On the cleanest lake on the planet called Lake Baikal, an ice sculpture competition "Crystal Seal" is held annually. Every year, teams of craftsmen come to the only place on the planet, the Listvyanka village, located right next to the great and deepest lake in the world.
What is the Crystal Nerpa ice sculpture competition?
Do you think that there is nothing to do on Lake Baikal in winter? So, every year in February, all residents of the neighboring regions and Irkutsk come to look at truly unique human art in cooperation with nature, which is happening right on the ice of the lake near the Mayak hotel.
In this article I will tell you about my impressions at the competition and show photos of ice sculptures called Crystal seal, all the photos were taken in 2013, I would have posted photos of this competition for 2014, but the competition was canceled due to lack of sponsorship by the Irkutsk city administration ...
The ice sculpture competition itself takes place in two stages, at the first stage, all teams agree on future projects among themselves in their team. Teams in this competition are made up of two or three people. The most important and unique thing in this competition is that all the sculptures of the Crystal Seal are made from the ice of the purest Lake Baikal.
At the second stage of the competition, cubes of about one meter by one meter are cut out of the blue ice strata of Lake Baikal. All cubes begin to put together and carve sculptures right in front of the audience. During the construction of ice sculptures from ice, no one is allowed into the territory, the entrance for spectators will be open as soon as the last preparation is over.
All sculptures are considered by a special commission and decide on the best ice sculpture in the Crystal Seal competition. The entire construction process lasts about two weeks, and the competition itself begins approximately every year at the same time, in early February, it is at this time that the sun begins to warm up and the ice becomes more transparent when heated in the sun, and the weather is favorable for this.
Only after the ice sculptures of this competition have been completely built, the director opens the competition open to all interested spectators. The cost of entering the territory for an adult is 250 rubles, for a child the entrance is cheaper, 150 rubles for the whole day of viewing.
The number of sculptures in each competition varies from about 15 to 30 diverse and original works of art on Lake Baikal, the number depends on how many teams take part in the competition. It will take you about 40 minutes to view all the works of the Crystal Seal competition, which is quite enough to take pictures of everything and see enough.
If you are cold or hungry, then the variety of cafes with barbecue and delicious pilaf in Listvyanka will give you the opportunity to warm up and eat deliciously. You can also go home or get to Irkutsk without any problems from the parking lot near the Mayak hotel by minibus, the fare to Irkutsk is 150 rubles.
The most important thing I forgot to say, it is advisable to visit this event at sunset or already at dusk, at about 5 pm all the figures look just great in the rays of the setting sun, and the backlight turns on in the late evening. I was not lucky with this, as it was cold and cloudy that day, so the photos turned out to be dull and gray.
Photos of the Ice Sculpture Competition Crystal Seal
I will repeat once again, all the photos of the Crystal Seal ice sculpture competition were taken in 2013, look and enjoy the beautiful photos, if you liked the pictures, I am waiting for your comments and feedback about this amazing annual festival. By the way, if you have never been to Lake Baikal, then I advise you to read my articles about rest, sights, the mountain sable ski resort and much more on my website.
As you walk and look at the figures, you will have a tear-off coupon in your hands, which you can put in a special case next to each ice sculpture as a sign of your voice and sympathy for the team that performed this composition.
And of course, the photo of the winner of the competition in the opinion of the author of the blog travel-picture.ru called "The Snowman Steers", as you understand this is a joke, just when I was returning from the village of Listvyanka, I noticed a lonely snowman and could not photograph him.
So, I introduced you to the ice sculpture competition that takes place on Lake Baikal every year under the name Crystal seal, I wish you this year to see this competition with your own eyes and feel the energy of winter Baikal walking along the transparent ice, well, that's all, subscribe and read other fascinating materials on travel-picture.ru.
