The completion of this year's snow sculpture, an abominable snowman breaking out of a pile of books, will mark the end of nearly six weeks of packing and sculpting for a small, dedicated group of students on the Winter Carnival Council.
Although the sculpture now resembles little more than a giant snow pyramid, the 15 members of the Winter Carnival Council began chipping away at the massive pile of snow yesterday to shape it into its final form.
The sculpture, which is 33-foot by 25-foot at the base, is made of five tiers, each between four and five feet high, which get progressively smaller toward the top, Tim Chow '96, chair of the Carnival committee, said.
A six-foot-high protrusion from the top of the pile will become the snowman's upraised arm, giving the sculpture a height of 25 feet Artie Zweil '94, chair of the sculpture committee, said.
The crew will work day and night to complete the sculpture by Thursday evening's opening ceremonies, Chow said.
Last year's sculpture, a penguin wearing sunglasses and reclining in a beach chair, was only 12 feet tall because of the lack of snow, few workers and frozen water pipes.
The council members, who started working on the sculpture after the first snowfall of the term, are counting on more help from other students in the remaining time before Carnival.
Most of the snow used has come from the Green but Facilities, Operations and Management workers had to bring in two truckloads of snow from Occom Pond to help.
As the weekend grows closer, more people are volunteering to help build the snow sculpture.
"Usually that's the way it goes," Zweil said. "The higher the sculpture gets, the more people come."
Although certain campus organizations are scheduled to help at specific times, people are also encouraged to lend a hand whenever they get the chance.
"Just 10 or 15 minutes of people's spare time helps," Zweil said.
The Council is sponsoring several competitions to reward group sculpture-building participation.
The Undergraduate Advisor group with the highest number of hours put into building the sculpture will win a Vermonster sundae from Ben and Jerry's ice cream store, Tammy Busch '95, co-chair of the Carnival Committee, said.
The opening ceremonies of Winter Carnival will take place on the Green around the snow sculpture.
Events will include a dedication of the sculpture, a speech by College President James Freedman, performances by a cappella singing groups and a parade of athletes.
