The 34th annual International Snow Sculpture Championships presented by Toyota will return to Breckenridge CO from Jan. 20 – 29, 2025. This global championship event brings the best snow sculpting teams from around the world to Breckenridge to showcase their creativity, ingenuity, and prowess with snow. As teams carve 12-foot tall, 25-ton blocks of snow by hand, visitors will marvel at the ephemeral art that emerges like magic in Breckenridge.
This year’s event will welcome international teams from Argentina, Canada, Finland, Germany, India, South Korea, Mexico, Mongolia, and Turkey. Representing the USA are two teams from Wisconsin and the home team of Breckenridge. The 2025 lineup includes two teams who have never before competed in Breckenridge: Team Finland and Team Quebec, Canada. Last year’s top winner, Team Mexico, who swept the competition with the Gold Medal, Artist’s Choice, and People’s Choice wins, will be among the most anticipated returning teams as they create another towering artwork. This year’s design submissions display a variety of themes, such as artificial intelligence’s role in the identity of art, the multifaceted nature of the human mind, and the disappearing ice of the Arctic Ocean.
Snow sculpting is both an art form and a sport, and these teams will have 94 hours to transform massive snow blocks into intricate and meaningful works of art. This entails the off-loading of huge masses of snow, the etching and smoothing of fine features, and a variety of hand carving techniques in between. The sculptors use no internal support structures, colorants, or power tools, and yet many of the designs will awe viewers with astounding structural integrity and detail work. Through the days and nights, the artists will watch the weather as well as the clock in order to decide the best strategy for making their ideas into a reality that won’t melt, crumble, or lose detail before the judges and fans can see the final result. The process of sculpting is not to be missed, and visitors are encouraged to watch the masters at work during Sculpting Week.
For about six days, the finished sculptures stand proudly in Breckenridge to be ogled by flocks of visitors from around the world. A stroll through the sculpture garden is the perfect addition to any day, but it’s even better at night, when each snowy masterpiece is illuminated in colorful light. After taking in the sights, visitors can vote for their favorite sculpture to win the People’s Choice Award.
A panel of judges will select the Gold, Silver and Bronze winners based on criteria such as technical skill, creativity and expressive impact. Meanwhile, the sculptors themselves will also vote for their top picks to win the Luthar Luboschik Artists’ Choice Award. The awards ceremony is free and open to the public, and will take place outdoors at the event site this year. The teams do not compete for cash prizes, but rather, for the glory of the win and the chance to sculpt in some of the best conditions in the snow sculpting world, with the perfectly blown snow from Breckenridge Ski Resort and the cold, crisp weather conditions of the Colorado high country.
The weekend of Friday, Jan. 24 – Sunday, Jan. 26, is historically the most popular time for sculpture viewing. To help ensure the best environment for visitors, timed entry reservations will be required on Saturday, Jan. 25 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. There is no cost for a timed entry, but availability is limited. Spectators can sign up for a Saturday sculpture viewing online at GoBreck.com/ISSC.