Ethan Jacobson uses equipment to grade snow and ice inside the Dillon Ice Castles. (Chancey Bush/The Gazette)
Castles of ice will decorate Dillon this weekend as the winter attraction opens with reduced capacity due to coronavirus.
The acre-sized exhibit of ice towers, frozen thrones and fountains, and mazes of ice-carved slides and tunnels will be a slightly different experience this year with masks and social distancing among the safety precautions, organizers said in a news release.
“We recommend reserving tickets as soon as they go on sale,” spokeswoman Melissa Smuzynski told The Gazette. “Last season, most weekends through the entire season sold out within the first few days after tickets went on sale, and that was with full capacity available.”
The Dillon event is one of four in North America along with exhibits in Utah, New Hampshire and Wisconsin. The castles are built from as many as 12,000 icicles that are grown, harvested and sculpted by a group of 20-40 artisans. The sculptures are lit with color-changing LED lights that glow through the frozen art.
“Building an ice castle is a fascinating process that is always changing,” Anna Closser, the castle’s build manager said. “Ice is so unpredictable. Each day there is a different problem to solve.”
But time to see the exhibit is limited as it is weather dependent and usually lasts until March. That’s why the castle is built near a natural water source so the water can return directly to the environment once it melts, organizers said.
Tickets will be available online as Friday morning and start at $12.99 for kids and $17.99 for adults on weekdays and cost $17.99 for kids and $22.99 for adults on weekends.
Seth Boster contributed to this report.
Ethan Jacobson uses equipment to grade snow and ice inside the Dillon Ice Castles in DilloninDecember. (Photos by Chancey Bush, The Gazette)Chris Oberle and Kristen Ergenbright of Denver give each other a kiss as they pose for their friends at the Ice Castles in Dillon, Colo., on Friday, Jan. 17, 2020. (Chancey Bush, The Gazette)Photo credit AJ Mellor.Photo credit Mary Siverste. (Mary Sivertsen)Photo credit AJ Mellor.Maria Franks places icicles on top of sculptures inside the Dillon Ice Castles in Dillon, Colo., on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. Ice artisans spend around six weeks placing up to 10,000 icicles each day to create the life-size winter fairytale built entirely from ice.The Ice Castles return for the fourth year with limited capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ice Castles are expected to open around Christmas. (Chancey Bush/ The Gazette) (Chancey Bush/ The Gazette)Ethan Jacobson uses equipment to grade snow and ice inside the Dillon Ice Castles in Dillon, Colo., on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. Ice artisans spend around six weeks placing up to 10,000 icicles each day to create the life-size winter fairytale built entirely from ice.The Ice Castles return for the fourth year with limited capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ice Castles are expected to open around Christmas. (Chancey Bush/ The Gazette) (Chancey Bush/ The Gazette)The Dillon Ice Castles are taking shape in Dillon, Colo., on Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. Ice artisans spend around six weeks placing up to 10,000 icicles each day to create the life-size winter fairytale built entirely from ice.The Ice Castles return for the fourth year with limited capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ice Castles are expected to open around Christmas. (Chancey Bush/ The Gazette) (Chancey Bush/ The Gazette)Betsy Horton climbs down an ice sculpture after placing icicles on top inside the Dillon Ice Castles in Dillon this month. Ice artisans spend around six weeks placing up to 10,000 icicles each day to create the life-size winter fairytale built from ice. The Ice Castles return for the fourth year with limited capacity due to the COVID-19 pandemic and are expected to open around Christmas. (photos by Chancey Bush, The Gazette)
