The World Ice Sculpting Championships are held in March in Fairbanks every year. Sculptors from around the world gather to create massive, intricate ice sculptures. The professional entries start with 10 blocks of ice-52,000 pounds worth. Using only snow, water, and their allotted ice, the sculptors create ethereal masterpieces that will melt by June, but in March you can view them in all their glory lit at night with colored lights. [Read more →]

Fairbanks’ cluttered G.I. Joe Surplus store has one of the last remaining stockpiles of genuine “bunny boots”. These white vapor-barrier boots (which make the wearer’s feet look like gigantic arctic hare feet) were originally made for the U.S. military and are rated for up to -60 degrees Fahrenheit. Fashionable they’re not, but they saved many an enlisted man’s feet from frostbite-or worse. In 1994 the army went to a different supplier, and the army-issue winter boots became more rigid, cheaper, and not nearly as well regarded. The pre-1994 Bata manufactured boots are preferred by Alaskans who have been known to spell out in their will exactly who will receive their bunny boots.

I was going ice-fishing. In Fairbanks. In early March. I wanted those boots. And I wanted them bad. [Read more →]