IceFest is a showcase for ice carvers around the country

Chambersburg's IceFest is marketed as the largest ice festival in Pennsylvania, but what does that actually mean?

DiMartino Ice Co. will bring 363 blocks of ice — 42 tons altogether — to the Franklin County festival this week, operations manager Jared McAlister said.

That is about 100 more blocks than the company's next-largest event. So, imagine IceFest without the single-block ice sculptures lining North and South Main streets.

That is about one-third of the ice used at IceFest.

All of those sculptures come to town earlier in the week already carved. The majority of the ice blocks become part of the 18 "giant" ice sculptures that McAlister and other ice artists will carve live throughout downtown Thursday and Friday evening, and the double-wide ice slide in the parking lot next to YP Jewelry.

"This is the only two-lane ice slide. We've been doing ice slides for 30 years," McAlister said.

By the time DiMartino Ice Co.'s trucks roll into Chambersburg ahead of the festival, ice artists have been chipping away at the pre-carved sculptures since October or November. It's almost the last stage of a planning process that began mere weeks after the end of the previous IceFest.

How do they make all that ice?

DiMartino works with another ice maker, Good Time Ice in York, to put the ice in IceFest. DiMartino produces the blocks for the precarved structures so that the blocks are on site for artists to work on, while Good Time Ice makes the rest.

“For Chambersburg, we used to do half the ice carved ahead of time. In 2015, we did 155 blocks on site, so we’re doing 100 more blocks of ice on site now.”

Making all those ice blocks — each weighing up to 300 lbs. — is not a fast process. It takes four days to make two blocks.

"They are referred to as a Clinebell block of ice," McAlister said. "That's who revolutionized the machine that makes the ice."

The machine, a version of which was first invented by Virgil Clinebell in the early 1980s, uses a top-down freezing system to turn water into clear, crystal-free ice.

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Anyone can be an ice carver

DiMartino Ice Co. produces 1,600 ice sculptures for the 14 events part of its regular schedule each year with the help of other ice companies, McAlister said. Artists complete about 700 at the shop, and the rest are carved at events.

"It's a learned skill. It's not one of those things you just pick up at another job," McAlister said.

There aren't many ice carvers out there. DiMartino offers training to any of its employees who want to learn to carve ice, an endeavor that may see one or two trainees a year (if they stick around). The company hires sub-contractors for most events, many of whom are chefs who were first exposed to ice carving in culinary school. For IceFest, DiMartino is bringing in ice carvers from around the county, including from Ohio, New Jersey and Florida.

The grandson of DiMartino's founder, McAlister has been carving ice since he was 14. Nowadays, he finds himself thinking about how he would turn objects, animals and structures he sees while out in and about into ice sculptures.

"The hardest part to carving ice is being able to see things in the third dimension. Being able to see depth, see rounding. When you start to carve ice, you start to look at the world in a different way," he said.

DiMartino and event organizers both come up with designs for IceFest and other events.

"Event organizers and I are always looking to do more artistic, more interesting, new designs every year," McAlister said. "Sponsors have the ultimate choice. Try to work with them and create something that would be good for crowd."

'Sweaty' ice is the best for carving

Ice sculptors use specialized chainsaws, disc sanders, die grinders and other power tools. These tools are made specifically for carving ice.

"It's a very small community, ice carvers. As an industry, we have kind of pioneered our own industry of tools," he said.

Ice that is in a "full sweat," or is starting to melt, is the best to carve.

"Wood is softer when it's alive and green, so to speak. When it's dry it becomes hard. Ice is sort of the same; when it's cold, it's very hard. It gets brittle and difficult to carve," McAlister said.

Most ice carvers will use a walk-in freezer to carve. Freezing air isn't necessary though — DiMartino's carving room is 68 degrees.

An air temperature of about 20 degrees is ideal for live carving events, McAlister said.

"That’s the fun part for us. That’s what we enjoy doing. Here at the shop, I'm staring at the garage door most of the day carving ice.," he said, adding it is also a nice reprieve from 16-hour days put in to prepare the regular sculptures.

The giant sculptures require multiple blocks of ice stacked together into a wall, then shaped by carving out the negative space. The ice throne, a popular sculpture for photos, is a bit different in that it looks like a giant chair before any carving even begins.

Like many industries today, technology is making ice carving easier while minimizing the need for human skill. McAlister said many ice artists today use CNC (computer numerical control) machines, a common device used to create parts in the manufacturing industry. The machine will carve the ice sculpture, and the ice artist will do the finishing touches.

Don't expect to see a CNC machine at DiMartino's workshop.

"Everything we do is carved by hand, start to finish. That's a .point of pride for us," he said.

IceFest: Things to know before you go

IceFest officially kicks off at 5 p.m. Thursday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Courthouse Plaza in Chambersburg's Memorial Square and continues through 4 p.m. Sunday.

The large ice sculptures will be carved live between 5 and 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday. There probably won't be much carving left to see if you wait until the end, though.

The 40-foot-long, double-wide ice slide will be open those evenings, plus 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

There are two new events this year: Horse carriage rides and a steampunk-themed escape room. Reservations are recommended for both.

Saturday is the big day for activities. There will be a chili and BBQ contest, beer garden, Icing on the Cake (vote for your favorite cake designs), craft/business vendors, and more food trucks than any other day at the festival. There is also a scanvenger hunt for kids, teens and adults.

Get details at icefestpa.com.

Amber South can be reached at asouth@publicopinionnews.com.

This article originally appeared on Chambersburg Public Opinion: IceFest in Chambersburg: Everything to know about ice carving