DILLON, Colo – The process for building the popular icy wonderland in Dillon has begun.
The Ice Castle will return for a second straight year. Crews started turning on the water to grow icicles on Nov. 9.
According to the Utah-based company behind the Ice Castle, artisans will grow and harvest up to 10,000 icicles each day to build the winter experience.
Last year, the crews had a little bit of trouble.
“We got a little heat wave that came through, and we were stalled for two weeks,” said Dan Beck, the build manager in Dillon. “This year we were able to turn on the water a little earlier, and everything has been really smooth.”
“Mother Nature has been our friend this month,” said Ice Castles CEO Ryan Davis, “Our crews have been working hard over the last week to make ice and build an interactive experience that families across Colorado will love.”
After the slow start last year, the Dillon site also experienced flooding issues.
“There was some flooding last year,” Beck said. “We controlled it, but the town is in the process of upgrading this park, and they put in a very nice drainage ditch, and that solved all of that problem.”
According to Ice Castles, Dillon is one of six Ice Castles locations in North America. The other locations include Midway, Utah; Excelsior, Minnesota; Lincoln, New Hampshire; Lake Geneva, Wisconsin; and Edmonton, Alberta.