Ice Palace Now Up at Saranac Lake Winter Carnival

SARANAC LAKE, N.Y. -- There are any number of reasons to visit Saranac Lake during its annual winter carnival. But for most, nothing beats the massive ice palace that is built downtown each year.

"It's very cool and people should be appreciative of the people that do all this work. And from what I've heard, they cut it from the lake, actually, which is incredible," New York City resident John Delaney said.

Delaney heard correctly. Directly behind the palace is the water in which the ice is created. Crews cut a giant grid, break the blocks, some 2,200 in all, and then the big machines get to work.

"People have talked about how it used to be done in the past before the equipment and it was horses or people pulling or tugging these huge blocks of ice up a ramp to create it," Jan Hesbon, the winter carnival gift shop manager said.

It was a time-consuming process the carnival certainly couldn't have afforded this year.

At 80 feet wide, 60 feet deep and 22 feet high, this year's palace had to be built in a rush. What normally takes two weeks had to get done in six days, thanks to Mother Nature.

The community stepped up.

"We had a lot of equipment donated this year. We rented some equipment. Luckily, we have a lot of experienced builders and we got it up," said Ice Palace Committee Chair Dean Baker.

The theme of this year's carnival is Adirondack Wildlife, and the palace takes that to the extreme.

"Well, we tried to build something similar to a log cabin. You can see there's some wildlife sculptures around," Baker said.

"They just do a really incredible job. So much of this is done, basically all of this is done, through a volunteer effort. It's certainly appreciated," said Johnny Muldowney, of the Saranac Lake Chamber of Commerce.

It's an appreciation that will be shown by thousands on Sunday night when people crowd the palace for the fireworks show to close out the week's festivities.

For more information on the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival, the various events and the fireworks show over the palace this weekend, visit their website.