International Snow Sculpture Championships kick off in Breckenridge, Colorado

02:38

International Snow Sculpture Championships kick off in Breckenridge, Colorado

Competitors at the International Snow Sculpture Championships will spend time carving 25-ton blocks of snow into works of art. 

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. – The competition is on for the 31st annual International Snow Sculpture Championships.

Teams of sculptors from around the world are creating works of art out of massive bricks of snow.

The snow comes from Breckenridge Ski Resort, and local volunteers then physically stomp the snow into 12-foot-tall, 25-ton blocks.

The sculptors started Monday and must be finished by Friday at 9 a.m.

Impressively, no powered equipment is being used in this competition. These artists are bringing their works of art to life only with hand tools and working against whatever weather is in the forecast.

"It’s been a running joke for years that you have four members on your team, but the fifth member always shows up in a different way, and she’s mother nature," Keith Martin, International Snow Sculpting Championships competitor, says. "She can show up in the form of cold and snow, which we really like obviously, or she can show up in warm weather and sunshine."

The awards ceremony will take place on Friday. 

03:08

Breckenridge snow sculpting champions on turning 25-ton blocks of snow into art

Brett Tomczak and Jeff Shawhan discuss creating ‘The Digital Divide’ sculpture after taking first place at the 31st International Snow Sculpture Championships in Breckenridge, Colorado.