Driggs Snowscapes competition battling warm weather
The 7th annual Driggs Snowscape competition hosted by the Downtown Driggs Community Association is currently taking place. Sculptors get four days to create something amazing out of snow.
“What we’ve got here is a giant tree in the woods that’s tipped over,” Tye Tilt, Team Frosty Bottoms 4.0, said. “So the back part here is the root bulb that’s been tipped up as the tree fell over. And then the front here, we’re gonna have a little raccoon. And then there’s gonna be a unicorn that’s eating a mushroom out of the tree. And then the whole thing will be surrounded by smaller mushrooms.”
The competition features teams from all over Idaho, a few from Wyoming and even Europe. The White Warriors team has an English-American, an Italian and an American. They’re re-creating Bernini’s “Medusa.”
“I think, you know, we bit off quite a lot with all the snakes,” Natalie Clark, Team White Warriors, said.
Participants say one of the best parts about the competition is working with the snow.
“The thing with snow, it’s like a giant eraser,” Tilt said. “If you do something you don’t like, you just cut it off, smooth it out, put some more snow in, and do it again. So it’s really forgiving and easy.”
However, warm temperatures are making sculpting difficult. Teams put up tarps to block the sun during the day.
“Because it’s been really warm and you know luckily they had enough snow to make the blocks,” Clark said. “But that’s our biggest challenge.”
Tilt agrees.
“The snow this year is like feta cheese,” he said. “Where as what you really want is cream cheese that you can just sort of smooth and carve really easily.”
The event was created seven years ago to celebrate the snow and bring more tourism to the area. It’s become a huge event for the whole community to enjoy.
“It’s super fun and all the teams, obviously it’s a competition, but really everybody’s helping each other,” Clark said. “And, you know it’s just a great community event.”
The competition concludes Friday night. The judging and awards takes place Saturday night followed by the annual Snow Ball event. The grand prize is $1,000.
The Downtown Driggs Community Association is a non-profit organization supported by the Idaho Commission on the Arts and the NEA and the Idaho Travel Council.
