© 2024 Boise State Public Radio
NPR in Idaho
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

McCall Makes Case To Be Region's Snow Sculpting Capital

McCALL, Idaho – A dragon more than two stories tall, a larger-than-life wizard’s head with a built-in kids’ slide and entwined, leaping swordfish helped this small resort town make its case to be “the snow sculpting capital of the Northwest.”  Teams of artists crafted more than thirty large and whimsical snow sculptures, which rose in the front yards or parking lots of sponsoring businesses and in a lakefront park.

Tom Banse /

The elaborate snow sculptures have become one of the main attractions of McCall’s 10-day Winter Carnival.  Thousands of people streamed into McCall for the final weekend of the festival.  In fact, the crush of gawkers caused a long traffic jam at midday Saturday, a rarity in rural Idaho.

Tom Banse /
Tom Banse /
Tom Banse /

The monstrous “Smaug Over the Mountain” won the Grand Prize of the 2013 Winter Carnival.  The sculpture, built at the Holiday Inn Express/Hunt Lodge, was inspired by the dragon from J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit.”  To build the masterpiece, the sculptors cut slabs of ice from the frozen surface of Payette Lake.  The dragon lorded over a walk-through ice cave in which Gollum, another Middle Earth character, crouched in a niche.

Tom Banse /

Rain that fell last weekend and warm sunshine on the closing weekend softened details on some of the snow sculptures.  The McCall Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the Winter Carnival, offered an additional cash prize for best maintenance to encourage sculptors to touch up their creations during the run of the festival.

Tom Banse /
Tom Banse /

48th Annual McCall Winter Carnival

Copyright 2021 Northwest News Network. To see more, visit Northwest News Network.

Tom Banse /

Tom Banse covers business, environment, public policy, human interest and national news across the Northwest. He reports from well known and out–of–the–way places in the region where important, amusing, touching, or outrageous events are unfolding. Tom's stories can be heard during "Morning Edition," "Weekday," and "All Things Considered" on NPR stations in Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.

You make stories like this possible.

The biggest portion of Boise State Public Radio's funding comes from readers like you who value fact-based journalism and trustworthy information.

Your donation today helps make our local reporting free for our entire community.