Ice Castle Closes Due to Utah's Warm Winter
Feb. 11, 2015 - The magnificent Ice Castle—walls, towers, and canyons made entirely of ice—draws thousands of visitors every year to Midway, Utah. This year, unusually warm weather forced the closing of the winter attraction. The builders consider creating the Ice Castle to be the best job in the world, but they know the risks in running a business that depends on Mother Nature.
Ice Castles official website
Transcript
BRENT CHRISTENSEN, ICE CASTLES FOUNDER AND DESIGNER:
We packed the house and everybody had a great time. We had music and lights and fire. And it was a good time but, um, we recognize
the risks when we’re dealing with a weather-related business. And, and this year of a tough one for us
here.
Right now we are standing in the crumbling remains of our
once glorious Ice Castles here in Midway, Utah.
We were open for three evenings and that was our season this
year. Normally we are open from four to
six to eight weeks. This year, it warmed
up and it never really, really got cold.
So we struggled and struggled.
JESSE STONE, ICE CASTLES SITE MANAGER:
We have no internal support structure whatsoever. This is entirely done with ice and that’s it.
We’ve been hitting temperatures as high as
fifty-degrees. As far as an ice castle
is concerned, it’s very, very difficult to grow in anything above thirty-degree
temperature.
We have to make up for that on days when it is cold and try
to work overtime. We work double-shifts,
triple-shifts. We need to run around and
make sure that the castle is growing properly, that the integrity of the
structure is safe: it’s safe for the people visiting, it’s safe for my workers
to climb the castles and towers so that they don’t get injured.
The Soldier Hollow Ice Castle consists of a variety of
formations for people to visit. We have
anywhere from mazes to throne rooms. We
go slot canyons that are very symbolic to the slot canyons in Southern
Utah.
The castle itself is very organic in its growth, you
know. We are very dependent upon
weather, with the wind, temperatures, humidity.
Based on those factors, as they change the ice castle can change as
well: the way ice grows, the direction ice grows, how quickly it grows, how
thick or how long it grows.
BRENT CHRISTENSEN, ICE CASTLES FOUNDER AND DESIGNER:
You know, it is what it is.
I started it five years ago and it’s worth the risk because we have such
an enthusiastic fan base, I guess, here in the area, if you would. Despite all the challenges that we may have
from year to year, I consider myself extremely blessed to be able to do
this. It’s an industry or a business
that , um, I enjoy doing. I just love
it and so does everybody who works here. We just have a great time.
JESSE STONE, ICE CASTLES SITE MANAGER:
Hands down it is the great job I ever had. Ice Castles is
like building a large fort. It’s
extremely fun. It’s difficult. It’s
challenging. It can be very
stressful. But how often can you get the
opportunity to build a fort of this magnitude.
It’s something tens of thousands of visitors come through every year.
It’s artistic unlike anything in the entire world.