KSL News TV channel 5 Christmas day at 10 pm

Brent with channel 5 crew and Zermatt's engineer and CPA

Brent and the ice castle will be on channel 5 News-KSL on Christmas Day at 10 p.m. with Alex Cabrero. Picture of Brent, his wife, and daughters, News Reporter, Alex Cabrero and Mark, the camera man.

Dec 24 day was beautiful!

December 24th was so beautiful!

Romance and Beauty--perfect for Bridal shoots!

Romantic Reflections

Romantic Night Shots

for bridal shoots or photographic permits (tripod for more than 20 minutes) You can contact Brent Christensen thru Zermatt Resort at 866-937-6288

Christmas Eve Pictures

The sky was a beautiful pink and the castle a pastel blue.

Beginning the second week

From Above

Zermatt Ice Village

Towers by natural hot springs

Perspectives

Ice Castle Village

Fun for all!

Working on the creation

What is the Ice Castle going to look like when it is done?

It already has 15-16 towers and a walking path around the grounds. In a few weeks the tallest tower will be 40 feet tall. Here is a model Brent built of the castle. The blue and red pegs in these pictures represent people.

How does Brent stay warm in 0 degree temps for so long?

Since he is out in this weather for 12-14 hours straight he needs to wear extra layers of clothes.

Brent wears two pair of thermals, sweat pants, sweat shirt, snow pants and winter coat each day. He comes in at night caked with ice. Once his hood was like a helmet of ice and we had to break the ice around his wrists to get his coat off.

He lets those clothes hang dry in front of a heater for a day and wears others of the same kind the next day. He uses neopreene ($60) gloves that are thin, warm and water resistant. When those are drying, he wears the 99 cent knit gloves with plastic mechanic gloves over them so he can have good use of his hands and still stay dry.

He says the ice and snow that covers him actually insulates him. If he stops moving or the snow and ice melt, the wet clothes make him very cold!

How does it grow from the ground up with no substructure?

Main Tower. Watch how it grows. The door will be in front here.

500-1,000 Icicles are grown, harvested and planted or pasted in place each day. Brent uses crampons (sharp spiked shoes) to climb to the tops of the towers to plant the icicles. The sprinklers turn each icicle into a thick column within a couple of days.

Anyone that wants to come help Brent harvest icicles is welcome!

Tour the Ice Castle Grounds

Photo by Mike Julian

Photo by Mike Julian




The grounds will be open M-F 3-9 p.m. and 11am-9pm Saturdays. Admission is $2.00 per person. If you are in a BYU Ward, or a local ward spread the word. It would be fun to see groups of youth come up!




The address is: Zermatt Resort, 784 West Resort Dr., Midway, Utah 84049

DAY ONE! First week and Fun Facts!

The icicles take on a bluish tint. There are no pigments in the water used for the ice castle. The bluish tint is from the molecular make up of ice and the way it absorbs certain colors more than others.

The ice columns are getting thicker.

This was taken at midnight day six.

The Ice Castle should continue to grow until around the end of February 2010. Remnants of the melting ice may linger into May or June.

We hope the Ice Castle will help young and old find joy in the beauty of Winter.

Day Six--the formations start to mushroom out. The Ice Castle increases by an estimated 10-12 tons per day.
The ice Castle requires Brent, its creator, to spend about 14 hours per day building and maintaining it along with additional help from family and friends. The castle grounds cover 1/4 acre and have several different towers.

You will be able to walk thru and tour the ground to view the beautiful formations up close!

Icicle formations up close. The ice castle is a beautiful creation that is made from the ground up. It is made entirely out of ice-- there is no supporting substructure. When the weather is cooperative, the structures can be grown upwards of three feet per day. At itspeak the castle's main tower is expected to reach three to four stories high. We hope to open the doors for tours on Saturday, Dec. 12th. The beauty of the Ice Castle lies in its organic, ever-evolving nature. It's fascinating ice formations are dynamic. Come back to visit the Ice Castle often. It's never the same twice.

Even the ground forms unique ice formations of its own.

Day Four--water lines will not freeze so long as the water is always flowing at least a small amount.

Day Three--To grow and maintain the Ice Castle the temperatures must be around 20F or below at night, and around 40F or less during the day.

Day two--five hundred to 1,000 icicles are are grown and harvested each day. They are "planted" or "pasted" strategically to direct, enhance, and strengthen the natural growth of the ice.

After only two hours of water it looks like a Winter Wonderland!

The Ice Castle is located in the front putting green area of Zermatt Resort in Midway, Utah.

Day One

Over 20 sprinkler heads and more than 2000 feet of pvc pipes.