Details Unveiled Regarding the Landing of an Iconic New Attraction in Teller’s Back Yard
Rick Langenberg
It is now official, as Cripple Creek plunges further into the Ice Fantasy land, a vision briefly presented at a recent council meeting and welcomed by local residents and business operators.
Only now, more details have been unveiled as this vision takes on a new immediate reality, with these ice fantasy structures expected to get developed within the next few months, with an initial completion target date of late December, 2023.
As predicted by City Administrator Frank Salvato, the Ice Castles development became official early last week. This announcement follows extensive negotiations between city officials and the Ice Castles company and support by local casinos. As part of the enticement pact, the city and gaming community agreed to foot about half of the annual awater bill for Ice Castles for financing their ice works, which do require an extensive amount of water.
City officials gave residents a sneak preview at their most recent council meeting, held on Sept. 20.
At this meeting, Salvato indicated that the attraction’s official landing in Cripple Creek was pretty much a done deal, with a formal announcement scheduled for early last week. This announcement was capped by a joint press release by the city of Cripple Creek and the Ice Castles company.
A brief video outlined what this attraction, formerly located in the Dillon resort area, entails, during a previous council meeting.
Ice Castles, though, hasn’t occurred in Colorado for several years.
But that will soon change this year, with Cripple Creek displaying the Ice Castles banner in a bold fashion. Proponents of the deal say this will blend well with the city’s annual Ice Fest, regarded as one of its most popular festivals. In fact, the popularity of this festival is a main reason that attracted the Ice Castles company officials to consider Cripple Creek as one of its sites in North America, according to Salvato.
Details Unveiled of the Ice Castles Attraction
A magical, frozen attraction is bringing its fairytale experience back to the Centennial State, according to the official announcement by Ice Castles officials. After two seasons away, Ice Castles will return to Colorado in December 2023 with a new location in Cripple Creek.
Cripple Creek is well known for its annual Ice Festival, scheduled for February 17th-25 this winter in 2024. Moreover, it is looking forward to the best winter season yet. Ice Castles will begin building its immersive winter attraction in Cripple Creek as soon as late October or early November.
Property has already been secured for the attraction, which could generate crowds of 100,000-plus visitors, based on estimates made at an earlier council meeting.
The acclaimed winter attraction features tunnels, caverns, towers, fountains, slides, and crawl spaces built entirely from ice using icicles that are grown, harvested, and hand-placed by professional ice artisans. The acre-sized winter playgrounds are illuminated at night by color-changing LED lights embedded inside the ice.
“We are excited to be back in Colorado this winter,” said Ice Castles’ CEO Kyle Standifird. “Our team is dedicated to creating an unforgettable experience in Cripple Creek that complements the natural beauty of the area while providing a unique and immersive experience for guests.” “Cripple Creek is ecstatic to host Ice Castles this year,” said former Cripple Creek Mayor Milford Ashworth, just prior to stepping down from office.
“We are the perfect frozen destination during wintertime and are looking forward to a beautiful season with Ice Castles at the forefront.”
Construction on the winter attraction will begin as early as late October. A team of approximately 20 ice artisans will spend about eight weeks building the experiences. Ice Castles typically opens in late December or early January, depending on the weather, and remains open until early March.
The Utah-based company will have three other locations this winter in Utah, Minnesota, and New Hampshire. The winter event company will also roll out a new attraction, Winter Realm, in New York and Wisconsin, featuring seasonal elements such as winter sleigh rides, ice skating and a whimsical light walk (location depending).
With the landing of this attraction, Cripple Creek will assume a new winter identity, a time that in the past featured much fewer crowds. But events, such as the two-week long Ice Fest, have often given visitors a prime time to frequent the gaming community.
Tickets to visit the frozen fortresses will be available in December on the company’s website, icecastles.com.
About Ice Castles. Ice Castles has been bringing fairy tales to life since its inception in 2011. Founder, Brent Christensen, developed the patented process used to create Ice Castles while attempting to build a winter playground for his kids in the front yard of their home in Alpine, Utah. The project drew crowds who came out to tour Christensen’s frozen creation. Ice Castles has since turned into an internationally renowned tourist attraction with multiple locations across North America.
