LOCALadk Magazine

60 Winter 2019 LOCALadk Magazine LOCALadk Ice as both a tool and a decoration has been around for a ver y long time. More than 4,000 years ago, the Inuits of Alaska began har vesting ice and turning it into blocks used to build their homes: igloos. The earliest documented record of ice har vesting for utilitarian use is found in the Chinese Book of Songs, known as the Shih cheng, sometime around 600 B.C . Shensi warrior-farmers who lived in the northwest- ern Chinese highlands routinely flooded their fields with wa- ter, which they har vested and cut into blocks of ice used to keep their food fresh during warmer months. The use of ice as a tool expanded over the centuries wher- ever winter freezes were a common feature of the landscape. By the 1600s, hunters and fishermen in China and Russia dis- covered that they could create ice lanterns by pouring water into buckets, allowing it to freeze and then sliding the solid forms out. A candle inserted into a hole in the "lanterns" shed light during the coldest winter evenings and began to be used as decorative pieces during carnivals, weddings, and other festive gatherings. Over the next 200 to 300 years, the use of ice as a tool as well as a vehicle for artistic expression continued to ex- pand. By the late 1890s, the Trans-Siberian Railway reached a small Chinese fishing town called Harbin, an area that had once been occupied by Russia. The arrival of the railway in Harbin ushered in a period of growth, with Harbin becoming a bustling metropolitan locale in the crosshairs of freezing Siberian winds and the thick ice of the Songhua River. Even- tually, Harbin became home to the Annual International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival. Each year this world-renowned event attracts thousands of sculptors and artists from around the world to compete in a variety of sculpting and car ving competitions. In the more than sixty years that the current Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival has been held, it has attracted millions of people who flock to the city to partici- pate in a variety of winter activities and events, not the least of which is gawking in amazement at entire theme parks con- structed out of ice and snow. Other world-famous ice festivals are held yearly in Canada, Russia, Japan, Nor way, Finnish Lapland, France, and the Unit- ed States, to name just a few. Lake George Ice Bars By Maureen Werther Photos by Anne Brewer and Charlie Jones Winter, snow, and ice are an inescapable part of life in the Adirondacks—a fact that has not just been tolerated, but em- braced and celebrated. The Lake George Winter Carnival has been a seasonal staple in the area for more than half a centur y, with the 2020 festival being held over the course of four weekends in Februar y. But it has only been in the last six years that local resorts, restaurants, and retailers in the region have expanded upon the yearly winter festivals to include increasingly ubiquitous ice bars. The Sagamore Resort in Bolton Landing began the trend in 2014, when it unveiled its Glacier Ice Bar to fans of winter fun. It has been a big hit ever since, with people converging on the famed Adirondack resort from near and far to enjoy al fresco cocktails, comfort food, and entertainment. Since then, all things ice have popped up in many popular Lake George destinations, including the King Neptune, Fort Wil- liam Henr y Hotel and Conference Center, the Adirondack Pub and Brewer y, the Holiday Inn Lake George, the Lake George Beach Club, the Inn at Erlowest, among others. The Genesis of Ice Carving as Both Tool and Decoration The Sagamore

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