International Snow Sculpting Championships 2015

2015
Stomping Week: 1/18/2016 - 1/22/2016 Budweiser International Snow Sculpture Championships: 1/26/2016 – 1/30/2016 Snow Sculpture Viewing Week (weather permitting): 1/30/2016 – 2/7/2016
The Championships are held in and around the Riverwalk Center, located in the heart of Breckenridge on South Park Avenue between Washington Street and Adams Avenue.
TEAM LITHUANIA “The Wind of Eternal Change” 1st Place - Gold Online voting - 2nd Place	The clouds. The rain. The ocean. The snow, that this sculpture is made of. All these physical states are made of water and are in constant change. Life itself arrives from water and sometimes it has to survive as it did on Noah’s Ark. Where will the wind of constant change lead our ark, our life, our humanity to next? What challenges, horizons, shores are to be seen?
TEAM GERMANY-AGRAWAL “Yantra” 2nd Place - Silver	Yantras are symbols of the process of involution and evolution. It enables the adept to retrace his steps from the outward-directed world of multiplicity to the inward focus of unity. Traditionally such symbols are used to balance the mind or focus it on spiritual concepts. The act of creating and/or concentrating on a Yantra is held to have spiritual, astrological or magical benefits.
TEAM USA /MINNISOTA “The Tempest” 3rd Place - Bronze Online voting - 1st Place	In northern Minnesota, there’s an amazing wilderness area called the Boundary Waters. It was originally inhabited by the Ojibwe. About 12 years ago, there was an amazingly powerful wind storm that knocked down large portions of the Boundary Waters. If seen from the sky, all the trees looked like nothing more than match sticks all strewn about, not a single tree standing. It was a powerful testament to the powers of nature. This sculpture depicts ‘mother nature’ in an Ojibwe filter, summoning the power of the eagle’s wings to stir up the wind and waves to create the ‘tempest.
TEAM ARGENTINA “Don Quijote”	Don Quixote is a novel by Miguel de Cervantes. It is one of the first “modern,” novellas and is the emblem of Spanish literature. Its two main characters, Don Quixote and Sancho, constitute a poetic synthesis of human beings. Sancho represents a commitment to material values, while Don Quixote exemplifies the commitment to a freely assumed ideal. The two figures are not opposing, however, but complementary, showing the complexity of the individual, materialistic and idealistic at the same time. This is our team’s humble tribute to such amazing characters.
TEAM CATALUNYA “El Vol d'Home Ocell ”	This project is based on a song called “ElVol de l’Home Ocell” performed by a Catalan rock band called Sangtrait. It is known as a hymn by many generations who have grown up feeling proud of our land. It sings of a man who wants to be a bird, to fly between mountains, to be free.
TEAM CHINA "Winter Fishing”	People from Heze Nationality, one of the Chinese Minority residing in Northeast China, live on fishing during the winter. They still keep the tradition alive now.
TEAM FRANCE “Amour Toujours or Always in Love”	Like embroidery, the clothes must be transparent, clear. And the love must shine through.
TEAM GERMANY-SCHURTZMANN “Earth, Life and Sun”	The power of the sun can break the frozen ground and creates new life.	Not Available
TEAM MEXICO "Kab'awil” Online voting - 3rd Place	This term comes from two concepts “Kab” meaning two and “Awil” meaning face appearance, which means Two Faces, Two Aspects. The Mayan Philosophy of Nature concerning everything around us, everything we perceive and everything we understand comes from two opposite but complementary forces, thus manifest: Spirit of Heaven and Earth Spirit. This means that the forces of Mother Earth and Father Sun complemented, make life possible, but there are also opposing forces who build and destroy, make life and make death: Mother Earth feeds us, gives us life, but when ground shakes, an earthquake can kill us. The aspiration of mankind would be to seek harmony between these two forces.	Not Available
TEAM MONGOLIA-MUNKH ERDENE “Nomadic Culture”	Mongolian herders roam from one place to another searching for high nutrient pasture land for their livestock during the four seasons of the year. Nomadic life is the Mongolian life style, the heritage since ancient times amongst Mongolians. Pasture land is divided into four segments, such as winter, spring, autumn and summer segments. Mongolians typically roam with carts and camels.
TEAM MONGOLIA-TSERENDASH “On The Way To The Dream”	The artists’ interpretation is to illustrate the strength of nature shown by the thrusting natural wave powering the boat, captained by two indigenous peoples whose heritage and future wish is to preserve and sustain nature with the advances of new technology, demonstrating respect for the environment.
TEAM UKRAINE “Doves of Peace"	The image of dove symbolizes peace and peaceful living. A dove is the icon of peace. It is a big challenge for us to make our own version of this image by means of snow sculpture. Peace is very important for the modern Ukraine because the Ukrainian people are struggling from the war in the eastern part of Ukraine. We would like to dedicate our sculpture to those Ukrainians who do not have peaceful living right now and also to all other people who suffer from all kinds of conflicts.
TEAM USA - ALASKA “Cabin Fever: The Mad Trapper and the River"	In the winter of 1931-32, people across North America were fixed to their radios as they listened a live-broadcast manhunt. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (mounties) were tracking “The Mad Trapper of Rat River.” During the Great Depression a trapper named Albert Johnson built a cabin in northern Canada. Two mounties trekked 60 miles by dog sled to question Johnson, accused of tampering with native trap lines. The mounties got no response. They headed back to Aklavik for a warrant. After having dispatched two more patrols, and with several officers wounded, the Mounties finally caught up to Johnson, ending the manhunt for the “Mad Trapper of Rat River.”
TEAM USA - BRECKENRIDGE “The Sculptor”	“The Sculptor” is in honor of the 25 years that Breckenridge has been hosting the International Snow Sculpting Competition. It is also a tribute to all those sculptors who have made this event so incredible year after year. In this piece, the sculptor is a reflection of all of the unique artists that put our normal jobs to the side so that we may set out to create a sculpture made of snow. Mind blowing, gravity defying, emotion evoking temporary art.
TEAM USA / VERMONT “Explosion”	The inventive and creative energies in our world bring forth a rapid expansion of ideas and possibilities. “Explosion!”, as a concept, illustrates the state of the world as it is propelled outward on all fronts, from the spark of inspiration in our own heads to the outer reaches of our ever expanding universe.
TEAM USA / VIRGINIA “The Bear and the Fish”	Being a team made up of carvers born or raised in the northern midwest and lovers of nature and everything northern, a chilly wildlife scene is a joy to takeon this year. Shown is a polar bear balancing on a rogue ice cube while carefully studying a playful trout. A shiny blanket of ice will lie over the base of the sculpture to represent the water's surface, while the trout will be partially submerged under the water, only peaking out his head and tail fin.

25th International Snow Sculpting Championships