Brent Christensen is the founder of Ice Castles, an Utah-based company specializing in creating lofty ice castles by carefully orchestrating the freezing of water. Weighing up to 25 million pounds each, his castles feature soaring ice towers, shimmering archways, glowing tunnels, glossy walls, roomy caverns and frozen thrones, all made from ice.

Unlike most winter structures that use stacked ice blocks or a carving method, Brent Christensen employs a more organic approach. Castle-building starts in the fall. Brent Christensen and his crew of trained workers uses a system of sprinklers to spray water onto metal racks to produce thousands of icicles which are then harvested and stuck to scaffolds. The icicles are then drenched in water and, depending on the temperature and wind, they grow in various shapes and formations. Gradually, over the course of several weeks the ice accumulates and different structures emerge.

Photo credit: AJ Mellor/icecastles.com