Every January since 1991, teams from around the world have arrived in Breckenridge to face identical 12-foot-tall, 25-ton blocks of machine-made snow. The rules are purist: hand tools only — no power tools, no internal armatures — through roughly 94 continuous hours of sculpting.

The 2026 edition, the event's 35th year, fielded 12 teams including Ukraine, South Korea, Italy, Lithuania, Argentina, Germany, India, Finland, Malta, Mongolia, Vermont and hometown Team Breckenridge; South Korea took gold, Mongolia silver and India bronze. The home team competes on home snow every year — the event was founded here by local organizers including Rob Neyland and is still locally produced with the Town of Breckenridge.

Finished sculptures stay on display around the Riverwalk Center for about a week, illuminated at night, until the weather retires them. Both sculpting and viewing are free and entirely walkable from anywhere downtown.