The temperature in Redmond Park held steady at just above freezing, with gray skies and a stiff breeze that made people shiver throughout Bensenville’s second annual Ice Carnival. But sweat was rolling down Christopher Huessy’s face as he hefted his chain saw to slice through a 3-foot-long ice block.
“A lot of people don’t realize how grueling ice carving is during a timed competition,” Huessy said shortly before the four-hour contest began Saturday.
“They only see the end product, which is definitely an art form. But you need as much physical stamina and skill as a sprinter or a gymnast does.”
Huessy, of Milwaukie, Ore., was one of 16 ice carvers from around the country to compete in this year’s Ice Carnival contest, a qualifying round for the National Ice Carving Association’s national championships next month in Munster, Ind.
But most of the carvers had their eyes trained on Salt Lake City and a spot on the U.S. Olympics ice carving team, which will compete against teams from around the world under the auspices of the International Olympic Committee just before the 2002 Winter Games begin.
The first-place winner automatically makes the U.S. team, said Larry Malchick, a judge with the national association.
“No, ice carving isn’t an Olympic sport–yet,” Malchick said. “It’s been a sanctioned event twice, in Lillehammer and Nagano, and it should be one again in Salt Lake City.”
The top three finishers in Salt Lake City will get medals, but the results will not count toward a country’s medal count.
“I never thought of it as being a sport, but I have to agree that it takes a lot of skill and stamina,” said Mary Ann Luther of Bensenville. “I can’t believe how hard they’re working.”
“I was shocked when I heard ice carving was in the Olympics,” said Liz Bowman of Des Plaines.
“Having the Olympic trials here was part of what got my kids excited about coming to the carnival. Now that I’ve seen it being done, I would imagine it’s physical enough to be considered a sport.”
Michael Bernstein, 11, disagreed.
“It looks hard, but it’s not a sport because they’re using power tools,” he said while building a snow policeman with his brother, Spencer, 13. “They should just use chisels if they want it to be a sport.”
About a half-dozen families made snow policemen with the help of the Bensenville Police Department, which supplied coal, buttons, carrot noses, police jackets and hats for the occasion.
Officer Maria Hernandez didn’t flinch when one group titled its extra-wide creation “Too Many Doughnuts.” “We’re extending ourselves into the community with this,” she said. “People are really getting a kick out of making police snowmen, and that’s fine with us.”
Inside the Edge ice arena next to the park, carnival-goers took advantage of the free ice time and loaner skates provided by the village. At the Edge II across Jefferson Street, spectators got to choose whether to watch the Dreams on Ice skating show on one rink or a Chicago Blackhawks practice on the other rink.
Dozens of people lined up by the Geils Field grandstands to take a free horse-drawn wagon ride around the park.
But most drifted back to the carving contest. Crowds stood on tiptoe to see, among others, Icarus poised for flight, by Mark Johnson of Wonder Lake; a monstrous Mountain King by Matt Williams of Cincinnati; and nudes carved by Phil Horst of Westmont and Ron Meyne of Milwaukee. Armando Ramirez of Lombard, with his whimsical sculpture of a child astronomer in a treetop observatory, and Wood Dale resident Dan Rebholz, with his delicate-winged woman, soon became favorites, though Pittsburgh’s Richard Bubin, Rebholz’s partner in team competitions, won praise for his intricate scene of a firefighter rescuing a child through the broken window of a burning building.
The sun came out in the final minutes of the competition, drawing worried glances from carvers hoping their creations could withstand the rays. A sinuous dragon carved by Roy Calo of Eastpointe, Mich., crashed into pieces just before the judging, while fellow Michiganite Tajana Rauker’s sculpture broke in two 20 minutes before the deadline.
“It had been a praying mantis, but the upper body broke off and there was no ice left to fix it. So I made a new head and turned it into a butterfly. Hopefully I will have better luck next time,” Rauker said.
Between delays caused by generator problems and delays in the judging, few of the people who had watched the carving contest were on hand to hear the results. Huessy, a member of the 1998 U.S. Olympic team, won the trials with his delicate fairy perched on bubbles.
Jeff Stahl of Cincinnati took second place with a charging 18th Century soldier. Ramirez’s astronomer took third place; and Bubin’s firefighter came in fourth.
Malchick announced during the event that the association will hold its national championships in Redmond Park next year.
“I can hardly wait for that,” said Stan Urban, manager of the Redmond Recreational Complex and organizer of the Ice Carnival.
“It’s going to be really spectacular.”
