Posted on 1/11/2025 by Alyssa Schnarsky

Day Trip: Breckenridge International Ice Sculptures

Snow Sculpting in Breckenridge, Colorado

If you are looking for a fun mountain activity to experience during your late January Keystone Vacation, the Breckenridge Snow Sculptures are definitely worth taking a day trip to see.

Every year the Town of Breckenridge, which is just a 20 minute drive from Keystone, hosts the ‘International Snow Sculpture Championships’ presented by Toyota. Competitors travel from other countries around the world to compete here in Summit County, Colorado from places such as Morocco, Russia, Switzerland, China, Argentina, and Canada, as well as states throughout the US. Snow blocks are built from snow brought down from the resorts in Breckenridge by the Public Works Department. The snow is transferred from dump trucks onto the streets and molded by snow blowers, front end loaders, and human "molders", whose primary job is to climb into and top of the snow and pack it down with the stomping of their feet. This process is the same for each snow block and continues until the mold is full and packed into sculptable snow. When the competition begins, designers bundle up and work on the 25-ton blocks throughout the day and night for a span of five days (nearly 100 hours), using a variety of hand-tools (no power tools allowed!), models and drawings. The end result is a temporary gallery of larger than life beautiful sculptures in downtown Breckenridge, CO!

This year’s event is just a few weeks away, with sculpting taking place from January 20 - 24, 2025 and viewing and judging happening from January 24 - 29. This event is free and open to all, though reservations are required for viewing on Saturday, January 25. For more information about this event, visit GoBreck.com.

This event is definitely worth the short drive from Keystone if you are staying with SummitCove Lodging over the weekend. Are you looking to reserve a ski condo to stay in for the weekend? Checkout our West Keystone properties for a shorter drive to Breckenridge, which will allow you to hop in your car and be checking out the snow sculptures in no time!



About The Author
Alyssa Schnarsky

Alyssa Schnarsky is the Marketing Director at SummitCove Vacation Lodging in Keystone and has worked in the vacation lodging industry for over 15 years. When she's not delivering exceptional content on all-things Keystone, you can find her hiking in the mountains, skiing the trees, enjoying a live concert, spending time with her tuxedo cat or planning her next adventure.

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