Breckenridge in the heart of Colorado is snow-ly getting ready to welcome the 26th annual International Snow Sculpture Championships between 26th and 30th January 2016. The famed Championships will see 16 teams from all over the world descend on the beautiful mountain town where they will be tasked with turning a 12-foot and 20-tonne block of snow into a work of art.

Using just their bare hands and a selection of hand tools, the teams of four will work tirelessly for 65 hours over the course of five days as they sculpt their piece of snow into a masterpiece worthy of being crowned the highly-acclaimed winner.  To view last year's handiwork, click here.

This year, the Great Britain team will be led by experienced sculptor and International Snow Sculpture Championships veteran Ollie Annaly, who will mentor the team as they craft their carefully planned Tale of Two Dragons design.  Team GB will be joined by teams from countries such as Germany, Canada and Mexico who are all hoping their sculpture will scoop first place.

The enormous blocks of snow are built ahead of the artists arriving in Breck so the blocks have time to settle and compact under their own weight before being ready to be carved.  Using diggers and a huge blower, snow is transferred from trucks into wooden molds where a team of 'snow stompers', climb onto the block and stomp the snow to help pack it down. The process is repeated until the mold is full and packed into a sculpt-able block.

A gun shot at 11.00AM on 26 January 2016 will mark the start of the carving, which will then continue until 10.00AM on 30 January 2016. Thousands of admirers are also set to flock to Breck on 29 January 2016 to marvel at the artists' work as they prepare to stay up all night to do detail work and make the finishing touches to their sculpture. The grand finale will see the winners crowned at the award ceremony on 30 January 2016 at 2:00PM, and following the winner's announcement, the sculptures will remain on display for the public to marvel at until 7 February 2016.

To keep up with the latest news and events during the International Snow Sculpture Championships, like @GoBreck on Facebook or follow #BreckBecause on Instagram.

For more information on the International Snow Sculpture Championships, visit www.gobreck.com/events/international-snow-sculpture-championships or http://SculptSnow.com and for more information on Breckenridge, visit www.gobreck.com.

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Notes To Editors:
Breckenridge Tourism Office will be hosting a small number of press trips for media to see first-hand how the sculptures are created, and selected participating teams are also available for interview to share insights into how their works are formed. To find out more, please email breck@mccluskey.co.uk.  

Picture Captions(From Left to Right)
Image 1: The sculpture designed by Team Lithuania won gold at the 2015 International Snow Sculpture Championships. Image courtesy of Carl Scofield.
Image 2: An artist crafts his snow sculptor at the 2015 International Snow Sculpture Championships. Image courtesy of Carl Scofield.
Image 3: 2015's International Snow Sculpture Championships finished sculptures are displayed for the public to view. Image courtesy of Carl Scofield.

To arrange interviews with participating teams, discuss press trips, source high-res images or video footage, contact:
McCluskey International
Fiona Anderson / Lauren Hill
T: 020 8747 2170
E: breck@mccluskey.co.uk