Our Nottingham ice-sculpting students have been hard at work in Harbin, northeast China, producing a hollow Earth Globe sculpture as their entry for a second competition at the 2013 Snow and Ice Festival.

In the team’s words, “We won! We really did this time, we came first in our second competition alongside six other first place sculptures.”

They go on, “It was hard work, as we … got stuck straight in without a day’s rest. The temperature was much warmer at the University because it was far less exposed and there were lots more sculptures. The competition is the largest in the world with about 60 teams competing.”

As newbies in the world of ice sculpting, the team picked up skills fast during their first attempt, a larger-than-life car crash. And it shows in their words, “…we were happier with our sculpture this time round, which proves to show that practice makes perfect. It was also nice to feel we were back on home turf at the Harbin Engineering University which we now know so well.”

They’re getting to be publicity hounds too, with trophy presentations, and interviews for a Harbin newspaper.

Well done, Team Nottingham!

There’s more to read, as well as a pic of the Earth Globe at the blog here or click the link on the top bar.

The student team from Nottingham University have hauled in a prize at Harbin, the city in northeast China, where one of the world’s biggest Ice and Snow Festivals is running.

In the team’s words, “WE WON!!!!!! Well.. the Creativity Prize anyway which is a cash prize of 1000 RMB (about £100), a medal each and a certificate each (and one for the Uni). We stood out as the most creative idea which is always nice to hear! The First place went to France, who we’d become good friends with.

“The closing ceremony was really good, if not a little chaotic to begin with. We genuinely thought we were going to get a commemorative prize, which is essentially a ‘thanks for taking part prize’ but when Yinguo (England) was called out for the creative prize we were really surprised!”

According to the team, transferring their original 2D plans to a 3D ice sculpture was not easy, especially in cold that had icicles forming in their eyelashes and hair. As I write this, the temperature in Harbin is ‘just’ -16C, with tonight’s chill dropping to -31C and below.

Snow sculpture themes varied dramatically, depending on whether competitors came from East or West. Most Eastern teams went for classical themes, whereas Japan and the West were more contemporary – our team created a larger-than-life car crash, the Italians carved a piece of pasta, the French made a pure abstract, while the Japanese produced a water droplet.

Well done Nottingham team, and a special congratulation to my daughter Emily, shown at left in the team pic above.

In the team’s words, “…It felt truly rewarding to be bestowed with the creative prize, and to be applauded by what are masters in this art.”

More to read here or click on the link in the top bar.