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Winter Season
Action-packed and truly beautiful, Fairbanks’ winter season is guaranteed. See the captivating light of the aurora borealis, view larger-than-life outdoor ice sculptures and experience the exhilarating sport of dog mushing. A surprising amount of winter events make the winter season a traveler’s snowy paradise...skiing, ice skating, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, ice fishing, curling, tubing and ice hockey abound!
Challenge the snow-capped hills or birch-laden trails or mush a team of huskies across the wilderness. Behold three-ton pieces of ice being turned into works of art. Journey above the Arctic Circle, visit Santa in North Pole or discover the incredible warmth of an Alaska hot spring at the end of an adventure-filled day. Plan an incredible winter expedition in this sparkling land of aurora, ice and snow.
Watch our video to see how Fairbanks celebrates winter!
Fairbanks, Alaska is truly a traveler's snowy paradise!
Winter Season in Fairbanks Alaska is surprisingly delightful. The landscape, reminiscent of a holiday card, is transformed by a thick blanket of snow, wonder-filled celebrations, lamp posts adorned with festive lights and people bustling about sporting cold weather garments like colorful scarves and woolen mittens.
World-renowned Ice Art
In Fairbanks, ice art is not only remarkable but commonplace during winter months. Locals and visitors alike enjoy a multitude of impressive ice sculptures around the community and in February and March, both the World Ice Art Championships and the International Ice Art Classic spring to life.
Talented artists from all over the world come to Fairbanks to use a one-ton block of ice as a crystal clear, 3-dimensional canvas. The ice is actually harvested from local ponds and because the water is so pure and the winter temperatures so cold, the ice has a slight glacial blue tint. It is so clear that a person can read a newspaper through a four-foot block of ice! The sculptors say that Fairbanks ice is the best ice in the world for their art. Because of its translucent quality, it is known globally by carvers as “Arctic Diamond.”
Ice art is awe-inspiring, but it can also be interactive. The Ice Art Championships and the Ice Art Classic all find creative and beautiful ways to have fun, like attending any children's playground, only the "equipment" is constructed entirely from ice! There are slides and rides for all ages, mazes and life-sized sculptures of animals, and characters to touch and climb on. Climb atop a polar bear, slide down a dragon’s neck or crawl through a giant maze.
Ice art sculptures in Fairbanks rival those wrought in stone and never cease to capture both the mind and the imagination.
World Ice Art Championships
Feb 15–Mar 31
Every year between mid-February and the end of March, Fairbanks is abuzz with enthusiasm for ICE! A tradition that began with the early celebrations of spring that involved sculpting thrones of ice for the Winter Carnivals of the 1930s. The Ice Alaska organization is volunteer-driven and the annual event hosts over 100 ice artists representing nine countries and many states of the U.S. In past years, artists from 45 countries have competed in the Championships. The result is over 100 sculptures and exhibition pieces and ever-expanding playful ice attractions in the Kids Park. www.icealaska.org
Talk about a trip of a lifetime! The magnificent scenery. The breathtaking outdoors combined with warm and welcoming hospitality has made Fairbanks one of my most memorable winter adventures, anywhere in the world.
