Artists Wield Chainsaws at Titanic Ice Event

PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. (Jan. 18, 2013) – It’s likely that the fanciest ice sculptures you ever created were the fish-shaped ice cubes that came out of that plastic ice tray you bought at IKEA.

To see what real ice artistry looks like, check out the third annual Titanic Pigeon Forge Professional Ice Carving Competition on Jan. 19 (Saturday).

A chainsaw becomes an artist’s tool at the Titanic Pigeon Forge Professional Ice Carving Competition.

The parking lot in front of the Titanic Museum Attraction become an outdoor art studio as professional and amateur ice sculptors work their magic on 250-pound blocks of ice.

Chainsaws start roaring at 9 a.m. to make the first cuts, and hand tools come into play at the day progresses.

Winners celebrate at 3 p.m., and prizes – from $500 to $2,000 – are the awards. The cost to watch the ice artists at work is just right – it’s free.

2012 Was Very, Very Good for Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Visitation to Great Smoky Mountains National Park rose to 9,685,828 in 2012. That’s a 7.5 percent jump, making 2012 the biggest year since the 10.1 million visitors in 2000, which remains the record.

Park management credited mild weather last winter and spring as a big factor. Every month in 2012 had more visitors than the same month in 2011.

Clear, cool, tumbling water is a hallmark of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

December’s count was 480,527, up from 471,603. That was despite the closure of the Newfound Gap Road between the Sugarlands Visitors Center and Cherokee, N.C., for all or part of six days because of ice and snow. The Christmas and New Year’s holidays brought large numbers of visitors to the park.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, with 800 square miles of natural beauty, is the most visited national park in the United States.

The national park is the primary focus of Wilderness Wildlife Week, a project of the City of Pigeon Forge. It offers eight days of free programming and activities about the park and numerous other outdoor topics.

Wilderness Wildlife Week takes place at the Music Road Hotel and Convention Center.