Monday, March 10, 2014

Northwoods Life | Ice Castle 2014, Eagle River Wisconsin


By saying the Ice Castle is big deal in these parts is a huge understatement! Sadly it is built largely in part with much cooperation from Mother Nature. With a slight warm up in the forecast this week it will be coming down after being up for the better part of a month and a half this year largely due to safety concerns as many tourists and locals a like love seeing (and climbing all over it!)




First designed by C.H. Hanke owner of the Eagle River ice route, the Ice Castle was rumored to have been built as early as the 1920’s with no exact documentation date to be found. Using over 2,500 12” inch thick blocks of ice this awesome palace as some like to call it is now used to highlight the many great winter activities and events hosted in the community throughout the season.



The last several years this feat has not been accomplished due to lack of consecutive cold weather but finally this year we have certainly had quite the cold snap (thank you to -25 below temps with -50 wind chill!) Out of this cold allows a special little lake, called Silver Lake, to make the ice that is needed and a great group of volunteer fire fighters (including C.H. Hanke’s grandson, Jack Thomas, who now designs the castle) using vintage tools specially designed to cut the large ice blocks to create this humbling sight. As you can tell having an annual photo taken by the Ice Castle is always a fun way to celebrate the season (at least while the weather permits!)


Credits | Author: Krista, Photography: Fornear Photo, History: Eagle River Chamber of Commerce

No comments:

Post a Comment