Filipinos dominated the 25th Rogers International Ice Carving Competition held at the Confederation Park in Ottawa over the first weekend of the National Capital Commission's annual Winterlude.
Vikings' Last Ride (Photo courtesy of Canada's Capital)
Representing the Philippines, Ross Baisas and Antonio Baisas placed first in the pairs category with "Vikings' Last Ride." The stunning Philippine entry was clearly a crowd favorite and garnered as well the Media Choice Award.
The winning life-size ice sculpture was chiselled to perfection within a time limit of 30 hours.
The Filipino duo bested 22 other professional carvers from 10 countries at the Rogers Crystal Garden within Ottawa's Confederation Park. Samuel Girault (France) and Michal Mizula (Poland) placed second while Russians Fedor Markov and Vasiliy Sivtsev landed in third place.
Ross Baisas also won the one-block challenge where sculptors had only two hours to carve a block of ice inspired by the theme "Northern Passion". In this category, the second prize went to Fermin Gomez Jr. (Mexico) while Fedor Markov (Russia) placed third.
Some Canadians regard the Filipino ice sculptors' feat remarkable given that they come from a country that is not visited by winter.
Ross Baisas' Winning Entry in the One-Block Challenge
Since 1979, Winterlude has taken place every February in Ottawa with hundreds of activities celebrating Canada's unique northern climate and culture. Among the popular sights are the world's largest skating rink along the Rideau Canal Skateway, the Snowflake Kingdom in Jacques-Cartier Park and the Rogers Crystal Garden in Confederation Park where the ice sculptures are in full display.
Filipinos in Canada are invited to vote online for the Best Winterlude Ice Carving - Rogers People's Choice and get the chance to win a trip for two with WestJet by visiting winterlude.gc.ca. The contest is open until 27 February 2012.