By David Fleet
Editor
Two teams of local high school students will chip, hack and saw in a frosty arena to produce a sculpture that’s more than just cool—it’s frozen.
On Jan. 29-30 two Goodrich area teams will compete in the Frankenmuth Snowfest High School Snow Sculpting competition. The event is part of the Zehnder’s Snowfest which has hosted one of the top snow and ice sculpting events in North America for the past 30 years. Carving started on Thursday and concludes at 5 p.m. Friday. The finished sculptures will be on display through the weekend and in The Citizen next weekend.
The two high school aged snow sculpting groups include the Bridge/Boat Team A, with Ryan Flint, Gabe Husted, Samuel Louden and Adelyn Szatkowski, along with the Teepee/Cactus Team B Nathan Bulliner, Bella Kirby, Libby Luke and Jacob Tebo will start with an 6 feet-by-6-feet-by-8-feet black of frozen snow. There will be no power tools rather a variety of hand tools including drywall saws, horse combs and a chain. The students then hand smooth the icy snow into sculpted art.
“They are not professional artists,” said Donna Kirby, coordinator who along with Coach Angie Luke have guided teams into now their fifth year. “You really need to have an engineering mind with creativity along with lots of teamwork. It’s not easy for the kids, but it teaches teamwork and cold weather endurance.”
The high school teams will be located at River Place Shops. In other years more than 20 teams from statewide have competed for top horrors. The teams started last fall with a drawing then created a clay model. Once completed the model is divided into grids and each section is carved into the icy snow.
“There are many factors that impact sculpting,” said Kurby. “The weather conditions look favorable this year—cold. Other years we’ve had rain and warmer weather. That makes it much more difficult.”
Many times the sculpture is changed on the fly, she said.
“When the saw meets the ice things change,” she said. “It’s hard work, but the results are amazing.”

The high school teams will be located at River Place Shops. In other years more than 20 teams from statewide have competed for top horrors. The teams started last fall with a drawing then created a clay model. Once completed the model is divided into grids and each section is carved into the icy snow.
“There are many factors that impact sculpting,” said Kurby. “The weather conditions look favorable this year—cold. Other years we’ve had rain and warmer weather. That makes it much more difficult.”
Many times the sculpture is changed on the fly, she said.
“When the saw meets the ice things change,” she said. “It’s hard work, but the results are amazing.”