Architecture

Winter Wonderland : Ice Castles

Ice Castles is an awe-inspiring, must-see winter phenomenon that brings fairytales to life. Located in five different locations across North America — Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Utah and Wisconsin; the ice castles are built entirely by hand using hundreds of thousands of icicles hand placed by professional ice artists. The castles include breathtaking LED-lit sculptures, frozen thrones, ice-carved tunnels, slides, and fountains.

Each ice castle is built by hand and takes thousands of man-hours to create. The daily process consists of growing 5,000 to 12,000 icicles that are harvested by hand and individually sculpted into existing ice formations. Newly placed icicles are then drenched with water. The blend of icicle placement, temperatures, water volume and wind result in an astonishing and ever-changing variety of ice formations.

Founder, Brent Christensen, crafted his first icy creation in the front yard of his home to bring happiness and joy to his children. After moving from sunny California to snowy Utah, Christensen did what any father of six stir-crazy kids with cabin fever would do. He built an ice cave in his yard to get his kids out of the house. His stroke of genius worked!

His icy invention wasn’t just a hit with his own children. Kids from all over the neighborhood – and eventually from all across town -- got wind of his creation, bundled up, and headed outside to play at Christensen’s wintry wonderland. The kids affectionately called this winter playground an “ice castle”. And that is exactly what it is today.

Although Ice Castles has grown significantly since then, the mission remains the same – to create happiness, laughter, and unforgettable winter memories.

•Each castle is approximately one acre in size and takes approximately two months to construct.
The construction team consists of 20-40 ice artisans.
Each castle weighs more than 25 million pounds.
LED lights frozen inside the ice light up and twinkle to music adding a magical ambiance to the breathtaking interactive sculptures.
All the Ice Castles are located next to a natural water source so all the water returns directly into the environment to be used again by wildlife, people and plants.