Michigan Tech snow sculptures starting to take shape

Many say the best part of Michigan Tech’s Winter Carnival is the month-long snow statue competition.

ABC 10’s Keweenaw Bureau Reporter Sam Ali gives you a sneak peak under the shovel to see what it takes to build these humongous heaps of snow.

It’s the competition that everyone has their eyes on. Large snow statues trimmed, cut up and sculpted into brilliant works of art. For Phi Kappa Tau, it’s become a yearly tradition as they have won the last six snow statue competitions in the fraternities group.

But, what makes their statues different than the others?

President Mike Braun says instead of creating a still image, they try to recreate an entire scene.

“When you look across the entire thing, you see different stuff happening in different areas. It almost looks like you paused the movie, the show or the scene right then and there, and you hit play and everyone is going to start moving again,” Braun said.

Last year, Phi Kappa Tau built a large scene from the movie “The Incredibles” and they think with this year’s theme of nostalgic childhood films, they will be able to do better.

“This year, my confidence level is pretty high. Looking at everybody else’s and looking at ours, knowing what we can do and what we can accomplish together,” said Braun.

The Army ROTC is also hard at work trying to take the top spot in the Student Organizations group.

I asked Battalion Commander Madeline Peabody about the toughest part of building the statues.

“The bulk work isn’t too difficult. Making the forms isn’t that bad. But the detail work is really what will get you. It takes a while and it’s really what will make or break your statue,” Peabody said.

With the all-nighter set to take place tomorrow, we will keep you updated as the finishing touches are made, all the way up to Thursday morning when judging begins.