Minnesota brothers build Walvis the whale, their biggest snow sculpture yet
The Bartz brothers built their largest snow sculpture yet in New Brighton, Minnesota.
NEW BRIGHTON, Minn. (FOX 9) - On the front lawn of a home on the 2700 block of 16th Street Northwest in New Brighton, a giant of the ocean is making a splash on land.
“It’s over 260,000 pounds of snow,” said one of the builders, Austin Bartz. “It’s really something we’re passionate about and we love doing this and seeing everybody enjoy it.”
Austin and his two brothers Trevor and Connor are the creative force behind Walvis the whale. Towering more than 20 feet and spanning more than 60 feet long, it’s their biggest sculpture yet.
“This has definitely been our hardest sculpture to date. This one took us over 800 hours to complete just due to the weather,” Austin said.
From last year’s Slinky the snail, to Octavious the octopus, the Bartz snow sculptures have been a major attraction for the past nine years.
Their creativity is also an expression of charity, as Austin Bartz says this year’s creation will help raise funds for clean water in Africa.
“We love to give back. We know that other countries have a lack of clean water, and we really take it for granted here. We drink water every day that is perfectly clean and we don’t even think twice about it.”