One thing with some of these galleries that combine “small” ice sculptures with BIG ice sculptures: it’s very hard for you to tell how big they are because all these pictures are about the same size and many don’t have reference points, like people, in the photos. However, I’ll notate in the title if it’s a big piece or a little one.

Fortunately, in some of them, a person is next to the ice sculpture. The most obvious of this is “Fear of the Sword,” where a person makes an obvious silhouette against a truly massive piece. I have no idea who that guy was, btw, so don’t ask 😆 There’s one though, where there’s a person next to the ice, but you’re probably going to miss him initially, since all that stands out are his white earmuffs. See if you can find that one, lol.

Once you get an idea as to how big these sculptures are, you also start to understand how dangerous they are to work on. Also, they’re not super safe to photograph either! The photographers, like Patrick Endres, are often out in the middle of the night when nobody will bother them. (And maybe no once can help them if something goes wrong!) It’s also brutally cold, often well below 0˚F.

I actually know the conditions are like because I’ve done it myself, and it sucks! You sometimes get up close to the sculptures to mess with the lighting. Of course, you don’t touch them, but that doesn’t mean they’re safe. These sculptures are at their most delicate at the end of the competition and more than one has completely collapsed well after the competition was over. The World Ice Art Championships are the epitome of an extreme event. The dangers are very real, both for the sculptors and anyone who has to work around these sometimes massive ice sculptures.