A good winter season means 1 more day of magic at Labelle Ice Palace

LABELLE, Idaho (KIFI) - The winter weather has been harsh in many ways, but for the Labelle Lake Ice Palace, the winter has been rather kind as the long freezing nights have allowed for them to remain open for one more Saturday in the 2023 season.

"This final Saturday, the weather's been cooperating with us and we want to make sure we can get as many people in as possible so that you guys can have the best experience," Labelle Lake Ice Palace COO Britton Youngstrom said.

The final day of the season for the Ice Palace will be March 4, 2023.

While reflecting on the season Youngstrom says it was amazing to see how the structure has come together.

"We've had more interior structures this year than any other year. I we didn't get to that second story, but we do still have ice bridges out there that you can walk under. And we've also added a lot of interior ice rooms that we haven't had in the past. So it's quite something special."

He adds that they have had people from all over come to the palace this year. "We've actually had an insane number of people that have come from out of state, so we've had lots of people traveling from California, Oregon, Washington, a lot of the surrounding states. But many people are putting 12 hour plus trips in just to come here."

For Lucas Christensen, the magic of the ice palace and that special structure Youngstrom says they put together was memorable. But in these memories one aspect of the structure in particular will stick out.

"Tubing down this little ice slide," Christensen said. He says the slide sticks out for a couple reasons. "It's the fact that I'm, like, spinning fast."

When asked about the rest of the palace Christensen said, "I think it's just cool that people built this." He says the slide and the tunnels will stick out as he remembers his time at the ice palace.

For Danielle Fullmer and her family coming to the Ice Palace from Pocatello the experience was exactly what they were hoping for.

"The kids have had an absolute blast. It's been amazing." She added, "We never did anything like this when we were little, so just want to provide them with the best opportunities the Pocatello and the surrounding areas has to offer."

Fullmer says while many parts of the experience will stand out, for her parts of the experience outside of the palace will stand out.

"I personally really enjoyed just the sleigh ride, too. We did the sleigh ride to the tubing area and the sleigh ride itself. We saw a deer and a moose. So it's pretty cool."

She says the kids enjoyed the fire show and the many tunnels.

Rebecca Backstein the manager of the Ice Palace says hearing about Christensen's and Fullmer's experience at the Ice Palace makes their short season.

"We just love having so many people out here. We love the feel of the community being here and running around, especially seeing the joy of the kids and all the families and stuff being together and enjoying it."

Backstein adds while they are reflecting on their season and their successes they still have a lot of preparations to do for their final day.

"It's fun because usually we end at the end of February right now, but it's so fun that we're able to stay open for another day in March and that rarely happens. And so it's a good experience for you guys to come out and see the Ice Palace and and see how much growth we've had throughout the winter."

Representatives of the Ice palace say the the season has been successful and not with out its challenges, but they are excited to invite the community back out for one more day on March 4.