The Crater Lake Ice Carousel

It was a chilly morning in Finland. The creation of the world’s largest ice carousel was about to start and there was so much work to do. The team had been preparing for months and today was the day. Lake Lappajärvi was the perfect location being that it is Europe’s largest Crater Lake. It is about 14 miles wide and was created almost a million years ago by a meteorite impact. With the winter weather in Finland chilling the water to sub-degree temperatures, the thickness of the ice for people to work on was imperative.

Not only were the volunteers going to cut this circle from the frozen ice, there were also ice sculptors present to use the pieces removed to create beautiful works of art. This competition brought the visitors but the attempt for the world record brought even more attention.

Work began by mapping out the large circle on the ice. This had to be precise or the block would not rotate. They drove snowmobiles around the perimeter to get a basic pathway and then brought out the measuring tools. Slowly, the team started chipping away at the ice with saws and shovels. Pieces were carved from the circular line and removed on sleds behind the snowmobiles.

These were taken to the artists to begin their spectacular work carving beautiful sculptures from the clear frozen blocks. They had to be careful though. Some of the blocks contained frozen fish which would not make the castles, animals and other sculptures very appealing to visitors.

Because this world record would take many days to complete in the freezing weather, the architects also decided to build an ice sauna on the carousel as well. They piled up the ice blocks into a rectangular room and built a few benches inside. Adding a hot stove with a warm fire burning, the heat steamed up the water from the melting ice walls to create a unique experience for those who needed a break from the cold winter weather outside.

Another addition to the project was a smaller ice carousel in the center of the larger one. It was like a little frozen pond in the center of a frozen lake. The turning of the smaller circle gave the designers hope that the larger one would spin as well.

Days passed with modifications to the circle in the ice. It would move a bit but every morning, a new path would have to be cleared from the places that froze back over during the night. The team continuously walked through the freezing lake water that was collecting around the cuttings, making sure that the ice was cleared all the way through to the unfrozen area of the lake down below.

Special saws were put to good use to make sure the cuts were even and there was sufficient space for the large ice circle to spin. An outboard boat motor was attached to the opening which would help spin the 1,000 foot diameter, 30,000 ton block of ice. The volunteers also had large poles to help move the ice in the circle. To make it beat the world record, the disk must revolve in at least one full rotation to count.

Although it started out slowly, the ice wheel began to turn. It picked up a bit of speed and then throughout the evening, finally finished its full rotation. Another world record was now in the books to break.

And it finally happened! Just a month later in Saint Agatha, Maine, a team created an even larger ice carousel totaling 1,234 feet in diameter.

Where will the next record be broken? Stay tuned next winter to find out!

To learn more about this fun competition, please visit: www.icecarousel.com

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