Beyond Snowmen: How To Make Sense-tingling Snow Creations

Record low temperatures and heavy snow have been in the headlines a lot recently - from Tokyo experiencing it's heaviest snow in 4 years, to the recent Beast From The East swathing Europe in icy temperatures. For those who aren't used to seeing snow every winter it appears to have an extremely inspiring quality, bringing out the inner creative in all of us.

It's hard to distinguish who has more more fun – the adults using this as an opportunity to let out their inner child, or the children who delight in seeing their parents taking part in the frivolities. However, for a grown-up enjoying the snow without the presence of children, it's great opportunity to to unleash some pent-up creative talent. The results can range from beautifully complex snow sculptures to some amazingly simple, yet visually stimulating, snow and light creations.

Here are a selection of amazing snow-based sculptures beginning with the most professional and ornate and ending with effective creations you can do at home next time the snow falls.

See How The Professionals Do It In Colorado

The International Snow Sculpture Championship in Breckenridge takes place in January every year. Snow carving began in the 1970s for the annual Breckenridge Ullr Fest when amateur teams would make snow sculptures. Like many small scale arty events, it's popularity ballooned and it evolved into a contest open to international competitors.

Snow Patterns By Simon Beck

Simon Beck creates enormous snow patterns made entirely by foot - walking across the terrain in briquette snow shoes. Located in France and overlooking Mont Blanc, Beck’s patterned snow circles cover the expanses of the frozen lakes near the ski slopes of the Les Arcs ski resort. These ephemeral art installations only last until the next fresh layer of wind driven snow.

Amateur Snow Sculptures In Japan

The Japanese seemed to have honed their skills well beyond the straightforward snowman we create in Europe. Their inspiration principally comes from their deep rooted cartoon and anime culture. As Bored Panda correctly observes these 'snow sculptures that will put a smile on your face, and put old carrot nose in your backyard to shame.'

Swedish Snowball Lanterns

Known as a snölykta, these cone-shaped lanterns are made from a pyramid of snowballs enclosing a few tea lights. It's a wintertime tradition for most Swedes, just as building snowmen are for us in the UK. Constructing a snow lantern is one of the first things a Swedish child learns to do when winter arrives. And after it's snowed, these are the dazzling creations adorning the front lawns of houses along the street. The ambience created by snölykta inspired us at Sensorama to build a couple of our own after the Beast Of The East brought freezing temps and snowfall to our shores.

Monsters With Glowing Eyes

An even simpler and extremely creepy snow creation is the snow monster. These require little more then creating and mound of snow then poking two holes for the eyes. Then just add glowsticks or little tealights to bring them to life and scare the heck out of your neighbours!

Do you unleash your creativity when the snow falls and create anything unusal? Let us know your snow creation ideas below, we'd love to hear them.