An-ice day off

photo courtesy of Fairmont Hotels

After seven consecutive days of skiing, it was time to give our legs the day off on Sunday. The Fairmont Chateau Hotel at Lake Louise was holding the annual 'Ice Magic' competition over the weekend, so we went to have a look. It's an enormous hotel, looking out over the lake (which was named after Queen Victoria's fourth daughter, Princess Louise).

It felt very strange standing in the middle of a frozen lake, even if we had been told that "the ice is over a metre thick"...

....and sinking into the snow on the surface didn't help me feel any safer!

Talking of safety, the ice carvers took a few risks themselves!

But the results were pretty spectacular. The photos below show just a few of the sculptures as they near completion.

Some of the detailed work is amazing, as in this one 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' (it's hard to see here, but there is a wizard in the 'sorcerer's' right hand)

Here's a closer view - the wizard is no more than a foot high. Everything in each sculpture must be carved out of just 3 rectangular blocks of ice, and the pairs of competitors have 34 hours to complete the work!

All in all, a relaxing day, and we even managed to have a walk around the 'bustling' town of Banff.