Steamboat Pilot & Today

The theme provided to high school artists for this year's Winter Carnival snow sculpture contest was "Skis and snowboards; red, white and blue."

The sculptures flanking Lincoln Avenue this year definitely will reflect the patriotic colors, but skis and snowboards are likely to be an afterthought.

Sculptures taking form on Steamboat's main street Thursday afternoon included a reproduction of American soldiers raising Old Glory at Iwo Jima during World War II, dinosaurs and even a troll doll.

The sculptures are a part of the annual Steamboat Springs Winter Carnival festivities hosted by the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club. Eighteen teams of four to six students each were sponsored by businesses to create sculptures in front of their stores.

The sculptures will be judged, and the top three teams will be awarded Chamber Bucks. The balance of the sponsorship money goes to a project at Steamboat Springs High School and Christian Heritage High School.

High school junior Joel Graham said he and his teammates chose to build a sculpture of a troll doll because they wanted to create something with a retro look.

"We're all amateurs -- we've never done this before, but everyone is having a blast," Graham said.

The snow sculpture contest was something that a significant number of seniors wanted to get in on -- it was their last opportunity to observe the tradition. Jennifer Hooper almost missed out.

"I was on a different team at first. Our concept of a star on a snowboard wearing a cowboy hat got rejected," Hooper said. "I said, 'They can't do this to me! It's my senior year!'"

Fortunately, Hooper was a late addition to Danny Carlson's team, which was carving an Old West quick-draw artist out of a block of snow. Team member Kristyn Bradbury said the finishing touch would be a pair of spurs made to resemble snowflakes, similar to the city of Steamboat Springs' logo.

Neal Ficker and his teammates were using small garden trowels to carve the details of what might be the most patriotic sculpture on the street this year. They recreated the scene of U.S. Marines raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi at the Battle of Iwo Jima, an event that took place 60 years ago this month.

-- To reach Tom Ross call 871-4205

or e-mail tross@steamboatpilot.com