More than a decade ago, Brent Christensen decided to make an ice castle in his front yard for his children. Now, he creates mammoth ice castles that attract thousands of visitors across the country. His brand, Ice Castles, operates seasonal attractions in five states, with each location boasting its own huge castle made from hundreds of thousands of icicles, lit from within and set to music.
Ice castle designs vary, but can include caverns and archways, slides, crawl tunnels, mazes and even private alcoves (perfect for private events or special moments like proposals). Each ice castle weighs more than 20 million pounds and takes about 100 workers and 10,000 hours of labor to complete.
Currently, Ice Castles operates in Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York, Utah and Wisconsin, but these castles won’t be around for long. Each castle is only open for as long as the natural setting and weather allow. Once the castles begin to deteriorate, they’re knocked down and all of the ice melts back into the earth.
As complex as each ice castle is, though, it only takes about 30 minutes to walk through each one. Still, Christensen recommends visitors — no matter which castle they visit — dress warmly and wear high-traction shoes for the best experience possible.
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