New sculpture in the glacier palace

In the world's highest glacier palace at 3,883 metres above sea level, you can immerse yourself in the fascinating world of eternal ice. The main characters are wolves, eagles, Ehringer cows and dragons. For five days, the two ice artists Toni Steingruber and Reto Odermatt have now formed another sculpture out of the cold matter: The Alpine dairy in Wiler z'Mutt. 

Originally, the two artists are trained sculptors. While Reto is mainly active in wood sculpting, Toni has devoted himself to ice carving for over 20 years. Together they often work on various ice art projects. The dairy was first created on paper in the form of a sketch. Then a plasticine model is made and the artists extrapolate the model dimensions to the actual sculpture size. Then the actual ice carving begins.

But the ice carvers do not only carve new sculptures. The existing figures are refreshed annually and worked on according to changes in the glacier. Not all sculptures require the same care. The large dragon that Toni and Reto carved about six years ago has never been revised. This is due to the optimal location of this sculpture within the glacier palace. The constant movement of the ice requires close observation of the natural glacier grotto. 

The glacier palace is easily accessible by train from Zermatt in 45 minutes and is open throughout the year. The creation of the new sculpture within the short time is captured in the picture series. More information is available here: glacier palace Matterhorn Glacier Paradise.