The winners of the St. Paul Winter Carnival multiblock ice carving competition were announced Saturday.
In first place were Tom Schiller of Hastings, Rob Graham of Minneapolis and Trevor Pearson of Eden Prairie. Their ice masterpiece, called “Fishing to Win,” earned them a $2,000 prize.
In second place with a $1,000 prize was “Aerial Aquatics,” created by Chad Peterson of Monticello, Jerry Sarff of Monticello and Eric Rotter of Detroit Lakes.
Last but not least was the creation worth a prize of $500 called the “Dream Chaser,” crafted by Greg Schmotzer of Hastings and Chris Swarbrick of Hudson, Wis.
The teams had from noon Thursday to noon Saturday to carve and create their pieces out of 20 blocks of ice each, said Molly Steinke, a spokeswoman for the carnival.
Entries were judged on creativity and originality, technical difficulty, initial impact, completeness of design, attention to detail, utilization of ice and three-dimensional quality, Steinke said.
On Sunday, the individual block competition will run from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Competitors will receive 1 1/2 to two blocks of ice, each 10-by-20-by-40 inches, to transform into their own original designs.
Roughly 350,000 visitors flock to the Winter Carnival annually, according to the St. Paul Festival & Heritage Foundation. That equates to a $3.5 million to $5 million economic boost for the city and Minnesota, the foundation said.
Copyright 2014 Pioneer Press.
