SARANAC LAKE WINTER CARNIVAL 2009 PICTURES

[Nasoosie]

(Sorry to just copy and paste this from the other forum, but I just couldn't do it all over!)

Here's what we do every February here in the north country! I will insert a link to the internet page with the history of the carnival and the schedule at the end.

These first pictures were taken by the live-cam across the street from the ice palace:



End of Day 1



Day 2



Day 3


Day 4



Day 5



Day 6



Harvesting blocks of ice from lake.



Blocks cut from ice, awaiting to be added to construction of palace.



Crane to lift blocks onto walls.



Adding blocks and packing with slush mortar.



Bringing slush mortar to construction site.



View through a window in palace.



Higher......



...and higher!



Beautiful sunny day view.



Night construction crew.



Pirate ship they are building nearby. The theme is "Pirates of the Adirondacks" this year. Why? I have no clue!!

Link to website: http://saranaclakewintercarnival.com/schedule.html

And this is our winter fun!!!!!

[Paulette]

I guess if you are going to live in the frozen north, you might as well make some fun from it! Looks cool. (pun intended)

[retiredhappy]

Wow, those of us who live in warm weather can hardly relate to this but it looks like fun.

[avalen]

how interesting! lots of hard labor in that job, I would not want the job of cutting ice.
I wouldn't mind driving the equipment though

[mtngal]

The shot of the sun behind the ice palace is gorgeous!

[islandmomma]

Hey!! Thanks for this post (a lot). My Mom was born in Saranac Lake in 1917 and often spoke of it... LOL, she was the 11th child of 12 so LOTS of winter fun to be had!!

I have never been there (hope to remedy that soon )... Your ice palace looks like creations built during Carnivale d"Hiver in Quebec City...

jan

[Mollysmom]

Really neat !!! Looks like allot of work, but what else are you gonna do when it's 20 below zero - HA !!!
thanks for posting the pictures, I really enjoyed them !! I'm also glad I'm not living in that kind of cold
How thick is the ice on the lake ? It must be many feet thick to be able to cut those big blocks !!!

[Nasoosie]

The last I heard, a few days ago, the blocks were nearly 2 feet in depth. The size of the blocks for the ice palace construction are whatever the thickness is of the ice on Lake Flower. Some years, the ice has been barely thick enough to allow anyone out on the bay where they harvest the ice blocks......those years we have a VERY small palace! No problem with thickness this year, however!

The following is a link to a good slide show that shows exactly how they 'harvest' the ice blocks----it looks like a thin-ice year in those pictures.

http://www.saranaclakewintercarnival.com/gallery.html

This slide show shows last year's construction---it's lengthy, but if you can follow it to the end, it shows the finished ice palace lit up at night which is really beautiful.

It's really quite a community-wide production each year, with many volunteers, and is attended by thousands from all over.

Yes...Quebec and many Canadian areas up here also build their own winter carnival structures. Our winter carnival is more of a celebration than our 4th of July one!

[NakedPupsAndMe]

What a creative way to deal with all the snow and ice! It's beautiful!

[Liz]

I always enjoyed the Dartmouth College winter carnival with their elaborate snow sculptures, but this is the first I've seen with ice blocks. Beautiful with the sunlight shining through.

[OutandAbout]

Those pictures are beautiful. I love the one with the sun shinning through. I guess with the length of winter in your area, you guys have to do something and what's more fun than a celebration. (even if it is celebrating unbearable temperatures.) Thanks again for sharing

Linda

[Cedar518]

I haven't been there for carnival in many years. we used to take the kids to see the castle all lit up with colored lights. I went to the parade once. Have fun Soos, and stay out of "carnival trouble!"

[soisew]

Beautiful...looks like fun....I love winter!!! We don't do the snow bird thing...head south...no way!