Snow piles up in Stillwater ahead of sculpting championship

STILLWATER, Minn. (FOX 9) - The World Snow Sculpting Championships are coming up this week in Stillwater, but the city has gotten very little snow this season.

They finally have the temperatures you’d expect for winter -- below zero for most of Monday -- but maybe not quite the snowfall, although you’d never know that if you're standing near the St. Croix River in Stillwater.

From a giant pile to 10x10x10 wooden cubes, snow is spreading across the riverfront.

Most of it is courtesy of a snowmaker from Afton Alps and not from Mother Nature, but the recent cold snap gets an assist.

"We really need cold temperatures," said event co-chair Sara Jespersen. "Thank goodness — I've never said this before -- that it got so cold. But we're really grateful because it gives us the opportunity to make snow."

Making the snow is just half the job, though.

Crews dumped it into the cubes.

And volunteers knocked out the lumps and then stomped the snow into submission.

"It's like nothing I've ever experienced before," said volunteer Michael D'Ambrosio. "It's really different."

D’Ambrosio braved below-zero temperatures Monday to do his part.

"I'm all bundled up and this (wooden cube) keeps the wind off of us, so it's actually not bad," he said.

When the stomping ends, packed snow cubes are all that remains.

A blank canvas for 12 teams from around the world, including Mexico and Ecuador where sand is a more familiar medium.

But for this winter art competition, the city expects 50,000 to 100,000 spectators and great conditions for the sculptors.

"It looks magical," Jespersen said. "What we find uncomfortable, I think, is some of the best time for them to work."

The championships start on Wednesday and they run through the weekend when the temperatures are supposed to warm up but not nearly enough for the snow cubes to melt.