MIDWAY ICE CASTLES

We won't be building the Ice Castles in Utah this year.

2011-12-16T12:58:00.000-08:00

Ice Castles in Colorado

December 2011--April 2012

We were able to start the Ice Castles in November

Picture taken November 2011 by Bill Linfield, Silverthorne, Co

Because of the higher elevation and colder weather, the Ice Castles are in Colorado this year. Be sure to visit our new website: http://www.icecastles.com/ We were able to open near the first of December this year and if the weather had not been unseasonably warm this year up here in Colorado, we would have opened on Thanksgiving.

We loved seeing all your blog pictures and hearing how much fun you had coming thru the Ice Castles. We will miss all the amazing visitors, families, and friends in Utah.

With gratitude,

Brent and Linda Christensen

Ice Castles at Silverthorne were started in November 2011

2011-12-16T12:12:00.000-08:00

One of our many hard workers hauling out ice to make the pathways safe.

Look how tall they are on Dec. 14, 2011!

Entry and Exit archways

Second-Graders visit the Ice Castles in Colorado

2011-12-16T09:45:00.001-08:00

The three boys in the back have their mouths open in awe when they see the entry towers

Brent gives a personal tour and teaches the children how The Ice Castles are built.

Ice Castles Mondial (tm) Video 2011

2011-10-10T10:04:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who made this year's Ice Castles so memorable! Here is the end of the year video for you all to enjoy! We are so excited for next year and have already started drawing up the plans!

I haven't been able to figure out how to get the video to play more than the introduction. Ideas anyone?

Mindy Gledhill - Whole Wide World (Official Music Video) Last part filmed in the Ice Castles!

2011-10-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

She filmed the last part of this video in our ice castles--cool.

Mindy Gledhill filmed part of her new video in the Midway Ice Castles

2011-03-21T17:53:00.000-07:00

Her official video is posted in the next entry.

Last Night Wednesday March 8th

2011-03-08T19:10:00.000-08:00

We had a good run! It was a great time. Thanks to all of you who came up to enjoy the ice castles. But alas, Spring is knockin' on the door and we have to close up. Our last night is tomorrow. We'll be open from 6:30-9pm. Then the gates will be closed for the season and we'll enjoy watching the castles melt away and look forward to next Winter.

A Few More Nights

2011-03-07T06:13:00.000-08:00

Saturday was a lot of fun. We had a great turn out. I think next year we'll have to do an end-of-season party where we bring in a band and lots of food, etc.

As far as this week, we're planning right now to just open Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights from 6-9pm. The warm weather has really been taking a toll on the castles. My main concern is the safety of our guests so I need to go day by day. If you're planning on coming up one of these evenings please call to get updated on our status.

The chances of staying open till Saturday the 12th are very, very slim at this point. The cold front originally forecast for this week fizzled out. So we'll just have to see how it goes. But as of right now, let's not plan on it.

Open until at least March 5!!!

2011-02-21T22:33:00.000-08:00

Thanks to the beautifully cold 10 day forecast we can expect to stay open until at least Saturday, March 5. We'll be growing the castles this week and adding some additional height as well as bridges and tunnels.

After March 5, we'll have to see how the cold weather and my motivation are holding up.

Having a Blast!!!

2011-02-15T21:00:00.000-08:00

So it looks like we have survived the last heat wave of the year. One more day and cold weather is upon us again, yeah! It's beautiful now, but will be more beautiful by this weekend. The following weekend we hope to add four to five archways and tunnels. My crew and I are excited to start building again!

This coming Monday, the 21st, Casey Scott from channel two will be spending the morning here. It should be a blast! Thanks to all of you who have come by and said hi! If you haven't been by in two weeks or more, you should come by and check it out!

Alot can change in a day or two

2011-02-07T08:27:00.000-08:00

If you look carefully you can see the growth that can take place within a day or two.

4 weeks down, 3 to go

2011-02-07T07:56:00.001-08:00

These past 4 weeks since we've been open seem like 4 months. We just need to survive 3 more weeks. A public "thanks" to my wife Linda who has made this whole thing possible with her help and support.

We had a great week. We grew most of the towers a little taller and made a new ice bridge over one of the walkways. We had at least one couple get engaged in the middle of the big castle (how cool is that?!). I was able to meet lots of new friends as well as lots of family and long-time friends.

A great week with more to come

2011-01-29T06:43:00.000-08:00

We had a great week....I was able to meet lots of super great visitors. We've been able to grow the castles lot this week. And the good news is we've got a very good, cold week ahead of us. I'm so excited to see how it continues to develop. I've only got a minute so I can't find a lot of the daily progress pics that I've taken (maybe tomorrow) but I needed to get this picture up taken by Valor at Valor Photography. Thanks Valor....It's amazing!

Sunrise, Full Moon, and video from Good Things Utah!

2011-01-25T23:57:00.000-08:00

These are some beautiful pictures but they don't do it justice. I'm really lucky because I get to see the ice castles in all kinds of conditions and lighting. I wish I could really "capture" some of the amazing things I see. It's been great to meet many of you who have said "hi" when you've visited. That's one of my favorite parts of this project. On Good Things Utah, they talk about the most popular places in the world to escape the winter blues and they include the Midway Ice Castles right after--with video tape footage and all!

Good Times!!

