Belvidere snow sculpting

FILE PHOTO Belvidere Republican
Snow sculpting competitions have continued to be favorite winter events for many artists and onlookers, including a recent America’s Snow Sculpting Invitational held in the region.
This winter thankfully hasn’t had too much snow overall. Many of us probably appreciate that, but it is terrible weather for the world of snow sculptors. Belvidere isn’t the coldest place on Earth certainly, but historically, we have gotten quite a bit of snowfall, enough snowfall to produce not just one, but at least two nationally acclaimed teams of snow sculptors.
In 1985, Dennis Johnson and Brian Hampton, of Rockford, were snowmobiling together in Wisconsin when they drove past a snow sculpture by chance. They commissioned the artists to come to Rockford and, with help from the Rockford Park District, constructed three large sculptures, a bald eagle, the Liberty Bell, and the Statue of Liberty. Later, Dennis and Brian learned that Milwaukee hosted a Wisconsin State Snow Sculpting Competition every year. Dennis and Brian decided there was no reason they couldn’t do the same, and with the help of Alderman Frank Beach, Rockford’s Sinnissippi Park became the host site of the Illinois Snow Sculpting Competition in 1987. They still host there to this day.
The basic structure of the competition was as follows. Teams of three worked to create sculptures of their choosing, the only real limitation being the dimensions of the block of snow they are given. High School teams work on blocks 4 by 4 by 6 feet high. State level competitors use blocks 6 by 6 by 10 feet high. While international competitors work a massive 10 by 10 by 10 foot high block, estimated to weigh between 10 and 12 tons. Winning at the State level makes you eligible to compete in international contests and the national competition the following year.
It didn’t take long for competition from Boone County to creep into the Rockford sponsored event. In 1989, the team of Fred Gardner (Caledonia), Paul Larsen (Belvidere), and Will Beard (Rockford) competed in their first competition at Sinnissippi Park. It took some time, but in 1993, they pulled off their first State Championship with “Lion and the Mice,” a ten-foot tall statue depicting mice removing a thorn from a lion’s paw.
The following year, Sundstrand sponsored the trio to travel around the country competing at the national/international level. That same year, the Sundstrand team won the national competition in Frankenmuth Michigan with a recreation of “Lion and the Mice.”
In 1996, another local group joined the competition. John Critchfield, Gary Simon, and Roger Hoff, all from Belvidere, joined forces to challenge the state competition. They came from different artistic backgrounds, from painter to chainsaw wielding wood carver, to pottery sculptor but they worked well together. In the 1996 competition, their sculpture of a buffalo passing through a dream catcher took 2nd place, a fantastic placement for a first time entry. They were viewed as a dark horse team, with much less experience than Sundstrand and other teams across Illinois, but they aimed to change that.
In 1997, Roger Hoff dropped out of the group and Tom Guirl took his place. Despite being so new, their ragtag team managed to get “35-37” sponsors that year. Apparently, there were so many, the team itself was unsure of the total. This allowed them to travel during the winter to other competitions and improve their craft. At the Illinois State competition, they received the committee’s choice award for their “Wolves Den” sculpture. This may seem like a drop in placement, but in reality, the competition was just very steep that year. Even the Sundstrand team only placed second that year for their 10-foot tall European monk, despite having over a decade of experience.
Team Critchfield took home another honorable mention in 1998, while Sundstrand was awarded yet another State title. Critchfield’s streak of secondary awards persisted in 1999 after being forced to sculpt in the rain. Northern Illinois, while certainly snowy at times, is a strange place to hold an annual snow based event. Lack of snow can be fixed with snow machines, but rain and above frozen temperatures are much harder to handle. Less than 10 minutes after their piece was judged, the head of the horse in their Crazy Horse replica fell off due to the warm temperature. Sundstrand didn’t fare much better in the international division. Many of the fine details on their gigantic troll were washed away in the rain, but they still managed to grasp the People’s Choice Award.
Critchfield did not return in the 2000 competition. He was replaced by Ed Marx and Gary Simon took over as team captain. “Good weather” that year allowed the team to show off the experience they had been gathering over the last few competitions. Their sculpture titled “Mother’s Day” depicted Mother Earth lifting the Earth itself, a fitting concept for art inherently related to the weather. This piece finally earned the underdog team their first State Championship. They also earned the People’s Choice award, proving they were the best in the eyes of both the judges and the public. Simon dedicated their victory to Jim Beswick, who had passed away a week before the competition. His friend’s wife told Simon to win it for Jim, and they did.
Illinois is probably about as far south as you could reasonably hope to host a snow sculpting competition. Our irregular weather creates a turbulent environment for an already finicky medium. Despite this, our little community has managed to produce artists who competed with Minnesotans, Canadians, and Swedes. The Illinois Snow sculpting competition is still held at Sinnissippi Park, and local teams still compete every year.