The secret to a winning snow sculpture
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By Donna Lenz Wright
For most observers, it's jaw-dropping amazement to see the final intricate yet massive sculptures revealed from a three-ton chunk of snow.
The Kilted Snow Weasels snow-sculpting team from Illinois will return again this year to Winterfest.
But how do they do it?
It's all about being brave and just going for it, says William Brown, member of Team Illinois, the Kilted Snow Weasels. Along with George Harnish and Brock McWilliams, he'll be in town this week to compete in the U.S. National Snow Sculpting Competition. The event is part of Lake Geneva's annual Winterfest celebration.
The Kilted Snow Weasels will join 15 other three-member teams, chiseling away, sending flakes flying like Edward Scissorhands.
Brown and Harnish have been sculpting together for 14 years, and this is McWilliams' first year on the team. Their former partner, captain and team founder, Randy Tackett, retired last year.
It all begins with an idea, of course.
"George and I are best friends, so we're talking all year," Brown begins. "We're always kicking around ideas. But we make our final decision by October.
"It's remarkable what snow can do, but we're constantly thinking about balance and weight. To be honest, you really don't know if it's going to work until you do it."
They're not allowed to use armatures, frames, molds or anything except snow, ice and water.
A 3-D model comes next. Brown's team uses Sculpey polymer clay created from a picture or idea, which Harnish has a knack for creating, Brown says with relief. Others use 2-D or even 1-D guides.
Nothing further can be done until the big day when they're standing at the lakefront in Riviera Park, face-to-face with the 10-foot-high block of snow.
"When I'm standing there, it's not easy for me to see an image inside the block," Brown admits. "Some people can do it--George can always do it. He looks and already sees it. And I think, 'Thank God he can, because I can't.'"
With no time for doubts, they jump right in.
"We always start at the top and work down. First we cut biggest and parts out that we know we're not going to need.
"Many times we use a ruler. One inch on our model equals one foot on our sculpture. It's precise measurements until the image starts to slowly appear."
At every stage, teamwork is the name of the game, he says.
"It's constantly snowing down. There's always someone doing a creative activity and someone removing the snow collecting at base.
"As it goes, you sometimes see it and sometimes you lose it. That's when we rotate. There's not a job that's too small or too big. There's never been a year when someone hasn't gotten stuck during the process."
After the big chunks are gone, it's time to move on to the smaller detail work of sanding and smoothing.
These stages can go in any direction, depending on the weather. If it's cold, they can work by day and sleep and eat in reasonable shifts. But if it's warmer, everything changes.
Art vs. sport
"We've spent hours discussing whether it's an art or a sport and concluded that it's a fine combination of both.
"We've seen so many newcomers have excellent artistic backgrounds and skills, but when it comes to pulling all-nighters and the cold--that's where the stamina really becomes the sport in who can last the longest and endure."
The Kilted Snow Weasels have mastered the all-nighter.
"Some years we've won out of pure tenacity. The teams that can adapt to weather changes and stick it out do the best."
This aspect has resulted in the downfall of many teams, he adds.
"Nobody tells them about this part of the sport and they're a bit shocked."
This year's sculpture
The Kilted Snow Weasels are hoping for very cold weather as they've chosen a very delicate sculpture.
"It's the ascent of a female angel breaking out of the ground with her wings all around her. It's very very fragile. If it's cold, we can do very wonderful things."
Their model is a replica of a statue Brown has at home.
Even with all of their experience, skill and whether the weather cooperates, there's no guarantee their vision won't become a catastrophe--like the year they chose "Napoleon's Crossing."
"Napoleon's crossing Alps on a horse, the horse is on his hind legs and his cape is flowing in the wind," he begins, already laughing.
"It was a fairly cold year and ... it's 30 minutes to go when we got the idea to cut away the front hooves from the rocks--that's a sculpting secret; if you need to hold something up, put rocks under it-so we're carefully cutting away the rocks and suddenly the two front legs fall.
"Now it's 20 minutes before judging and here we are with a horse with two stumps on the front. Fortunately, snow is very forgiving and we made a slush mixture and slapped it back together.
"And," he laughs, "We got second place. That's just it. You can either play it safe or push the medium as far as it will go. That's how you win.
'It's all about us'
While the nationals are a serious competition, the Kilted Snow Weasels are known as jokers of the circuit (hence, the name.)
"We might not always even place, but we always have fun," Brown says. "We're the team that jokes with other teams we've known saying things like, 'Hey, we're going to throw sidewalk salt on your piece.'
"Our team motto is, 'It's All About Us,' just to have fun with it. We try to make it more fun for spectators than just watching the sculpting.
"We'll tell kids to throw snowballs at teams we know will see the humor in it--stuff like that."
That it's always a friendly competition is much of what keeps Brown and his teammates coming back.
"We're always glad to lend our tools to other teams. Everyone's--almost everyone's--borrowing and sharing tools and giving pointers. That's one thing I love about this sport, especially at nationals, it's really a neat competition. And we may not be the best, but for some reason, people like us."
ooo
By Donna Lenz Wright
For most observers, it's jaw-dropping amazement to see the final intricate yet massive sculptures revealed from a three-ton chunk of snow.
