'You just have to make do with what you've got': Snow sculptors adjust to warm temperatures ahead of McCall Winter Carnival

Originally published Feb. 20 on KTVB.COM .

The McCall Winter Carnival is an annual celebration of the season, and this year, it's set for Feb. 23-25, but an unusually warm forecast means the 17 planned snow sculptures across the city are shaping up a little differently.

Snow sculptors at the McCall Winter Carnival haven't had much of an issue with a lack of snow recently. However, a change in temperatures has changed the rules for how the sculptures can be made.

"It is what it is, snow is always a variable," sculptor Gary Kucy said. "You just have to make do with what you've got."

The challenge is anything but a piece of cake for Kucy, who is sculpting a colossal cupcake in front of his wife's business - Stacey Cakes.

"With the temperatures being as high as it is, stuff melts and shifts very easily," Kucy said. "So once you get it all squared, overnight it'll shift and turn and wilt - the snow gets a little bit soft."

Just down the street, Dan Durbin is waiting for a frigid forecast to finish his sculpture of Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie.

"I need to change the laws of physics," Durbin said. "I can't quite do that yet."

Because of the dry and mild winter, the rules have softened for how sculptures can be made.

"In the spirit of community, and our theme is 'Color Outside the Lines' - we thought, what better year to color outside the lines?" McCall Chamber of Commerce Marketing Director McKenzie Kraemer said. "So we have relaxed the rules."

This year, sculptors can use materials like wood and chicken wire for the structure of their sculptures. But both Kucy and Durbin are staying snow purists.

"It's tradition," Durbin said. "No chicken wire, no nothing. It's a snow sculpture. If it's gonna be a snow sculpture ... make it a snow sculpture."

The McCall Winter Carnival has a flurry of other activities going on this weekend. A full guide to the event is available online at visitmccall.org/carnival2024 .

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