Snow sculptors push through warm Nebraska weekend to compete for chance at nationals

Armed with shovels and scrapers, competitors gathered in a West Omaha park Saturday to turn snow into art.

The warm weather didn’t stop the six teams from creating various snow sculptures. One group went for a Valentine’s Day rocket ship, while another one leaned into a gnome theme.

Matt Seeley, an international award-winning snow sculptor and organizer of the competition, said the main mission of the snow sculpture battle is to have a Nebraska team represented at the U.S. National Competition.

“I've moved on to international competition, and I just really want to share this wonderful art with other people and give them a chance to partake,” Seeley said.

Through his experiences, Seeley has found an ice and snow sculpting community that spans the globe. He’s subbed for other international teams, including India and Mexico. He wants to grow that community.

“I'm hoping to get some local people here from Nebraska to add to that family,” Seeley said, “as it's honestly one of the best experiences, most incredible experiences, I've had in my entire life.”

Ahead of the competition, Seeley was in Heartwood Park Thursday, helping the setup team turn massive blocks of ice into snow. Using large pieces of wood, the team shaped the snow into tall rectangular blocks ready for sculpting.

Competitors could start carving on Friday. Some started Saturday morning.

The pieces were judged by fellow contestants. Though a somewhat subjective process, sculptor judging is usually based on technical prowess, message and overall appearance.

Madison Eisert competed with her family on Team Gnome-AHA, a play on Omaha. Their piece, titled “Snow place like gnome sweet gnome,” features a boy and girl gnome to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

“Their whole idea is that they're connected through love,” Eisert said. “Then, they both each have their own defining, cute characteristics.”

Eisert said her mom was the one who pushed for the family to try snow sculpting for the first Nebraska competition in 2019.

“My mom is always the one that would have called, like, ‘the wild hairs,’” Eisert said. “She said, ‘Hey, there’s a snow sculpting competition. We should totally do this.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, sure. We’ve never done this before.’ We’ve done snowmen, that was basically our extent.”

The Eiserts finished third in 2019. Even though the pandemic kept the competition at bay until now, the Eiserts continued to practice.

“One was a teddy bear sculpture. It had the red cross symbol in the center, honoring essential workers during the pandemic,” Eisert said. “When we found out they were doing (the competition) this year, we got so excited.”

That excitement buzzed throughout the event as the teams focused on their sculptures. One pair, named Team Rocket Men, were starting to carve into their snow block on Saturday morning. Geoff Amstutz said it was his first time snow sculpting.

“We just heard about this, and my buddy Kyle asked me to come help him out with this,” Amstutz said. “It seemed like a fun time to get outside and enjoy the weather.”

The pair created a rocketship with a heart on it for their own take on celebrating Valentine’s Day. Amstutz said his little bit of pottery experience helped as he tried out snow sculpting.

“That helps a little bit being able to visualize the three-dimensional aspects of everything,” Amstutz said. “It's cool just to see it start as a big square block of snow, and then you can be as creative, as we see all these other competition people coming up with ideas and turning them into reality.”

Other sculptures included a rabbit with a crown and cape, a puppy with a heart, a take on the Sweethearts candy box and a chipmunk holding up an acorn. Eric Benson was part of the Out Cold Nebraska team creating “Nut-orious Victory," featuring the chipmunk. Benson said they start with a clay model before digging into the snow.

“The clay model gets pretty detailed,” Benson said. “Obviously, with sculpting, you're going three dimensional. If you just draw a picture, you are left trying to figure out, ‘Hey, what does this look like from behind?’ You're kind of figuring it out on the fly.”

He added that negative space is the key to working with snow and making a sculpture come to life. At the first competition in 2019, Out Cold took home first place and also got fifth at nationals. Benson said his team is full of creatives, including two landscape architects and another in fashion design and marketing.

“We just have fun together as a team,” Benson said. “Our kids love it. They love to come out and see what mom and dad are doing. It's an interesting challenge.”

Benson said the 60-degree weather was an added challenge for competitors, likening the snow to the consistency of mashed potatoes.

“If you can tell what it is and it doesn't fall over, we're going to call it a victory today,” Benson said.

About halfway through the competition Saturday, tragedy struck the Out Cold team when their chipmunk collapsed under the sun. They rebounded with the creation of a broken heart, featuring “R.I.P.” in the base, still managing to snag third place at the end of the day.

Team Rocket Men took home second, and the Eiserts with Team Gnome-AHA won first. Eisert said the best part about the competition is the community.

“I think overall, just the creativity of seeing people, like you'll see a block of ice, and then somebody will make just one carve, and you'll be like, ‘Oh my gosh, I see the vision now,’” Eisert said. “Everybody's creativity is very different and everybody's level of competition, but everybody's just really nice. It's fun just to do something together that can bring joy to other people.”