On the second night of the 5-day competition, it snowed.  This seemed slightly redundant at the time.
 

In the next couple of days we had some sun, though luckily not enough to endanger the art.  Since most of my work is quite small, it was a thrill to work on such a big piece!
 

In championship snow sculpture, the rule is "no chainsaws": everything must be done by hand.  This makes for a very physical event.
 

This piece was peculiarly difficult for all of us to visualize.  I brought some small maquettes, and we mostly worked with a model in one hand and a tool in the other, looking back and forth very quickly.