Ice masterpieces on Lake Baikal that will soon vanish (PHOTOS)

The frozen splashes of Lake Baikal’s waves on Olkhon Island reach several meters in height in winter and take on bizarre shapes. What you will see in them depends only on your imagination! We visited the amazing Olkhon Ice Fest, where ice-plastic sculptors exhibited their creations made in cooperation with mother nature.

Don't wake up the fish!

Sunset is the best time for the figures, the sculptors tell us. The burning sky beautifully illuminates these shapes, making them even more mysterious.

A giant fish has settled on one of the cliffs of Olkhon and, on its back, stands the village of Khuzhir, where we are now.

"On Olkhon, there is an old legend about the primeval fish, an ancient fish sleeping in the depths of Lake Baikal," says artisan Ivan Loktyukhin from Kirovsk (Murmansk Region), "and if people do something wrong, it can wake up, float up and then we'll be in trouble! Such a slightly apocalyptic fish, nice while it sleeps. We have to live right. Don't wake the fish up!"

Another phantasmagorical creature was made by masters Daniil Tsoi and Ilya Tyokin from Khabarovsk. A deep-water monkfish, which glows from within, attracting other fish to its light. Don’t put your finger in the mouth of such a fish!

Miracles on icy rocks

"This year's theme is the Universe of Baikal," festival organizer Semyon Mayor tells us. “Why the universe? Because, for the locals, Baikal is not just a lake, but a whole universe that influences all the processes of life." 

When you get to the ice park on the frozen lake, you really feel as if you are in another reality. Fairy tales, legends and mysticism have penetrated every centimeter of Baikal ice.

"Nature itself gives us clues: there was already a mask of a shaman and his hand with a staff and, next to it, ice surges formed a forest," says sculptor Alexander Parfyonov from Barnaul (Altai Region). "Remember? ‘In the midst of the journey of my life, I found myself through a dark forest’. Here is the life path people are strolling along. And here is another man praying for that one, calling out to the shaman."

Alexander says that, according to legends, the shaman has two sticks with the horses' heads on them. And they help him return from the realm of shadows. But, people have their own limits.

The shaman has other helpers - snakes. They lurk on another rock of ice. "When a family asks for their relatives, the shaman, agreeing, dives into the dark world to have time to pull out his soul," says Alexander. “And, running away from there, he throws his snakes at the dark spirits. For some reason, the dark spirits are afraid of these snakes. They are considered the guardians of this bridge between the worlds.

Blowing out the universe

Ural sculptors Alexey Vasyukov (known as Alexey Yagel) from Krasnokamsk, Perm Region, and Matvey Vavaev from Yekaterinburg oversaw the creation of a new universe on a large wide rock of ice.

It was as if some higher forces were "blowing out" worlds through a tube.

"We saw here a cluster of stars, galaxies,” says Alexei. “Here is the hand, here is the face. It turned out to be a deity creating the universe. And, if you step farther away, it all turns into a big fish." Indeed!

"There is such a word - pareidolia - when one sees a turtle or different faces in the clouds. And that's what we do, only in the ice," said the sculptor.

To see their other work, you'll have to look closely at the cave in the rock. Inside this small depression, they "grew" transparent drops of stalagmites. Alexei calls them a "frozen moment". "We thought about what to do without destroying the natural beauty of the cave. It is beautiful in itself. We decided to illuminate it beautifully and add music."

But, in addition, the ice park has sculptures made of cubes of ice as transparent as Baikal. There is a dragon - the symbol of the year according to the lunar calendar, a pair of the cutest Baikal seals, serge poles in memory of the deities of the Buryat people - copies of the wooden serges on Cape Burkhan behind them.

People say that Baikal ice has unique features: it's particularly fragile, because of the composition of the water. "It is truly like a living thing, it has many cracks, it is unpredictable. The substance is not easy, you still need to negotiate with it," Alexei believes.

Ivan Loktyukhin also finds Baikal ice special: "There is a lot of wind and sand on this shore and you can see brownish streaks on the ice. But, the ice is magic! When you walk on it, it makes sounds as if it were alive. Although, it is more than a meter thick.

Masterpieces that will disappear in a month, but will stay forever

The ice festival has been held annually on Olkhon since 2020 and attracts tens of thousands of tourists. According to the creator of ‘Olkhon Ice Fest’, it was originally in the format of a competition, but, since last year, this concept has been abandoned. Now, the festival is called a symposium and sculptors create together. This year, the ice park is being made by 10 ice-plastic sculptors from Russia, three craftsmen from Mongolia and about 15 other people who help with lighting and technical issues.

"Here is pure creativity, the sculptors come without sketches. We don't know what will happen here!” Semyon says excitedly. “When they arrive, they spend a couple of days just looking around, going through the site, visiting the museum, learning about local traditions, they go to a shaman and talk to the locals. Only then will they ‘give birth’ to a new concept!" 

The ice sculpture park will be open until March 15. Just one month - and spring will arrive at Baikal, the ice will melt and these fabulous figures will remain only in photos - and memory.

"I've been coming here for several years and, every time, I see something different," says Alexander. “It's as if we are re-creating a new universe. And, although all these sculptures will melt in the spring, they will be eternal, because the memory of water is eternal. Nature is a materialized god. No artist for any billions could ever reproduce these works!" 

Dear readers,

Our website and social media accounts are under threat of being restricted or banned, due to the current circumstances. So, to keep up with our latest content, simply do the following:

• Subscribe to our Telegram channel
• Subscribe to our weekly email newsletter
• Enable push notifications on our website
• Install a VPN service on your computer and/or phone to have access to our website, even if it is blocked in your country