For the past three years, crowds have flocked to the Lions Ponds in Fraser to enjoy snow sculptures and fireworks, and warm up around a bonfire at the Fire & Ice Festival. The plan for this year’s festival was for the town to contract a snow-sculpting company to build the main attraction, according to Fraser’s Marketing and Communications Manager Sarah Wieck.

In 2024, the festival doubled as the site of a snow-sculpting competition. But for this year’s festival, members of the Fraser Public Arts Committee and Fraser town staff made the decision to remove the competition aspect because they felt it didn’t add anything to the event and wanted to return to the event’s simpler roots.

However, at the Fraser Board of Trustees meeting Nov. 21, board members did not approve a $50,000 contract with a snow-sculpting company that would’ve created this year’s Fire & Ice Festival attraction. The trustees asked that the public arts committee and town staff come up with a cheaper solution. One trustee suggested that they build a sledding hill instead.

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Wieck explained during the meeting that she had reached out to Snice Carvings, a Colorado-based snow-sculpting company, to build this year’s attraction. Snice Carvings specializes in large-scale snow and ice sculptures, and has done work for a variety of competitions and clients, including ski resorts across Colorado.

The initial plan was for Snice Carvings to craft a snow sculpture at the Lions Ponds in Fraser around mid-December and regularly return to touch up the sculpture and expand or modify the sculpture prior to the festival in February. The company would’ve also created an ice chimney for the festival’s bonfire. The chimney is made up of blocks of ice and creates a glowing effect. Each year, the bonfire is fueled using old Christmas trees donated from residents.

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In her presentation to the board, Wieck said the benefits of the festival include added community appeal for visitors, extending seasonal attraction past December and promoting Fraser’s identity as an arts-and-culture center.

The contract cost of $50,000 would have covered installation, maintenance and any final modifications to the sculpture prior to the festival in February.

In the presentation, Wieck said the costs for the festival are anticipated to be offset by an increase in visitation during the winter season.

Chair of the public arts committee and part-time event coordinator Callie McDermott also spoke during the meeting, saying that the sculpture would be a “big draw” for Fraser.

Some board members experienced a bit of sticker shock at the $50,000 price tag for the sculpture, and some wanted to see a return on investment.

“I’m not sure that’s a good investment,” board member Lewis Gregory said. “I would like to see what kind of return that we would get from that investment.”

In the end, the board decided not to vote on the matter and asked that the public arts committee bring back different options. As of Wednesday, Dec. 12, Snice Carvings had not submitted a new proposal for a snow sculpture.

The 2025 Fraser Fire & Ice Festival is slated to take place Feb. 8.