Breckenridge Snow Sculptures

Last weekend while we were in Keystone, nearby Breckenridge was having its snow sculpture competition. We made it there on Saturday evening and I took a few photos with my fast lens - these are all handheld shots. The textures and details in these short-lived artworks were very impressive. First up is a closeup of a section of Team Mexico's first-place winning sculpture, "Alebrije."

Here's a dungeon-like detail from a different sculpture that was lit from within.

Another sculpture was elegantly curved.

And finally, my personal favorite was the Medusa. Especially with the lighting, she was very eerie - don't look her in the eye!

For more fascinating photos from around the world, visit the My World Tuesday site!

Ice on the Avenue

In My World we don't hate winter, we celebrate it. Right next to Colorado Springs is Old Colorado City, and each year they hold a small festival called Ice on the Avenue. Despite continuing to try to fight off a cough (which materialized from a mild flu), my wife and I went down there today. There were a handful of ice sculptures, such as this cowboy through which people were sticking their faces to get photos.

There was an area set up to pan for gold.

But for me, the most interesting part was watching how the artists started with these 300-pound blocks of ice...

...and using their various tools, in this case an electric chainsaw...

...turned the ice into sculptures.

Unfortunately I didn't get to see this one finished as we needed to leave. Visit My World Tuesday to see lots of other interesting sights.