Jeff Wolf, Macomb Community College culinary professor, and his ice carving students have been a fixture at local ice carving events for more than 10 years. But this year, Wolf ventured farther afield -- to Alaska -- to compete in the BP World Ice Art Championship, where he and Sean Ess, one of his students, earned not only fourth place but the respect of the international ice carving community as well.
“This competition is for professionals, and only one of the two-people teams included a student – from a college in Oregon. Some people walked by us the first couple of days and were shaking their heads and asking ‘what are they doing here?’” notes Wolf, a Shelby Township resident. “We were truly the underdogs. But I knew Sean’s abilities were strong, and I knew we would work well together.”
And work they did, logging in 46 hours over the course of the 60-hour competition to carve Horsin’ Around out of a 7,200-pound block of ice and taking fourth in the abstract category. At times, the temperature dropped to 20 degrees below zero in Fairbanks, and the duo had to build a heated box onsite to keep chisels, saws, gloves and water bottles from freezing. Both professor and student came back with colds, but neither was complaining.
“It was an awesome experience to meet people from all these different cultures,” said Ess, also of Shelby Township, who, along with Wolf, was invited by the Russian team that took first place to dinner at a compatriot’s house in Fairbanks. “And it was nice to come home and see how excited friends and family were. They had been following it on the Internet.”
The competition, hosted by Ice Alaska, is the largest and most widely followed, by media and ice carving fans alike, in the world, with 70 teams from 17 countries competing this year. And while some of those fans and competitors initially dismissed Wolf and Ess as amateurs, as Horsin’ Around began to take shape, it turned those opinions around as well.
“By the beginning of the third day, they were dropping their jaws,” relates Wolf. “Macomb had a great presence there. I think they are expecting us to come back next year.”
About Macomb Community College
Macomb Community College (www.macomb.edu) is one of the nation’s leading community colleges, providing learning experiences to more than 48,000 students annually. Macomb nationally ranks in the top two percent in the number of associate degrees awarded and as the largest grantor of associate degrees in Michigan. The college’s comprehensive educational programming includes pre-collegiate experiences, university transfer and career preparation programs, bachelor degree completion and graduate degree programs, workforce training, professional education and certification, and continuing education and enrichment opportunities.
Media contact:
Mary Smith
(586) 445-7997
smithm@macomb.edu