Dave Gibson, Dillon. Elsa of Arendelle from the movie Frozen has little on the Ice Castles creator Brent Christensen when it comes to manipulating ice. For Christmas of 2008 he fashioned a small ice cave and slide for his children. Inspired by his kids’ and neighborhood kids’ enthusiastic reactions to his efforts, the scope of his projects grew the following two winters with the fabrication of ice castles at Zermatt Resort on Midway, Utah. In 2012 the third of what was to become an expanding tradition of large ice castles was erected in Silverthorne, CO. What began as a father’s gift to his children has become big business. Ice Castles now appear every year in Colorado, Utah, Wisconsin, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Alberta. 

Starting in November, icicles were manufactured at the “icicle farm” by spraying water on elevated horizontally laid chain-link fencing. Collected the next day, they were arranged according to plan about Dillon’s Town Park by professional ice artists and coated with water that evening. Using 300,000 gallons per day during the initial building process and 20,000 gallons a day thereafter, up to 12,000 icicles are added to the structure daily. All told, four thousand hours will be devoted to its creation.  Even after reaching its current height of 30 feet, construction is ongoing and ever evolving until the castles start to melt in the spring.

Visiting the Ice Castles is like stepping into a fairy tale. An icy entrance leads to a courtyard of towers, spires, and castle walls that meander around and through the sprawling complex. Radiant azure passageways connect one area to another. There are tunnels for the kids to explore and two ice slides of different pitches (beginner and intermediate). Naturally sculpted ice cascades down the outsides of the ten thousand-ton structure and crowded clusters of icicles hanging from the ceilings of arching passages point downward like daggers. LED lighting is embedded throughout that adds another dimension to the Ice Castles when the sun sets, and the magic happens. Vibrant purple, green, and blue bathe the formations from within unveiling their magnificent intricacy and transporting you to another world.

 For directions, hours of operation, available dates, and pricing go to www.icecastles.com.   

(Originally published in the January 9, 2020, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)