Athropolis HOME   |   Maps   |   Arctic Links   |   Arctic Library
Click to go HOME
From our library of things you should know about the Arctic

Click for more information.

Sapporo Snow Festival

During the Sapporo Snow Festival (every February), massive snow sculptures turn Sapporo, Japan into a winter dreamland of crystal and white.

Here's how the sculptors make them:

1. They start with good plans. Based on the desk plan, a wooden frame is built and filled with tightly packed snow. This frame also serves as scaffolding.

2. Once the packed snow is hardened, the frame panels are removed and the carving begins.

3. A small model is used as a guide. Hatchets and shovels are used to outline the sculpture, and then the details are added. Because warmer daytime temperatures make the sculptures fragile, many sculptors work at night.

4. When the sculpture is completed, the scaffolding is removed. Snowfall and icicles that have formed on the sculpture are trimmed off.

The snow doesn't last as long as marble, but hey, it's cool while it lasts!

MORE...
Click pictures for more information and credits.
Library: Snow, Ice, Cold Places
More Ice Sculptures: Harbin Ice Festival
Or stay in an Ice Hotel!
Links: Cold Places
Arctic Maps & Weather Reports
News Stories: Harbin Festival, Ice Hotel


Double-click any unlinked word DICTIONARY: Just "double-click" any unlinked word on this page for the definition from Merriam-Webster's Student Electronic Dictionary at Word Central.
Arctic Library ARCTIC LIBRARY & GLOSSARY: Check this section for an index of the rest of the things you really need to know about the Arctic.
All sorts of Arctic Maps ARCTIC MAPS & WEATHER REPORTS: Maps of the Northwest Passage, explorers' routes, iceberg sources, Nunavut, the Arctic by treeline, temperature...
Links to related sites. ARCTIC LINKS: Even more information! Links to sites related to the Arctic and "Iceberg: the Story of the Throps and the Squallhoots".
A Guide to Arctic Sunrise and Sunset GUIDE TO ARCTIC SUNRISE & SUNSET: How much sunlight or darkness is there in the Arctic on each day of the year?

Search for more on this topic...from Athropolis!
(1) Click the button for Web (below) to search the World Wide Web
(2) Click button for
WWW.ATHROPOLIS.COM to search this web site

 
Web WWW.ATHROPOLIS.COM
Icy Cold Jokes | Icy Games | E-mail | Athropolis HOME
Copyright © 2005 Athropolis Productions Limited. The content of web sites that this site has links
to is the property of their respective owners, and Athropolis is not responsible for their content.