Roadtrippin’ 2024: A taste of ice and a wish at the Aurora Ice Museum
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (KTUU) - It may be summer, but it’s still cool at Chena Hot Springs Resort — at least in the Aurora Ice Museum.
Dozens of ice carvings, from jousting horses to a chapel, fill the museum. Steve and Heather Brice are world-renowned ice carvers with 21 first-place championships. They created the contents of the ice museum but know that because of the medium they’ve chosen, their art won’t last.
“You get a charge out of making it,” Steve said. “You tap into like a creative energy and then you finish it, and it’s on to the next thing.”
Steve says the museum is constantly growing and changing.
“It will rarely ever be the same if you come from month to month, much less year to year,” he said.
One of the highlights is an ice bar, complete with martini glasses carved from ice. They serve appletinis in the sculpted glass, and because it’s tough to keep as a souvenir, the tradition at Chena is to take the glass outside, whisper a wish into it, and smash the glass on the ground.
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