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The Dartmouth
March 29, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Area ice sculptor to oversee first annual Ice Sculpture Contest

2.7.14.carnival.icesculpture
2.7.14.carnival.icesculpture

Carving 100-pound blocks of ice with his chainsaw, professional ice sculptor Murray Long will serve as a mentor for the revival of the Winter Carnival ice sculpture contest.

Long, who grew up in nearby White River Junction, carved two ice sculptures during last year’s Carnival which were displayed on the lawn of Robinson Hall over the weekend.

Because the sculptures were popular with students, Collis Center for Student Involvement director Eric Ramsey and the Winter Carnival Council invited Long back to facilitate a campus-wide competition, Ramsey said.

“After sculpting, Murray spent the rest of the day interacting with people on campus,” Ramsey said. “That really impressed me.”

The competition, on Feb. 6 and Feb. 7, hosts up to 20 student teams, who will compete to win prizes of $600, $300 and $100 donated by the Class of 1977.

Gustavo Mercado Muniz ’16, the chair for the ice sculpture contest and the polar bear swim, said that despite it being a new event, turnout has been strong. The committee began emailing campus about three weeks ago to make students aware of the event. In order to reach 20 teams, the competition was opened up to faculty as well, he said.

Historically, Greek organizations at Dartmouth built snow sculptures on their lawns. Last year, the council opened the contest to all of campus, but due to a lack of snow the contest could not be held, Muniz said.

“[The competition] is a way to update that tradition and get all of Dartmouth involved,” Ramsey said.

The professional sculptor, he said, will also construct his own sculptures, which will be featured in front of Robinson Hall along with the contest participants’ creations.

To prepare for the contest, teams attended a mandatory training session on Wednesday afternoon about safety and sculpting techniques to minimize the risk of injury. Teams then sketched their designs and prepared to carve.

Twenty 100-pound blocks of ice and pedestals have been brought in for the final creations, which will line Main Street. Long or another professional will make two rough cuts to the sculpture to help get teams started.

To ensure a fair contest, the competition committee set specific guidelines for the sculptures. No sculpture can exceed eight feet in height, each must be marked with the name of the organization that sculpted it, all sculptures must be non-interactive, each must be made entirely of the ice provided and content must be age and theme appropriate. Groups will be provided with sculpting tools to use for their projects.

Long began ice sculpting at 15 years of age as the first official ice sculptor for the nearby Quechee Club in Vermont. He then attended culinary school and entered the restaurant business, working as a chef at a Las Vegas hotel and casino. After work, he would carve ice sculptures, using the tools available to him in the kitchen.

After 20 years in Las Vegas, Long moved to New Hampshire and spent nine years as an instructor at a Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, where he began a sculpting club on the school’s campus. After the college closed, he moved to Boston.

“Pretty soon I had a serious hobby on my hands and I had to decide whether or not I wanted to turn it into a full-time gig,” Long said. “I am glad I did.”

Five years later, Long’s company Wicked Good Ice, located in Rochester, N.H., creates sculptures for weddings, birthdays and other events.

Though winter festivals boost his business, he said that business is steady in other seasons because of weddings and buffets that order ice sculptures, with seafood ice bars being his specialty.

The ice sculpture competition began Thursday at noon and will continue Friday from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m. Judging will commence at 3 p.m. and the winners will be announced at Collis from 4 p.m. until 5 p.m.