Dazzling Ice Castles draw tourists to New Hampshire and other states
An annual architectural celebration of ice is up and running again in New Hampshire and several other states.
NORTH WOODSTOCK, N.H. — An annual architectural celebration of ice is up and running again in New Hampshire and several other states.
Ice Castles, which are both temporary art installations and tourist attractions, feature towers, tunnels, archways and caves, all created by growing, harvesting and arranging thousands of icicles and then blasting them with sprinklers.
The company behind the displays has expanded since its first installation in 2011. This year it has operations in Utah, Minnesota, two locations in Colorado and New Hampshire, where the site includes a snow tubing hill and ice bar. After a mild winter last year, officials were thrilled that temperatures were cold enough to open earlier this season.
“It’s one of the biggest ice castles we’ve ever built,” said Jared Henningsen, the company’s vice president for operations. “We’re looking at about 25 million pounds of ice spread over two acres.”
As a winter storm brought biting cold and wet snow to the South, visitors to the New Hampshire castle bundled up to explore its twists and turns Friday.
Rating: 5