St. Paul snow sculptors look to adapt, overcome lack of snow and cold
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The St. Paul Winter Carnival traditionally celebrates an overcoming of winter – this year, it's partially about overcoming a lack of it.
A city block's worth of snow and ice covers a small portion of the state fairgrounds – surrounded by green grass and mud. It's in this small area that snow sculptors are doing their best to create art, despite their medium fighting back.
"The first couple of inches (of sculpting), it's just ice," said sculptor Jason Moe. "As you're scraping, you might get an ice chunk that comes out – which is not good."
Moe's team, the Pigs Eye Pirates, had spent a copious amount of time planning this year's sculpture. Just days before the competition, that plan was scrapped in favor of something less intricate.
MORE: A look back at the winter of 1877-1878, the warmest Twin Cities winter on record
"We were I think first in denial. You go through the stages of grief like – okay, we've got this plan, we're just going to carry forward with it – then the temperatures kind of climbed a little bit, and it's like OK, we've got to change," Moe said. "The other one would have collapsed. We've seen some collapses here already. We want something that's going to stay, people can stay and look at it and not look at ruins."
Another team, in just their second-year sculpting in the competition, has taken on a new identity – 'Team Doing our Best'.
"It's just a learning experience," said team member Maddy Dall. "Projects don't always go perfectly, so you kind of have to figure out how to improvise."
Sculptors hope to keep their projects afloat until Sunday, Vulcan Fun Day at the snow park. There, a winning sculpture will be crowned as part of an unforgettable year.
"Next time it's warm, we'll just say – well, we'll just do what we did in 2024," Dall said.
