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Carving snow magic for Winterfest

Massive sculpture taking shape at waterfront

A mountain of snow is being chiselled into a magical winter Woodland at Barrie's waterfront in preparation for Winterfest.

Artists Mark Goger and Siggi Buhler are working on a massive snow sculpture with woodlands, fairies, giants and gnomes.

"I requested 20 truck loads of snow," said Buhler, who has been sculpting snow in Barrie for 17 years.

Goger as been sculpting here for 7 years but both men are from Toronto. 

The process for participating in Winterfest sculptures started with Buhler submitting a drawing of his vision for city approval.

The sculptors start to make the shapes by building plywood forms, standing them up and nailing them together.

And then comes the snow.

A plow shovels the snow into the forms which are left standing overnight to settle.

The next day the plywood forms are removed and the sculpting begins.

The cold and then mild weather has been making the sculptors a bit nervous.

"We're concerned about the temperatures," Buhler told BarrieToday.com. "We've got tarps to cover it."

Goger and Buhler are also creating two smaller snow sculptures for Winterfest and all will be lit up for the event.

The beautiful carvings must be ready by Friday evening so both snow artists are chiseling hard to make it happen.

Winterfest is this Saturday and Sunday and has family fun for everyone.

In addition to the snow sculptures, there are ice sculptures, lumberjack shows, maple taffy and so much more.