence turned out to be arrogance and I believe a small, but crucial weld failed in the sunlight (the tent that I used while carving was not allowed during the judging process.) Even though I was off looking at other sculptures, I could hear the distinctive crunch of an ice sculpture fail, immediately followed by the gasps from people who actually saw it happen. I was pretty sure I knew whose it was 
this is almost certainly the most famous competition ice sculpture fail. Although, with Junichi Nakamura, it’s hard to consider any of his crashes as ice sculpture fails. He’s constantly testing boundaries and I think of many of his pieces as “ice sculpture experiments” rather than fails. Can’t see the video? Check it out here.
a not-so-accidental competition crash
Usually, a carver will compete with the sincere desire for his sculpture to hold up long enough for judging and photos. Unfortunately, I have to confess that at least once, all I wanted was for my piece to fall down so that I could go home. That might be the only time I hoped for an ice sculpture fail, for one of my sculptures at least 
At an earlier NICA National Championships, I was carving a piece in bright sunlight on an unusually warm day. There were few tents at this event and many carvers were trying to complete complex carvings in tough conditions. Several carvers were propping long tables up on their ends to give their ice some minimal shade. I was too inexperienced to know how important the shade was and I carved away with few precautions.
As things went from bad to worse, I knew in my heart that I wasn’t going to end up with anything that I wanted anyone else to see. But I kept carving, perhaps hoping that things would get better, but also knowing that if I were just a little too aggressive with my ice, it would fall and I could blame my incompetent effort on the conditions. I pushed too hard, it fell, and that was it. Hopefully, I walked away with a little warm weather carving experience, but I know I walked away with a little shame as well.
links and stuff
I have other posts about ice sculpture fails on the site: here, here, and here.
This post is listed on the ice sculpting techniques page, and you could also find photos and info from this entry on the ice sculpting secrets Instagram account or the facebook page. You can comment there as well as below. And if it won’t LET you comment below, then definitely comment on fb and/or IG. Thanks!
