Opening Next Week!!!!

I wanted to get things open this weekend but the reality is that there's a boatload of work before we're ready. The castles are coming along nicely though. Above is a picture my daughter took last night. Some of the castles are 3 times as big as these one (about 15' high currently).

If I were to guess at the moment I'd say we'll be opening Tues or Wed of next week (Jan 3 or 4).

Opening Date

The ice is growing nicely. I think the main towers will be up to 20 by tomorrow (Thurs). However, I don't know if I'll be able to have the park open by the weekend. It's a major undertaking to initially prepare the walkways. It involves lots of jackhammering, picking, tilling, etc. It means losing a day or maybe two of growing. I'll know for sure by tomorrow.

Growing Again!!!

Here's me with a baby tower. This one is one day old. By this Friday I hope to have most of them up to 15-20' high. I'm still hoping to have the walkways open by New Years Eve. The initial grooming of the walkways is super labor intensive so we may just have to wait and see. I think the next few days will tell us if we're on schedule.

I also hope to have the lighting in place by then. I've been experimenting with some compact fluorescent lights that make a very pure-white light.

We're finally making ice again!

All the sprayers are on tonight and icicles are forming as we speak (type). Having cold weather is all I wanted for Christmas. I may actually get up early in the morning before the kids wake up to do some work out there. We're still going to shoot for opening on New Year's Eve.

I'll try to get some pics on here tomorrow.

Target Open Date: New Year's Eve

Looks like lots of cold nights are almost here!!! Between tomorrow night and through the end of December it looks like there are only a couple of nights above 25F. That's great news! Starting tomorrow night the water goes back on and I'll work around the clock (if necessary) with my valiant helpers to build the ice castles so we can open on New Years Eve. I hope to have the towers up to 15-25' tall by then. I'M SO EXCITED!!!!

As the days go by I'll get some pics and update the progress.

Lots of snow but not too cold

So much for our good start. Sunday's heavy rains melted most of what I had build...but I knew it was coming. The weather is getting colder this next week but it's only borderline (most of the forecasts are calling for lows in low-20's). But at least it's not supposed to be too warm in the days. So maybe I can get something growing again.

My kids and I had an awesome evening at the ice rink last night! :)

A Good Start

We enjoyed a few good cold nights. I was able to get a good start on several of the towers. They're up to 6-7' tall. Ice is so amazing. When I harvest the icicles I need to handle them with such care to not to break them. But I can plant them vertically and horizontally and run the sprinklers on them and then actually climb on them the next day.

So, all the kids are home from around the state. At one point I think there will be 18 of us (including son-in-law, grandbaby, fiance, girlfriend, boyfriend, and dog-in-law). The upside of having unseasonably warm weather this week is that I get to spend more time with my beautiful,awesome family!

As we get closer to Christmas the weather will be getting colder and after Christmas the weather will be wicked-cold. It's going to AWESOME! Y'all come up and say hi.

I'll get some pics up tomorrow.

Day One

This is the very first icicle I "planted" this morning. After running the water last night we had a good harvest of icicles on the racks this morning. I planted them around the park to start the formation of the different towers. Tonight the water is running again and the planted icicles will grow and thicken and I'll add another layer in the morning. If the weather is cold again Friday night by Saturday AM some of the towers will be over 6'. It's been an exhausting day so if none of this makes any sense... well... that's why.

The latest check of all the weather predictions isn't too great, unless you're normal and don't like to shovel snow....then it's FREAKIN FABULOUS! But if you're a weirdo who get's up at 2am to see if it's cold enough to make icicles, then the forecast is....well, quite crappy. After getting all excited about the latest dose of cold weather we're looking at another week of March-like weather. I'm still hopeful that somehow I can get the park open before New Years.

Opening after Christmas.

I turned on the water last night. The people at the ice rink were probably a little puzzled to see a guy out in the snow-covered field doing like a victory dance when water sprayed out of the first sprinkler head. I guess I've been planning and waiting along time. And when I came into the house later with ice-encrusted boots and coat, I realized how much I love doing this.

So we've got a couple more cold nights ahead of us to do some growing. Then it looks like I'll need to take a break while the weather warms back up a bit. But by mid- to late next week I'll be back at it...this time hopefully for the duration of the winter. I hope to have the towers up to 15'+ high and the walkways open sometime between Christmas and New Years.

HURRAY FOR COLD WEATHER!!!!

The Water Goes On Tonight!!!

It looks like we will have 2 or 3 cold nights. I'll get out and see if I can't get a start on the castles. Unfortunately, the forecasts are calling for warm weather to return and remain through the end of December. But hey, we all know how forecasts can be wrong. And there's always January and February, right.

If any of you were planning a trip up to see the Ice Castles during the Holidays I apologize in advance if we don't have them open. But you may still want to come up and enjoy the Midway Ice Rink. It's a beautiful outdoor rink here in Town Square. Parley does a great job keeping the ice in good shape, even when the weather is warm (when it's too warm to grow the castles chances are I'll be skating there with my kids).

Cold weather on the horizon--finally

This is where an acre ice castles will soon be growing.
As you might imagine I check the weather charts...a lot. It's interesting because the sources vary in their predictions. But from all I've been gathering we should have some good, cold weather roll in by late next week (at least it will be in the teens at night). I and my helpers will get to work with the goal of having the park opened by Christmas. Of course it will continue to grow and evolve through the end of Feb.

Opening Delayed....Mother Nature shows who's Boss

I have a mile of pvc pipes in place and everything ready to go...the only problem is it feels more like St. George than Midway. In order to grow the ice castles I need night temps of 20F or below and day temps of mid-30s or below. The extended forecasts are all predicting lows of 25-30 and highs in 40s. :( I'd like to have the park open for Christmas but that may be tough to do at this rate.

I'm sure that we'll end up with some beautiful ice castles this year...just not as soon as I'd like. We're bound to be cold by the end of the year.
I'll update as things transpire. I look forward to seeing you all here when we transform this acre of lawn into a big icy wonderland.

I never thought I'd long for bitter cold weather. In the meantime, maybe I'll pull the mountain bike back out of the garage.