2008 Ice Palace - VI

The Ice Palace is finished. It's raining today but that might not be too bad because when it gets colder this afternoon it will give the Palace a really nice smooth sheen. The pyramid is finished and the Egyptians could not have done a better job. It looks perfect. What I thought was going to be a maze is not a maze at all but rather a "community spiral". I have some pictures and will post them later today.

As promised, here are the pictures of the Ice Palace taken about 9 AM this morning. It was raining.

And a few hours later after a quick one inch snowfall.

Currently it's partly sunny and windy with snow flurries.

2008 Ice Palace V

A bit warmer weather is coming this week but not warm enough to affect the Ice Palace.

2008 Ice Palace IV

2008 Ice Palace III

2008 Ice Palace II

The size of the Ice Palace has doubled since yesterday. It must have been really cold work. It appears that the two front square towers are complete at 10 ft. high as they are now crenelated. A wall now connects the left square tower with the left round tower. The rear wall appears to be complete but is not yet crenelated. It's about 11 ft. high. Presumably the round towers will be connected to the rear wall. No new work has been done on the pyramid.

2008 Ice Palace I

This years Ice Palace will feature a pyramid with a square turret or tower on either side of the pyramid. Two round towers will also be on either side but a bit further back. A back wall will finish off the palace.

Lot's of campmen working this morning. Notice people are wearing life prservers. The last place you want to be is in the icy water although the cold would probably kill you almost as fast as you could drown. But it can be a dangerous job. I don't believe anyone has ever been lost though. I'll post some close up pictures later, when the campmen have left the job. The CO's don't like people photographing the campmen.

2008 Ice Palace Started Today

As I drove by Pontiac Bay on Lake Flower today I noticed a crew from Camp Gabriels clearing the ice of snow. The huge, ancient, gasoline powered ice saw was also sitting on the ice. Several volunteers were studying the plans for the palace, while others were laying out where the first course of ice "bricks" would be placed. Looks like cold weather for the next several days so conditions for Ice Palace building should be perfect. You can count on pictures tomorrow.

The 111th Saranac Lake Winter Carnival will be held from Feb. 1st through Feb. 10th. Go here for the 2008 Winter Carnival schedule.

Ice Palace - IV

The Ice Palace is going up! Unfortunately, I missed the cutting of the first blocks of ice, but I will get it later. Ice blocks are cut with an ancient gasoline powered saw. A channel is cut and the ice blocks are 'herded' using long poles down this channel where they are loaded onto the scoop of a tractor.



Here a block has just been taken off the tractor, using large ice tongs, and placed into position.



The front of the Ice Palace will have a round tower on either end. You can see large areas of "ice mortar" filling in the gaps of the tower levels.



Here is a crew using ice slush mortar to seal the huge blocks of ice into place. Notice the men are wearing life preservers. They were out on the lake where a large hole had been cut to obtain the ice blocks. Life preservers are a great idea when working in a dangerous area like that.

Ice Palace - III

Work on the Saranac Lake Ice Palace will start on Wednesday. Some of the equipment is in place. The ice is about 11 inches thick and 12 in. is the minimum needed. With the frigid temperatures we've had lately, I'd think the ice would be 24 in. by now. The design of the Ice Palace is going to be a surprise. The Ice Palace was scheduled to be finished on Feb 2nd. That will be almost impossible. But it will surely be ready for the final weekend of Winter Carnival. The Ice Palace is built completely by volunteers and anyone is welcomed to help out. It is a great opportunity to learn how to build an Ice Palace - a very rare skill I imagine.

BTW, a snowmoble went through the ice on Lake Flower near the state boat launch Saturday night. Just because the ice is 11 inches thick in Pontiac Bay doesn't mean the rest of the lake is safe. Remember, the "lake" is really a river and rivers have currents. The thickness of the ice is probably quite variable.

Ice Palace II

It's looking good for an ice palace. The night time temps have been well below zero and daytime temps in the single digits or teens. More cold weather to come. The ice has got to be getting thicker. Today the village workers cleared the building site and once again cleard Pontiac Bay of snow. I'm guessing the cutting of ice might start on Sunday.

Ice Palace - I

The first evidence of hopes for an Ice Palace. The picture above is of Pontiac Bay on Lake Flower. The snow has been plowed off the surface of the ice so that thicker ice can form more rapidly. Some 1000-1500 blocks of ice will be cut out of this area.