{"id":102036,"date":"2026-02-17T16:24:50","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T21:24:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=102036"},"modified":"2026-02-17T16:24:50","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T21:24:50","slug":"world-class-ice-carvers-go-head-to-head-in-banffs-first-art-of-ice-competition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/17\/world-class-ice-carvers-go-head-to-head-in-banffs-first-art-of-ice-competition\/","title":{"rendered":"World class ice carvers go head to head in Banff’s first Art of Ice competition"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Leah Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Rocky Mountain Outlook BANFF \u2014 Chisel in hand and an untouched block of ice as a canvas in front of him, Ross Baisas gets to work. There\u2019s eight hours on the clock, and along with his brother Tony Baisas, the seasoned carvers are up against 10 other ice artists to create a sculpture from seven, 300-pound blocks of ice on day one of a three-day carving competition during the debut of Banff\u2019s Art of Ice on Friday (Feb. 6) \u2014 part of the SnowDays festival. \u201cMy advantage is I can draw (well),\u201d said Ross, a Montreal-based carver originally from the Philippines. \u201cI\u2019ve done drawing when I was young, before I did sculpting, and it\u2019s almost like if I can draw it, I can… <\/p>\n

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By Leah Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Rocky Mountain Outlook BANFF \u2014 Chisel in hand and an untouched block of ice as a canvas in front of him, Ross Baisas gets to work. There\u2019s eight hours on the clock, and along with his brother Tony Baisas, the seasoned carvers are up against 10 other ice artists to create a sculpture from seven, 300-pound blocks of ice on day one of a three-day carving competition during the debut of Banff\u2019s Art of Ice on Friday (Feb. 6) \u2014 part of the SnowDays festival. \u201cMy advantage is I can draw (well),\u201d said Ross, a Montreal-based carver originally from the Philippines. \u201cI\u2019ve done drawing when I was young, before I did sculpting, and it\u2019s almost like if I can draw it, I can... <\/p>\n

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Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"\nWorld class ice carvers go head to head in Banff's first Art of Ice competition - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/17\/world-class-ice-carvers-go-head-to-head-in-banffs-first-art-of-ice-competition\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"World class ice carvers go head to head in Banff's first Art of Ice competition - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Leah Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Rocky Mountain Outlook BANFF \u2014 Chisel in hand and an untouched block of ice as a canvas in front of him, Ross Baisas gets to work. 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