After a weekend of heavy drinking in the bars of Fairbanks AK (Highly recommend The Marlin), a gentle day of recovery was required. We decided to drive to the Chena Hot Springs Resort for a soak in the hot springs, a (relatively) healthy meal and hopefully a visit to the Ice Museum once the hangover subsides.
Due to me not trusting the waterproof rating of my phone and generally respecting people's privacy I left my phone in my locker and didn't get any photos of the many hours we spent in the springs.
After spending literally hours soaking and pondering on what possessed me to drink canned blueberry mojitos the previous night, we had lunch before heading to the activity centre to begin the Ice Museum tour.
The tour begins in an airlock room to stop warm air getting into the exhibit. It also serves as a place for people who didn't realise ice has to be stored in a cold place to borrow thick coats before entering.
Once through the doors we're met by an apprentice sculptor making cocktail glasses for the Apple Martinis offered at the Aurora ice bar. Here he is behind a branch frozen in clear ice.
Everything in here was fun to photograph. Nearly every light behind sculptures slowly shifted colours so every picture could look completely different depending on what angle you were standing and what colour the lights were when you captured.
Once past the workshop the light in the Museum dramatically dimmed. Taking photos on the default camera setting of my Oneplus had very blurry results, switching to Night mode brought back clarity at the expense of a small amount of colour depth.
The above photo was taken in Night mode and the below in default. I think I made the right choice.
The sculpture is called "Joust" and is a remake of an ice sculpting championship winning piece. (The original was twice as big and wouldn't have fit in the Museum).
The Ice Museum can be rented for weddings in their specially built chapel.
And afterwards guests can stay the night in an ice bed. We were told that all reservations come with a free room at the Hot Springs Resort as to date nobody has lasted the entire night in the Museum.
At this point the tour guide began serving Appletinis at the bar. We decided the $20 fee was a little steep especially when we saw that the seats were also made from ice. Thankfully this gave me plenty of time with with an empty museum to take all of the pictures you see here.
I had no idea how the effect in the ice in the pictures below were achieved until I visited the Ice Museum in Fairbanks later on in my trip.
I thought maybe it was something frozen in the orb but actually both the spikes and the flower petals are achieved by drilling into the back of the sphere. Simple!
This sculpture was in another "bedroom". It took me a couple of seconds to realise it represents the Northern lights! The straight edges portray the shimmer that evades most cameras and can only be seen with the naked eye.
I couldn't wait to get home and edit these photos. Just look at how colourful it turned my photo gallery!
I hope you've enjoyed viewing the Chena Hot Springs Resort Ice Museum without braving the -7°c temperature. If you're ever in Alaska I strongly suggest visiting the resort.