Fairbanks, Alaska, is home to the World Ice Art Championships, one of the world’s largest ice sculpting competitions and exhibitions. From its beginning in 1988, the World Ice Art Championships has grown to a month-long event featuring more than 70 teams from around the world.

The 2013 event, which ran from February 26 – March 31 was a great success and scheduling has already begun for the 2014 event (Feb. 24 – March 30, 2014 – 10 am – 10 pm daily)

Below you will find highlights from the ‘Single Block’ category. 2013 saw 40 sculptures made by teams of one or two members. Each team was given one block of ice, approximately 8’x 5’x 3’ (244cm x 152cm x 91cm) and a period of 60 hours (2 ½ days) starting on the last Tuesday in February to create their works of art. The results were astounding. Below were some of the Sifter’s personal favourites.

For complete information on this year’s competition and the upcoming 2014 event, visit icealaska.com for all official details.