Breaking the Ice Trivia Quiz

Answer: Elephant

The events surrounding the construction of the ice palace were described in a book by Ivan Lazhechnikov, "The Ice House". Anna was displeased by the choice of a Russian noble, Prince Mikhail Alekseyevich Galitzine, to marry a Catholic woman. After his wife's death, Anna made Galitzine a jester in her court and, to further punish him, staged a wedding between him and a maid of hers, the 'celebration' of which took place in the ice palace.

Answer: Sweden

First opened in 1990, the ice hotel in Sweden is constructed annually in a town called Jukkasjärvi. Work begins in November and is completed at the beginning of January, although guests can stay there from December as the hotel is opened in stages.
The hotel is constructed from both snow and ice, with the main structure being compressed snow and finer details, such as glasses in the bar, being carved ice.

Answer: Snice

The name snice is attributed to this material due to its particular consistency. It is neither truly snow, nor ice, having attributes of both - it looks more like snow but physically is more similar to ice.

Answer: Freezing slowly from the inside out

Freezing the water slowly from the inside out forces any impurities in the water to the outside of the block. Impurities can cause the resulting ice to have patches that are more opaque than clear, which is not ideal for ice sculpture.
Another type of ice used in sculpture is natural ice, which is taken from frozen rivers and lakes. It is more opaque than clear ice and has a blue tint. It may also contain small frozen insect or fish and may contain cracks which can present a challenge when sculpting.

Answer: Lights

Gels, sands and dyes, while effective, can cause problems with the resulting ice. Any of these methods will usually result in ice that is opaque to some degree - such methods are used most often to achieve this particular effect. It can also affect how long the sculpture will last.
Using lights, particularly Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) which do not emit a great amount of heat, will allow the sculptor to work with perfectly clear ice while still creating dramatic colour effects.

Answer: Tempering

After tempering an ice block, most sculptors will trim the block. This removes any impurities in the ice that may have been pushed to the outside of the block during the freezing process, leaving the artist with a block of pure, clean ice.

Answer: True

Hanson, with a team of ice sculptors from around the world, created an ice lens approximately three feet wide. Despite being told it was impossible, they carved the lens, which required several days to construct. Hanson unveiled the lens and successfully set light to a piece of newspaper at the Ice Park in Fairbanks, Alaska.

Answer: Flame Castle

Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival first started in 1963 and is an annual event, although political upheaval has occasionally prevented it being held. It draws approximately 800,000 visitors over the month of January.
The Flame Castle was the main attraction at the 2009 festival and was so named because of dramatic lighting effects, whereby the towers had different colours shooting up them. The Jingshan Octagonal Pagoda, Chartres Cathedral and Segovia Castle were all ice reproductions of famous buildings from China, France and Spain.

Answer: Earth

Duthain Dealbh, an Irish phrase, translates into English as 'fleeting sculpture'. It is pronounced du-hawn dah-liv. The group is composed of three Fine Art Sculpture graduates.
They were first introduced to the notion of ephemeral sculpture through a sand sculpting competition in 1993. Since then they have branched out into other mediums, including fire, snow and ice, exhibiting and competing around the world. In 2006 and 2007, the group took first place at the International Ice Festival in Jegalva, Latvia.

Answer: Blue Ringed Octopus

In the Single Block Classic, ice sculptors in teams of one or two are each given a block of ice measuring 5 feet x 8 feet x 3 feet. The competitors then have sixty hours to complete their sculptures. This sixty hours runs consecutively so participants often work solidly though, without taking breaks for sleep.
Judging takes place under white light conditions, but the sculptures are then displayed throughout the ice park for visitors and coloured lights may then be used for dramatic effect.
The sculptures of the Kingfisher and the T-Rex both appeared in 2009, with the former taking first place. The Squirrel sculpture was entered in the 2010 competition but did not place.