Alaskan "Icescraper" finally falls
For those of you who may not have seen it yet, a collection of folks in Alaska created a 152 foot high "ice tower" via the use of a well, a water pump, and an interesting collection of spray nozzles. It finally fell this week, after a 5-month creation period. Think of it as slowly building a HUGE inverted icicle, via some very creative engineering.
See one particularly great picture of the aptly-named "Ghost Raven" structure - as well as a view from underneath, with over 2000 icicles pointing down.
But, be sure to read the full story of its creation - including a multi-page journal of pictures at each stage of development - at the following location:
http://www.alaskaalpineclub.org/IceWall/04-05IceWall1.html
The creation/destruction story is a very entertaining read (note the author's first attempts to shoot an improvised crossbow bolt over the top, to provide a climbing rope ;-), and goes to show that some folks have waaaay too much time on their hands. Some of the shots of the hundreds of icicles which developed on the overhanging areas (see page 4) were gorgeous.
Apparently, it gets freakin' COLD in Anchorage...
UPDATE: A friend let me know about a very cool (pun intended ;-) related story, that of the (apparently annual) "Harbin Ice and Snow World" festival, in the northernmost province in China. Find some great pictures here:
http://www.rtoddking.com/chinawin2003_hb_if.htm
Apparently, the snow festival is mostly a display of art; the ice festival is mostly a display of architecture. Note that the above link is for 2003; the creator also has some updated pictures from 2005. Absolutely incredible...Archives
01/2000 04/2000 08/2000 09/2000 01/2001 07/2001 09/2001 10/2001 02/2002 03/2002 05/2002 06/2002 07/2004 08/2004 09/2004 10/2004 11/2004 12/2004 01/2005 02/2005 03/2005 06/2005