2011-01-20T22:07:00.000-08:00

Cold weather, great helpers, an awesome wife....I have to be the luckiest guy in the world at this moment.

Last week channel 13 came up, today channel 4, tomorrow channel 5, next week channel 2. My theory is this...anyone can be on the news. You just have to do something crazy and do it in January...cause there ain't a lot of news happening now..apparently. Regardless, we're so grateful for the great free press that we're getting (just for the record).

As for the pictures:

The first one...a picture of one of the many bizarre formations that I encounter daily.

The second one was taken from the West tower looking East at the full moon (didn't do it justice...at all. Use your imagination).

The third one....people ask me how I get to the top to put up more icicles. This is a picture inside the biggest tower showing one of the stairways I build in so I can get up there. The stairs and scaffolding has to be rebuilt or added on to every day or two...lots of hours.

I had a great time this evening meeting and visiting with folk from all over (from Heber to San Francisco). We have lots of people rolling in from the Sundance Film Festival. It's way fun but I don't get any work done so that's why I'm going back out to work after this entry (I'll be out there until, I don't know, maybe 3 or 4 am. I should try to get at least a few hours of sleep so I'm somewhat coherent when Jed Boal from KSL TV gets here.

All Pathways Re-Opened!

2011-01-19T07:51:00.000-08:00

These are the pics I took yesterday at the peak of our heat wave. I think we've survived it and after the snow moves out we'll have some awesome-cold weather again. We'll start icing and growing again tonight. By Friday/Saturday it will be very fresh looking and several feet taller.

Tomorrow channel 4 is sending up a crew to film a spot. I'm not sure when it will air. Next week Casey Scott from channel 2's morning show will be coming up. I don't get to watch a lot of TV but people tell me that he's pretty funny and we'll have a good time. I'll update with details later.

Surviving the Heat Wave

2011-01-18T20:34:00.001-08:00

The past few days have been really warm here in Midway. Yesterday I woke up at 6am to find the temp outside near 50F! It cooled down a bit then later went up over 50. I'm happy to say, however, that the castles have faired ok. We got a little drippy during the past few days and the towers have definitely lost some weight but not too much in height. I'm trying to upload some pics showing how the formations turn fragile and frosty looking...almost ghostly. Kinda cool actually. (I can't upload them for some reason...I'll try again tomorrow). With cold nights returning we'll start growing again and the castles will take on a more crystaline appearance.

By the Saturday night I'm hoping to add 4-8' to many of the structures. By the next weekend after that I'm planning to have 5 or 6 archways and tunnels added (if the weather stays good and cold as is forecast). I'll be taking pictures everyday to show the progress towards that.

Been There Done That--a great blog

2011-01-15T20:35:00.000-08:00

Our friend Elisa Black has an awsome blog about places she has visited in Utah--quaint little shops, etc. Click here to read her blog about her visit to the Midway Ice Castles! She took some great pictures of it too!

http://beenthere-eb.blogspot.com/

Early Morning Pictures of the Midway Ice Castles

2011-01-14T13:49:00.000-08:00

These pictures were taken at 7:30 am, Jan. 13, 2011

Early Morning Pictures of the Midway Ice Castles

2011-01-14T13:45:00.001-08:00

These pictures were taken at 7:30 am on Jan. 13, 2011.

2011-01-14T13:30:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures taken early in the morning on Jan.13, 2011.

First Week Behind Us

2011-01-09T17:34:00.001-08:00

As with last year, our opening week was brutal...lots and lots of work. But now the trails are all open and beautifully groomed (thanks to my awesome crew). We even have one of the large towers with passageways under the arches. It's going to improve and grow as the season goes along but I believe it's worth a visit anytime.

We had a busy Saturday with hundreds of visitors coming up. After all the hard work it's very gratifying to see people enjoying the Ice Castles.

We're Open!!!!!!!!

2011-01-01T17:37:00.000-08:00

Yea!!! We've had our first guests of the season. At this moment we only have about half the park open (there are probably more than 100 tons of ice we're moving off the walkways) but we're hoping to have everything (or at least most of it) open by this evening. We will also have more, if not most of the lights, on by tonight. This is turning about to be a fantastic venue and I think you'll all like it a lot.

ADMISSION PRICE CHANGE
With much higher costs this year and a shorter winter season we've decided we had to increase our prices. They are:

Under 3 yrs free
Youth under 18 $3
Adults $5
Seniors $3

But don't dispair...it's totally worth it..I promise. And if you really don't want to hand over the couple of extra dollars, there are a limited number of discount family passes available at some of our local sponsors (the list is at the ticket booth).

We look forward to your visit!!

Opening Next Week!!!!

2010-12-29T11:39:00.000-08:00

I wanted to get things open this weekend but the reality is that there's a boatload of work before we're ready. The castles are coming along nicely though. Above is a picture my daughter took last night. Some of the castles are 3 times as big as these one (about 15' high currently).

If I were to guess at the moment I'd say we'll be opening Tues or Wed of next week (Jan 3 or 4).

Opening Date

2010-12-29T03:31:00.001-08:00

The ice is growing nicely. I think the main towers will be up to 20 by tomorrow (Thurs). However, I don't know if I'll be able to have the park open by the weekend. It's a major undertaking to initially prepare the walkways. It involves lots of jackhammering, picking, tilling, etc. It means losing a day or maybe two of growing. I'll know for sure by tomorrow.