International Snow Sculpture Championships kick off in Breckenridge

If you’ve never seen the Snow Sculpture Championships, they’re a world-class event happening every year in Breckenridge.

They all start with a week of volunteers stomping snow into large blocks that are frozen and used as the ice blocks to be shaped the following week. You can see more photos on the Breckenridge Blog:

The blocks are then assigned to the fifteen teams from around the world. As the sculpting progresses, the Riverwalk area turns into an outdoor art gallery:

Follow along with the competition at GoBreck.com and the Breckenridge Blog.

How long will the snow sculptures remain? Well, as long as cold temperatures cooperate you can expect to see them on display through Sunday, February 3, 2013.