While many winter vacationers head for tropical or at least temperate climes, other travelers, in keeping with the season, put chillier destinations on their itineraries.
Ski holidays are the most obvious winter getaways, but there are other frosty options, from quick drinks at "ice bars" such as Minus5 at the Mandalay Bay and Monte Carlo casino-resorts in otherwise balmy Las Vegas to a night or two at the growing number of seasonal "snow hotels" popping up each winter from Quebec to Swedish Lapland.
For its part, northern Alaska -- as likely a locale as any for a winter redoubt built of frozen precipitation -- isn't currently home to an ice or snow hotel. But the largest municipality in the region, Fairbanks, does boast one year-round ice museum an hour out of town as well as a second, seasonal one in the city center. In addition, Fairbanks has hosted an annual ice-sculpture festival and competition, the World Ice Art Championships, for nearly a quarter-century.
On ice all year
The Chena Hot Springs Resort, located some 60 miles northeast of Fairbanks, is, as its name implies, famed for the mineral-rich, geothermally heated waters found in its manmade pools and natural ponds. It also happens to be, however, the home of what's claimed to be the world's largest "year-round ice environment," the Aurora Ice Museum.
The museum is built from more than 1,000 tons of ice and snow harvested on the resort's grounds. Chena Hot Springs Resort had operated an ice hotel at the site but converted it to a museum in 2005.
The museum's interior, kept at 20 degrees Fahrenheit all year long, displays ice sculptures by 15-time world champion ice carver Steve Brice and his wife, Heather, herself a six-time world champion. Their creations include (nonbookable) bedrooms, lifesize medieval jousters on horseback, an ice outhouse, a two-story kids' fort, an observation tower with a circular staircase and several ice-crystal chandeliers illuminated in an ever-changing range of colors.
Not to be outdone by Vegas-based pretenders to the ice-bar throne, the facility also includes the Aurora Ice Bar, featuring a fireplace and fur-covered stools. The bar's signature cocktail is an appletini served in a glass carved from -- you guessed it -- ice.
The Aurora Ice Museum offers five tours daily, at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. For prices and more information, visit www.chenahotsprings.com/ice-museum.
Each May to September, the Aurora Ice Museum gets a little competition from the Fairbanks Ice Museum, which sets up shop in the Lacey Street Theater in downtown Fairbanks. It offers a multimedia program, lifesize ice sculptures by local artists and live ice-carving demonstrations. For more, see www.icemuseum.com.
Ice-carving competition
The Aurora Ice Museum is open all year, but the joys of Fairbanks' annual ice-sculpture competition can only last for one month each year. In 2012, host organization Ice Alaska will hold the World Ice Art Championships from Feb. 28 to March 25. The event attracts more than 70 ice-carving teams, 100 ice artists and some 45,000 visitors from all over the world, according to Ice Alaska.
In addition, the event grounds are home to a Kids Park, a playground featuring slides, rides, mazes and lifesize sculptures of animals, cartoon characters and toys, all made of ice. Day tickets cost $10 for adults and $5 for kids ages 6 to 12, while those 5 and under enter free. Season passes are also available. Visit www.icealaska.com.
For destination news and updates worldwide, follow Ken Kiesnoski on Twitter @kktravelweekly.