News

The Snow Must Go On

The organisers report that almost twenty competitors have signed up for the competition, which is a free to attend event for the whole family. The venue is the competition arena, Juupajoki, near the intersection of Kantatie 58 and Kopsamontie/Sahantie, and runs from 10pm to 4pm

As featured on this blog, the last event took place in 2022 and attracted in excess of 3,000 visitors, and the organisers are predicting similar numbers for the popular competition this year

The weather has been slightly challenging in recent days with a slight rise in temperature, but we are told it will not affect the competition due to freezing temperatures over night. The ground/snow work, has already been undertaken and the piles of snow are awaiting the machinery artists to do their work with.

All photos contained in this blog post courtesy Jani Taipale.

Having covered this event remotely on the blog in the past, I am delighted to report, that this time I will be there in person covering the event for Earthmovers Magazine, I will naturally be giving some coverage on the day on our Digger Man Blog social media channels, so lookout for that.

Championship titles will be contested in two competition classes.

In the first class, the drivers create sculptures solely with their machines, while in the second class, they are allowed to use an assistant. There are no weight class restrictions for the machines. In previous years, excavators of different sizes, from a 60-ton giant to a small battery-powered excavator, have competed for the Snow Sculpture titles.

Snow piles several meters high is already on the race arena in advance to wait for the skilful touch of the buckets.

In previous years, in the "snow pyramid valley" of Juupajoki, things like a dove of peace, a dice, a minion, a pyramid, a slide, an excavator, a bear and a heart, etc., have been skilfully carved out of the snow. The only limit is the competitor’s imagination, and of course the skills of using a machine and a bucket.

The main sponsor of the awards is Öljícenter and the prize sponsor is Valostore.

Juupajoki municipality is, as usual, the main partner of the winter event for the whole family.

Checkout the official photo compilation video from the 2022 event below.

I’m looking forward to catching up with long standing Finnish friends and meeting new ones, "Nähdään siellä!" (I will see you there!)