Submitted photo
The Kilted Snow Weasels snow-sculpting team from Illinois will return again this year to Winterfest.
But how do they do it?
It's all about being brave and just going for it, says William Brown, member of Team Illinois, the Kilted Snow Weasels. Along with George Harnish and Brock McWilliams, he'll be in town this week to compete in the U.S. National Snow Sculpting Competition. The event is part of Lake Geneva's annual Winterfest celebration.
The Kilted Snow Weasels will join 15 other three-member teams, chiseling away, sending flakes flying like Edward Scissorhands.
Brown and Harnish have been sculpting together for 14 years, and this is McWilliams' first year on the team. Their former partner, captain and team founder, Randy Tackett, retired last year.
It all begins with an idea, of course.
"George and I are best friends, so we're talking all year," Brown begins. "We're always kicking around ideas. But we make our final decision by October.
"It's remarkable what snow can do, but we're constantly thinking about balance and weight. To be honest, you really don't know if it's going to work until you do it."
They're not allowed to use armatures, frames, molds or anything except snow, ice and water.
A 3-D model comes next. Brown's team uses Sculpey polymer clay created from a picture or idea, which Harnish has a knack for creating, Brown says with relief. Others use 2-D or even 1-D guides.
Nothing further can be done until the big day when they're standing at the lakefront in Riviera Park, face-to-face with the 10-foot-high block of snow.
"When I'm standing there, it's not easy for me to see an image inside the block," Brown admits. "Some people can do it--George can always do it. He looks and already sees it. And I think, 'Thank God he can, because I can't.'"
With no time for doubts, they jump right in.
"We always start at the top and work down. First we cut biggest and parts out that we know we're not going to need.
"Many times we use a ruler. One inch on our model equals one foot on our sculpture. It's precise measurements until the image starts to slowly appear."
At every stage, teamwork is the name of the game, he says.
"It's constantly snowing down. There's always someone doing a creative activity and someone removing the snow collecting at base.
"As it goes, you sometimes see it and sometimes you lose it. That's when we rotate. There's not a job that's too small or too big. There's never been a year when someone hasn't gotten stuck during the process."
After the big chunks are gone, it's time to move on to the smaller detail work of sanding and smoothing.
These stages can go in any direction, depending on the weather. If it's cold, they can work by day and sleep and eat in reasonable shifts. But if it's warmer, everything changes.
Art vs. sport
"We've spent hours discussing whether it's an art or a sport and concluded that it's a fine combination of both.
"We've seen so many newcomers have excellent artistic backgrounds and skills, but when it comes to pulling all-nighters and the cold--that's where the stamina really becomes the sport in who can last the longest and endure."
The Kilted Snow Weasels have mastered the all-nighter.
"Some years we've won out of pure tenacity. The teams that can adapt to weather changes and stick it out do the best."
This aspect has resulted in the downfall of many teams, he adds.
"Nobody tells them about this part of the sport and they're a bit shocked."
This year's sculpture
The Kilted Snow Weasels are hoping for very cold weather as they've chosen a very delicate sculpture.
"It's the ascent of a female angel breaking out of the ground with her wings all around her. It's very very fragile. If it's cold, we can do very wonderful things."
Their model is a replica of a statue Brown has at home.
Even with all of their experience, skill and whether the weather cooperates, there's no guarantee their vision won't become a catastrophe--like the year they chose "Napoleon's Crossing."
"Napoleon's crossing Alps on a horse, the horse is on his hind legs and his cape is flowing in the wind," he begins, already laughing.
"It was a fairly cold year and ... it's 30 minutes to go when we got the idea to cut away the front hooves from the rocks--that's a sculpting secret; if you need to hold something up, put rocks under it-so we're carefully cutting away the rocks and suddenly the two front legs fall.
"Now it's 20 minutes before judging and here we are with a horse with two stumps on the front. Fortunately, snow is very forgiving and we made a slush mixture and slapped it back together.
"And," he laughs, "We got second place. That's just it. You can either play it safe or push the medium as far as it will go. That's how you win.
'It's all about us'
While the nationals are a serious competition, the Kilted Snow Weasels are known as jokers of the circuit (hence, the name.)
"We might not always even place, but we always have fun," Brown says. "We're the team that jokes with other teams we've known saying things like, 'Hey, we're going to throw sidewalk salt on your piece.'
"Our team motto is, 'It's All About Us,' just to have fun with it. We try to make it more fun for spectators than just watching the sculpting.
"We'll tell kids to throw snowballs at teams we know will see the humor in it--stuff like that."
That it's always a friendly competition is much of what keeps Brown and his teammates coming back.
"We're always glad to lend our tools to other teams. Everyone's--almost everyone's--borrowing and sharing tools and giving pointers. That's one thing I love about this sport, especially at nationals, it's really a neat competition. And we may not be the best, but for some reason, people like us."
ooo
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