The next Winter Olympics are still a year away, but spectators in Breckenridge, Colorado, were recently able to follow along with another epic cold weather competition to tide them over. Twelve teams from around the globe converged for the 2025 International Snow Sculpture Championships, putting their skills to the test in a race for the gold, silver, and bronze medals.
Using only hand tools, the teams spent up to 96 hours across five days molding 25-ton blocks of snow (provided by the Breckenridge Ski Resort) into staggering works of art. Sculpting week lasted from Jan. 20 to Jan. 24, at which point the artists had to drop their chicken wire, vegetable peelers, and other devices and submit their statues to the judging panel.
Breckenridge Tourism Office
Taking technical skill, creativity, expressive impact, and continuity to the original design into consideration, the five judges selected their winners and presented the awards, which included the Lothar Luboschik Artists’ Choice Award, in a ceremony held Jan. 24. Recognition was also given to the winner of the People’s Choice Award, South Korea’s “In the History We Remember,” on Jan. 25. The sculptures will remain on display at the city’s Riverwalk Center until Jan. 29.
So who took home the gold this year? Team Germany clinched the top spot with their sculpture “APEX — zero-gravity series,” a geometric depiction of the creation of order. “Geometry is the music we experience with our eyes,” the artists wrote in the original design description, adding a reference to their bronze-winning artwork from 2024: “Once again we will reach the limit — seemingly impossible magic in the snow. Within the designs of the zero-gravity series, we will try to make snow hover again.”
Gold: Team Germany
Silver: Team Mexico
Team Mexico scooped up the silver medal (following a gold medal win in 2024) and the Artists’ Choice Award for their sculpture “Descendant,” noting, “The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree” in their description of the piece.
Bronze: Team India
Team India nabbed the bronze for “Mind in Meditation,” a series of three fragmented faces signifying “the multiple thoughts that keep coming in when one wants to calm one’s mind in meditation” and revealing “the mind’s multifaceted nature,” per the description.
People’s Choice Award: Team South Korea
The winners don’t receive cash prizes, but rather “the glory of a win,” the Breckenridge Tourism Office shared in a press release — and the amazed gazes from the public, of course. Scroll to see some of the other impressive entries.
Team USA – Breckenridge
Team Argentina
Team Mongolia
Team Canada
Team USA – Wisconsin
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