When a country has as much snow as Canada does, it should be no surprise that a cohort of Canadian artists use it as a medium. While the rest of us shovel, plow, skid and trudge our way through snow and ice, our compatriots are sawing, scraping and sculpting 20-ton blocks of snow in a serious form of art known as snow sculpture.
This winter, their ephemeral creations will be on display at festivals across Canada.

• The world’s largest celebration of winter, Carnaval de Québec (Québec Winter Carnival) in Québec City, QC, hosted by the cheerful Bonhomme Carnaval, is the site of the Telus International Snow Sculpture Event (Jan. 29 to Feb. 14).
  www.bonjourquebec.com/qc-en/accueil0.html
• The National Snow Sculpture Competition takes place during Ottawa, ON’s Winterlude (Feb. 5 to 21), featuring the Rideau Canal Skateway and a playground made from snow.
  www.ontariotravel.net/
• Canada’s champion snow-carving team hosts the Air Canada International Snow Sculpture Challenge in its hometown of Whitehorse, YT, during the Yukon Sourdough Rendezvous Festival (Feb. 25 to 28).
  http://travelyukon.com/
• A highlight of the Festival du Voyageur in Winnipeg, MB’s French Quarter (Feb. 12 to 21) is the Voyageur Snow Sculpture Contest and the International Snow Sculpting Symposium.
  http://travelmanitoba.com/
• During Snowking’s Annual Winter Festival in Yellowknife, NWT, each March, a giant snow castle surrounded by fortress walls and snow carvings emerges among the colourful houseboats frozen into Great Slave Lake.
  www.spectacularnwt.com/