The Ice Magic Festival is an annual event held at the Chateau Lake Louise every January. Professional Ice Carving teams use chainsaws to form huge, ornate ice sculptures from fifteen blocks of ice. These wonderful carvings remain on display as long as Mother Nature allows.

In mid-Febuary, my husband and I stayed at the Chateau and were able to experience the Ice Magic along with another Alberta phenomena - a Winter Whiteout (that is, a snow blizzard that reduces visibilities to near zero).

It is now March 24, more than a month hence, and here in Calgary, winter's hold continues profound and unrelenting. So even though I am enjoying visits to many images of Spring 2011 that are popping up on pbase .... snowy images and reduced visibility are persistent in Alberta.