Ice castles are constructed by hand one icicle at a time

MIDWAY, Utah -- Cold temperatures means construction on the Ice Castles at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center has officially begun, and it's coming together one icicle at a time.With ice structures towering up to 20 feet tall, illuminated with whimsical lighting, the winter wonderland resembles the castles in Disney's "Frozen" and attracts tens of thousands of people each season.It all began around 2011 in Alpine, Utah when founder Brent Christensen was attempting to build a winter playground for his kids in his front yard. That's when he developed the patented process used to create the ice castles that are now an internationally renowned tourist attraction with other locations across North America. [gallery ids="512795,512794,512790,512787,512784,512782,512779,512778,512777"] Now, ice artists have begun this years construction by growing and harvesting icicles. According to a press release, artists will grow up to 10,000 icicles each day.   These icicles are individually fused with others using water to hand build masses of ice within the palaces ice slides, tunnels and sculptures.  In addition to the fortresses and horse-drawn sleighs, there will be winter characters available for meet and greet inside the castles. https://twitter.com/IceCastles/status/1585315457006829568?s=20&t=rnFcGLON2r-6_yST13KmXg The frozen playground is expected to open in late December or early January, tickets will be available Nov. 28 at 9 a.m. on the website.

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