January 17th – 19th, 2014 Ice Magic Festival, Banff, Lake Louise B.C.
This year is the 20th anniversary for this ice show, and Return Of The Champions bringing back the best and most loyal competitors from the last twenty years. Hosted by the Fairmont Chateau, this is one of the most visually stunning backdrops for an ice competition. The theme this year is The Olympics, in celebration of the Sochi 2014 winter Olympics. Chris is representing the U.S. with Victor Dagatan from Atlanta, GA as defending champions from winning 1st place and peoples choice in 2013, with their sculpture of a silverback Gorilla running through bamboo titled ” Run Through the Jungle” by CCR, with the theme carve a song.
On a personal note, this was the first Ice competition Chris ever competed in, starting in 2006.
February 1st -10th, 2014 High On Ice, Fort St. John B.C.
This is the 10th annual High On Ice festival. Chris will help build a 20 foot Ice tower that will be lit on the final night of the festival. He will also be on the team building three 60 foot ice slides for the children to enjoy. He will be teaching ice sculpting classes, as well a creating other commissioned ice sculptures for the city of Fort St. John during the festival. Chris and Dean Murray received 2nd place in 2011 with their sculpture of “Poseidon”. They also received 1st place in 2012 for their sculpture of “Calming the Fire”.
On a personal note, 2011 was the coldest temperatures Chris has ever endured, with an average temp of 53 below zero. They had three cases of frost bite at this competition.
February 24th – March 6th, 2014 Ice Alaska, Fairbanks Alaska
Ice Alaska is in its 25th year. It is the largest annual ice competition in the western world. The festivities last for over a month, bringing in over 100 ice artists and approximately 50,000 spectators. Chris and a student from Oregon Coast Culinary Institute will compete in the single block competition where the block is the size of a small car, allowing them 60 hours to complete their sculpture without any help from heavy equipment. After a 48 hour break, Chris and his 3 other team members will embark on the multi-block event. During the multi-block event the team will have 132 hours to construct a sculpture made of 10 blocks, the same size used in the single block event. Sculptures will reach up to 25 ft high and weigh over 100,00 lbs. Ice Alaska graciously supplies web cams for the multi-block sites. The web cams are updated every minute so you can watch your favorite power sculptor work their magic. This is the most dangerous event Chris will do all season. In years past Chris has had his ups and downs with this event. In 2013 he received 2nd place in the realistic category. In 2012 a “small” 1,000 lb piece fell from approximately 15 feet high, while trying to cut the supports on the sculpture. The damage to the sculpture removed Chris from the competition, but Chris and his team made it home without injury. This will be his fourth year taking students from OCCI and his third year competing with them on his team as their team caption. Log on to www.icealaska.com to watch this wonderful event unfold!
Chris Foltz Sculptures 
