About the competition
2023 World Ice Art Championships February 17 through March 31Our Story
The Ice Alaska World Ice Art Championships began in Fairbanks, Alaska in 1990 for artists to share ice sculpture experiences for the community.
The tradition of the ice sculpting competitions began with the early celebrations of spring, involving ice thrones for the winter carnivals of the 1930s and providing an outdoor activity for local Alaskans to enjoy. In 1990 a committee formed and decided to make it a permanent event on the calendar, to promote and exhibit the wonderful art of ice sculpting. Collectively over the past years, the World Ice Art Championships has attracted over 100’s of professional Ice Artists, from over 45 different countries and even more local artists from the different states throughout the US . The result is over 100 competition sculptures and exhibition pieces and the ever-expanding playful ice attractions in the Kids Park.
“From small things, big things may grow” – and now the Ice Alaska Winter Carnival has evolved into a 6 week event full of amazing art pieces and wonderful winter fun.
The People
Who are our Volunteers?
Ice Alaska is made up of 11x Board Members and one Executive Director, who run the financing, governance and strategic direction of the organization. Committee members/volunteers manage almost everything else about the event from the ice harvest, communication, registration and feeding the visiting artists, marketing and publicity for the event. Every year, there are some volunteers travel up from the lower 48 states and even from overseas, to assist with different roles at the park. The contribution of time and energy by volunteers is an integral part of Ice Alaska’s successful presentation of the World Ice Art Championships.
The Ice Artists come from all over the globe – Australia, Japan, Canada, Latvia, Malaysia – just to name a few. Most are from the Lower 48 States but Alaska is well represented with some home-grown talent. These are highly celebrated and well respected artists in their field and come to Fairbanks every year to carve the “arctic diamond” ice and claim the glory of being named a World Ice Art Champion in one of the competitions.
Ice Alaska Board of Directors
Bernie Karl
President
president@icealaska.com
Anton Lazukin
Vice President
anton.lazukin@icealaska.com
Lee Ellen King
Secretary
LeeEllen.King@icealaska.com
Steve Iverson
Treasurer
steve.iverson@icealaska.com
Gisela Young
Member
gisela.young@icealaska.com
Dean deMarais
Member
dean.demarais@icealaska.com
David Smith
Member
david.smith@icealaska.com
Leigh Ann Hutchison
Member
leigh.anne.hutchison@icealaska.com
Brittany Lapp
Member
brittany.lapp@icealaska.com
David Grimes
Member
david.grimes@icealaska.com
AJ Duncan
Member
aj.duncan@icealaska.com
Competitive Events
Continents
Countries
Cities
Single Block Classic
One person vs one block of ice, working for world “ice domination”.
The dimensions are approximately 6ft x 4ft x 3ft (1.8m x 1.2m x 0.9m) and each block weighs over 4,000 lbs (1867.8 k). The ice block is positioned to the sculptor’s satisfaction and then sculptors are on their own. Artists can request mechanical assistance, and/or aide from competing team members when more power is required to move/lift a component of ice into position. Artists may work around the clock; they are provided a 3 days to complete the sculptures.
The Single Block Classic (SB) is the final competition of the adult itinerary which starts 8am on Day 1 and ends at 9pm on Day 3. The finished pieces are then judged after 9pm on Day 3 by a selected panel, under white lights. Colored lights will be added the following day and medals, certificates and monetary prizes will be presented at an 8pm evening ceremony at Day 4.
Double Block Classic
A dynamic duo making masterpieces using only 2 blocks of ice
The dimensions are approximately 6ft x 4ft x 3ft (1.8m x 1.2m x 0.9m) and each block weighs over 4,000 lbs (1867.8 k). The ice block is positioned to the sculptor’s satisfaction and then sculptors are on their own. Artists can request mechanical assistance, and/or aide from competing team members when more power is required to move/lift a component of ice into position. Artists may work around the clock; they are provided a 3 days to complete the sculptures.
The Double Block Classic (DB) is the middle competition of the adult itinerary which starts 8am on Day 1 and ends at 9pm on Day 3. The finished pieces are then judged after 9pm on Day 3 by a selected panel, under white lights. Colored lights will be added the following day and medals, certificates and monetary prizes will be presented at an 8pm evening ceremony at Day 4.
Multi-Block Classic
An artistic team of four people, using up to nine blocks of ice, to create a massive show piece
With up to 9x blocks of ice this amounts to over 36,000 lbs. The ice block is positioned to the sculptor’s satisfaction and then sculptors are on their own. Artists can request mechanical assistance, and/or aide from competing team members when more power is required to move/lift a component of ice into position. Artists may work around the clock; they are provided a 6 days to complete the sculptures.
The Multi Block Classic (MB) is the first competition of the adult itinerary which starts 8am on Day 1 and ends at 9pm on Day 6. The finished pieces are then judged after 9pm on Day 6 by a selected panel, under white lights. Colored lights will be added the following day and medals, certificates and monetary prizes will be presented at an 8pm evening ceremony at Day 7.
Youth Classic
Ice Alaska artists have developed an ice sculpting curriculum that can be taught in local schools. To encourage the students to continue to use their sculpting skills in competitions, the Ice Alaska Youth Classic is held the week of the Fairbanks North Star Borough School District Spring Break. Ice Alaska has ~15 sites and hopes to draw young artists from throughout Alaska and the even the world. There is no fee to register for the Youth Event.
To qualify for the competition team members must be 13 – 18 years of age and have parental permission. Teams are provided one ice block, 3’ x 4’x 30″ The block weighs approximately 1800 lbs. Once the ice block is placed, the youth team may not use motorized tools or equipment to move the block. Experienced artists are on hand to assist with requested chainsaw cuts, and to answer questions, and offer technical assistance allowed within the competition guidelines. Award of medals and gift certificates are given for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place
Calendar
The calendar provides key dates for visitors, artists, & volunteers
Hotel & Transportation Partners
Hotels and travel info for visitors, artists, & volunteers
About the Competition
Learn more about the Ice Alaska World Championships
Become a Member
Learn more about our membership options
Become a Volunteer
Volunteers are the core to our organization, lean more about volunteer optortunities
FAQ
Have a question? Our FAQ page provides answers to many common questions.