Silverthorne Ice Castle—Beauty Frozen in Time

What weighs nearly 10,000 tons, consists of 60,000 icicles and is located near one of Summit County’s favorite shopping spots?

It’s Brent Christensen’s Ice Castle, inviting you to explore its walkways, arches, tunnels and formations, all created entirely of ice and naturally shaped by gravity. The castle changes with the weather, growing and shifting as the ice melts and refreezes. Christensen employed PVC piping outfitted with sprinkler heads to create the structure, using about one mile of piping to outline the footprint of the castle; water continues to flow out of the pipes to help the castle grow. Nearby, an “ice farm” provides nearly 5,000 icicles each day, which Christensen and his crew use to supplement the existing structure.

At night, lights frozen into the ice columns create an otherworldly vision within the nine towers and their interlocking pathways. The castle is open Monday through Thursday, noon to 8 p.m.; Friday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, noon to 7 p.m. One day ticket for adults is $10; 12 and younger $7.50, (under 3, free); an adult season pass is $30; a family season pass (includes two adults for $50, each additional child 18 and younger costs $10). The Ice Castle will remain open through April, weather permitting.

Visitors may convert a one day pass to a one week pass by bringing the original ticket back to the Ice Castle, along with a receipt from any store located in the Outlets at Silverthorne. The Outlet receipt must be dated between the purchase date of the Ice Castle ticket and the six days following.

The free Outlets at Silverthorne shuttle will run the Cloud bus to the Ice Castle location. The Outlets will also offer additional parking in the Green Village parking lot, where it’s just a short walk across the Blue River pedestrian bridge to the Ice Castle.

Watch a fascinating video of the construction of the Ice Castle at http://www.icecastles.com/video/