NORTH WOODSTOCK, NH — The annual architectural celebration of ice is back in action in New Hampshire and several other states.
Ice castles, temporary art installations and tourist attractions, feature towers, tunnels, arches and caves, all by growing, collecting and arranging thousands of icicles and then blasting them with sprinklers.
The company behind the scenes has grown since it was first installed in 2011. This year it has operations in Utah, Minnesota, with two locations in Colorado and New Hampshire, where the site includes a snow tubing hill and an ice bar. After last year’s mild winter, officials were pleased that temperatures were cold enough to open early in the season.
“It’s one of the biggest ice castles we’ve ever built,” said Jared Henningsen, the company’s vice president of operations. “We’re looking at about 25 million pounds of ice spread over two acres.”
Ass winter storm After bringing cold, wet snow to the South, visitors to a New Hampshire castle flocked to explore its twists and turns on Friday.
Julia Jones of Gloucester, Massachusetts, said she travels to northern New Hampshire several times a year, but hadn’t experienced the ice castles until her opening day visit.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. “I honestly didn’t think it would be this big.”
Jessica Sullivan, from Fairhaven, Massachusetts, was also impressed, and not just by the frozen environment. Her boyfriend, Brian Jacques, proposed to her during the visit.
“It’s a beautiful place,” said Jacques, who got the “yes” he was hoping for. “I definitely thought this is the time and place to do it.”
During the day the walls and other structures glow with a pale blue hue. After darkness falls, lights embedded within the ice glow pink, purple and green.
“When you step into an ice castle, you’re entering something that’s completely immersive and unlike most guests have ever seen,” Henningsen said. “I think it inspires people.”
