#Breckenridge.
| Summit Daily News |
A crane sets a towering wood- and steel-framed mold onto the snow-scraped Tiger Dredge Lot adjacent to the Riverwalk Center in Breckenridge. Workers from Breckenridge Crane Service bolt the four sides of the frame together as the massive SnoGo snowblower claims its place alongside.
A bucket of snow is dumped into the churning maw of the snowblower, where it is pulverized into tiny crystals before being shot into the mold.
Volunteers clamber up scaffolding and down into the mold to pack the first layer of snow the old-fashioned way, with shovels and boots.
“We stomp the block to eliminate the air holes,” said Gavin Dalgliesh, of GoBreck.
“The first level you sink up to your knees, then it starts packing down.”
The group of nine stomps away until everybody’s satisfied with the work and climbs out of the box, awaiting another layer of snow.
Then they jump back in and start all over again. Donna Horii, with GoBreck, said each mold takes about 30 minutes to pack.
“We’re Breckenridge’s version of Lucy and Ethel,” she said.
The International Snow Sculpture Championships run from Tuesday, Jan. 27, through Saturday, Jan. 31, with public viewing through Sunday, Feb. 8. For more information, visit www.gobreck.com and click on “Events.”
Courtesy of the Summit Daily News.
