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Ice Castles open for frozen fun in North Woodstock, NH

A visitor snaps a photo of the ice castle in North Woodstock.
Zoey Knox
Visitors made the most of the cold weather at the opening weekend of the ice castle in North Woodstock.

Last weekend saw the opening of the annual Ice Castles exhibition in North Woodstock — a relatively early start, after a recent stretch of cold weather made for ideal building conditions.

While some Granite Staters looking for a dose of the outdoors hit ski slopes nearby, families lined up to explore towers, tunnels, slides, and thrones — all made of ice.

The ice castles in North Woodstock opened early this year after a recent stretch of cold weather made for ideal building conditions.
Zoey Knox
/
NHPR
The ice castles in North Woodstock opened early this year after a recent stretch of cold weather made for ideal building conditions.

Luke Ely, who helped manage the construction of the castle this year, said it took more than a month to get to this point. He says his team has changed some of their construction techniques, as climate change warms up winter temperatures.

Luke Ely stands outside of the ice castle entrance.
Zoey Knox
/
NHPR
Luke Ely helped manage the construction of the castle this year. It took more than a month to get to this point.

“The way that we build the walls themselves, we try to build them with much more mass and thicker now,” he said. “And there's different things we've had to pay attention to that my predecessors didn't have to as much.”

The inside of the ice castle viewed from an ice tower.
Zoey Knox
/
NHPR
Luke Ely says his crew spent 42 days growing the ice and shaping it into towers, bridges and artistic icicle archways.

Over the past several years, warming winters have interrupted the building process. But Ely said this year has been good.

“We had a lot better weather, a lot colder weather early on,” he said. “So then we were able to open up way sooner than we have.”

A line formed at the ticket counter almost as soon as the ice castle opened on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025.
Zoey Knox
/
NHPR
A line formed at the ticket counter almost as soon as the ice castle opened on Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025.

That cold weather allowed the builders to get more creative — like making a tunnel roof out of icicles stuck together.

The castle held up to 5 inches of rain while it was being built and will survive more wear and tear as people explore its halls and courtyards this winter.

A carved ice throne stands outside the castle.
Zoey Knox
Visitors to the castle explored towers, tunnels, slides and thrones, all made of ice.

Ely said it takes long days and lots of hard work to create the castle. But it’s worth it to share some beauty with people during the coldest, darkest months of the year.

The castles remain open to visitors — until it all melts away.

Mara Hoplamazian reports on climate change, energy, and the environment for NHPR.
Zoey Knox is NHPR's newsroom engagement producer. Prior to joining NHPR, she held a programming internship at Radio Milwaukee and worked at college radio stations in Madison, WI, (WSUM) and Seattle, WA (KXSU).
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