US artist creates amazing ice castles

Artist Brent Christensen, 50, of Alpine, Utah, has spent the last four years perfecting the craft of intertwining icicles into solid, 20 to 25-foot-tall structures he calls ice castles, ABC News reported.

The hobby first started in 2000, when Christensen's family moved from sunny California to chilly Utah, and were looking for fun outdoor activities to do during the winter.

"We started doing winter stuff in the yard, playing around with the kids, making igloos and ice forts and slides and stuff," Christensen told ABCNews.com. "And it just evolved. One year I stumbled upon the concept of doing icicles by spraying water.

"We made one with a big wooden frame under it, and when it melted in the spring, it was a huge mess with a pile of soaking wood. The following year I didn't want to use any wood so it would just cleanly melt away. During the course of that winter, I stumbled upon the concept of fusing icicles to make a lattice to spray water on and build upon."


Once he got really good at building the ice fortresses, he approached several nearby resorts to see if they'd be interested in having him build displays for their guests. There weren't any takers at first and Christensen began to give up on the idea. Then, several weeks later, he heard from the manager of a small local spa and resort.


Since then, Christensen has become famous for his magnificent structures. He currently has two ice castles on display this year, one in Steamboat Springs, Colo., as well as a larger, more grandiose one he created in the parking lot of Mall of America near Minneapolis-St. Paul.


"People come and they pay an admission and spend about a half an hour usually taking pictures and exploring," he said. "The ice castle itself is probably about an acre and a half."