[pullquote] If You Go:
When: Jan. 23-24 (6 p.m.–midnight), Jan. 26 (6 p.m.–10 p.m.)
Where: 2002 Soldier Hollow Rd., Midway, UT, 84049
Cost: $12.95 Friday and Saturday; $10.95 on Monday (Need to pre-order tickets)
Site: icecastles.com[/pullquote]
Utah is having a warm spell in January with a forecasted high of 50 degrees on Monday in Midway. Good news for any cold-weather hater, bad news for the ice castle business.
The Midway Ice Castle, which has been relocated this year, needs the temperatures to stay lower than the mid-30s during the day and no higher than the 20s at night, but the weather isn’t cooperating with them this year. This is limiting the ice castle to one weekend this season.
“The weather’s been the biggest challenge,” said Brent Christensen, designer and founder of Midway Ice Castle. “In fact, we weren’t sure if we’d even be able to open at all, so we are opening for three days.”
As the team has started laying the ice castle’s foundation in October, they have slowly been building up. However, they have struggled as the temperatures continue to rise and the ice castle melts away as they work on it.
Despite the melting, the walls have grown with the shortest wall standing at 8 feet tall and the tallest wall reaching 25 feet.
“These ice castles are grown from the ground up,” Christensen said. “We do that by growing icicles on our icicle farm; we handpick those and hand place them, use them in formations and spray water on them.”
Artistically structured in the acre-large ice castle are archways, tunnels, slot canyons, ice slide, caverns, glacial waterfalls and a frozen throne.
And, yes, “Frozen” music is part of the musical light display. Utah-based artists The Piano Guys filmed a music video at last year’s ice castle in Midway. The song they recorded and filmed, a mash-up of “Let it Go” and Vivaldi’s “Winter,” will be one of the songs dancing to the lights and flame throwers.
Singer Alex Boye also created a YouTube video on the hit “Frozen” song “Let it Go” at the ice castle last year. Boye’s was an Africanized version of the song that went viral.
“As far as getting our investment back, we’re not expecting that. We’re just glad we can open it and have some people come in and enjoy it. That’s also gratifying for all the guys that work for us, so they can see people come in for even a brief time and enjoy what they’ve been working so hard to do.”
The Midway Ice Castle will be open on Friday and Saturday (Jan. 23-24) from 6 p.m. to midnight. It will also be open on Monday, Jan. 26 from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. All other dates are dependent on weather. Check the Midway Ice Castle Facebook page for updates.
Tickets cost $12.95 for Friday and Saturday, but only $10.95 on Monday. Tickets need to be pre-purchased here.