How much ice does it take to build Minnesota's famous ice maze?
EAGAN, Minn. -- There are just four weeks until the Minnesota Ice Festival kicks off and there is still a lot of work left to do.
"So we shipped in our first four truckloads even with the warm weather, over 160 thousand pounds worth of ice, and we'll begin processing this ice on Monday," said CEO of Minnesota Ice Robbie Harrell.
There was some slight ice breakage which is an occupational hazard in dealing with slick ice but the above average and above freezing temperatures weren't a factor thanks to the abundance of clouds in the sky.
"It plays a factor when we start, you know, really getting like, sunny days, and we're above freezing. But for how big these ice blocks are, it really does take a long time to thaw and actually warm up," said Harrell. "Last year, we actually ran into an issue, you know, or one of the Sundays it was 40 degrees, and it was pure sun. We ended up having to take down a wall, and then we restored it back up at about a 48-hour period."
Once it's all finished, these ice blocks will begin to transform TCO Stadium and the Viking Lakes area into a winter wonderland with more than two million pounds of ice.
"We have different ways to actually protect the ice by using you know, snow machines to actually make snow which helps, you know, kind of provide like a blanket around the ice, which is really nice," said Harrell.
The ice maze hopes to break a world record in the process.
"This year, we're beating the record by just over 50%. So it's gonna be a much bigger ice maze. We're not beating it by five or 10%," Harrell explained. "And this year, the ice maze will be 18,000 square feet."