Chain-saw artists carve icy masterpieces

Packing their heavy-duty chainsaws, Craig Winter and Joe Campe stood on Bennett Avenue in Cripple Creek Saturday and prepared to face off in battle. As the clock ticked toward 1 p.m., they raised their weapons, turned on the power and started their attack — on 300-pound blocks of ice.

Winter and Campe were contestants in a “dueling chainsaws” event at the third annual Cripple Creek Ice Festival, which ends Sunday.

Over two weekends, Winter, Campe and the other professional ice sculptors have turned the 200 block of Bennett Avenue into a fantasy land of sparkling, intricate ice sculptures tied to the theme “Under the Sea.” Many of the sculptures are “interactive,” with people walking through a maze in one, peering out portholes in another and sitting on the bench of an ice carriage led by a team of frosty sea horses.

Spectators took a break from viewing finished sculptures to watch Winter and Campe create their masterpieces.

They had an hour to turn each block of ice into a work of art, and they came equipped with an arsenal of tools.

Winter used a chainsaw, sander, die grinder and chisels to create an “angel fish with starfish” sculpture. Campe relied mostly on a chainsaw to carve a seal with a fish on its head.

“I think it’s pretty cool,” said 10-year-old Treven Sandoval as he watched the action.

Plumes of ice shavings arced from the ice blocks as Winter and Campe furiously sawed, sanded, sculpted and carved their designs. In the end, the two sculptures tied for the crowd’s affections in what was a friendly competition between two men who carve professionally for weddings, parties and similar events.

Winter is a chef instructor at the Art Institute of Colorado in Denver, and also co-owns Aesthetic Ice. In addition to creating a sculpture for Bennett Avenue, he made a martini bar that sits inside a tent filled with vendors selling jewelry, coffee, baked goods and wine. He embedded real seashells inside the top of the bar, then sculpted two drink luges — one shaped like a shark and the other like a school of fish — to dispense the martinis. The luges are equipped with funnels and tubing; the bartenders pour the martinis into the funnel, then the liquid goes through the tubing and emerges icy cold.

Campe learned ice sculpting about 14 years ago through his father, who owns Colorado Ice Sculptures in Denver.

“I’ve been doing this since I could life a chainsaw,” Campe said.

Today, Campe will take part in another “dueling chainsaw” competition at 1 p.m. His opponent? Dad.

THE FESTIVAL

The Cripple Creek Ice Festival continues Sunday, with activities from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The sculptures will remain on Bennett Avenue through Feb. 28. Visit the Web site for more information.