Explore enchanting ice castles, ice bars and hotels in the Northeast

It started with a sketch on a cocktail napkin.

Sometime in late December or early January, a group of designers and builders gathered at a Saranac Lake watering hole and drew up plans — yes, on a cocktail napkin — for the ice palace that is the highlight of the town’s annual Winter Carnival, running this year from Feb. 6-15. It’s the longest-running winter carnival east of the Mississippi, said Meachele Manchester, a member of IPW (Ice Palace Workers) 101, the volunteer council that plans and builds the frozen structure.

People come from all over the Northeast to help build the castle, which last year was constructed from around 4,000 blocks of ice painstakingly cut from Lake Flower, said Manchester, who is also the official photographer of the event. It’s a family affair, she said. "Many of the people who build it have been involved for generations." These hardy volunteers delight in spending hours constructing a multiroom palace in freezing temperatures and they are hardly alone. In Woodstock, New Hampshire, an Ice Castle with slides, caverns and a bar. Meanwhile, in Quebec City, you’ll find an entire hotel — Hôtel de Glace — made of ice. Dress warm!

EXPLORE A WINTER WONDERLAND

The Saranac Carnival runs for 10 days and for the Adirondack village’s 6,000 or so residents, it’s a "cherished tradition," Manchester said. .  While a visit to the Ice Palace is the highlight of the carnival each year, the event also includes a parade, fireworks, a corn hole tournament and more.

The design of the palace is different every year, said Manchester, explaining that it generally reflects the carnival’s theme. This year it’s Cartoonsville (it beat out Wizards and Dragons), so expect wacky designs and an appearance from some of your favorite comic book characters in the form of ice carvings placed around the structure. The Ice Palace is lit up nightly, with thousands of multicolored LED lights set in spaces between the blocks of ice. Souvenir hunters will want to buy a Carnival button, designed every year by Doonesbury cartoonist and local resident Garry Trudeau.

GET THE ROYAL TREATMENT AT AN ICE CASTLE

The Ice Castle that will rise in Woodstock, New Hampshire, in late January is one of five to be constructed by a company that got its start when the owner moved his family from California to Utah in the early 2000s. "I never spent a lot of time where it snows," said Brent Christensen, of Alpine, Utah. Wanting to give his six children a way to have fun in the frigid air, he built an ice cave in his front yard. They loved it, as did the rest of the neighborhood.

The next year, Christensen recalled, he built a more substantial structure that "people thought was really cool," he said. "A lot of people were driving by and taking pictures. A local news station came by, and I though this might have a lot of potential." The next year, he cut back working on his mobile repair business and convinced a nearby resort to let him construct a frozen castle on its grounds. That was a big success and in 2011 he incorporated. This year his company will construct Ice Castles in New Hampshire, Minnesota, Canada and two in Colorado.

Each castle is a little different, Christensen said. The New Hampshire location has slides of different lengths and numerous caverns and tunnels to explore. There’s also a snow tubing hill, horse-drawn sleigh rides, a light show in the nearby woods and a Polar Pub. A private alcove can be rented for special occasions —" there have been many proposals," Christensen said. "Thousands and thousands of people visit every year and you rarely see someone who isn’t having a good time. ... It’s a little surreal that I had a hand in creating it." His major piece of advice: "Wear good boots and overdress, it’s cold."

CHECK IN, CHILL OUT

Speaking of dressing warm, that’s also good advice for anyone brave enough to spend the night at Hôtel de Glace, a hotel constructed entirely of ice in Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier, just 20 miles north of Quebec City. Since 2001, the Hôtel Valcartier has built these Nordic lodgings. The ice hotel is open for tours and for overnight stays . It takes about five weeks to construct the hotel, using around 45,000 tons of snow and 3,000 blocks of ice. The design is different every year, and has around 30 rooms, including several deluxe suites that come with amenities like mood-enhancing fireplaces, spas and private saunas. The hotel has a Grand Hall featuring sculptures that honor the rich culture of Quebec, a restaurant and bar where cocktails are served in glasses made of ice, and an illuminated chapel that’s a popular spot for winter weddings. The rooms have icy beds that come with cozy sleeping bags (online reviews suggest they can get too warm) and overnight guests also have access to a room in the hotel where they can shower and store luggage. Bathroom facilities are outside in two porta potties. If you’re not up for spending the night, tickets can be purchased to tour the hotel during the day.

To point out the obvious, the structures are heavily dependent on the climate. Christensen said "weather is our biggest challenge," noting that in past seasons, they’ve had to shut down castles because it was either too warm or too cold. Two years ago, the Saranac Lake Ice Palace was forced to close the final weekend because of heavy rains. "People could still see it," Manchester said, "but they couldn’t go inside."

Once the season ends, workers at Hôtel de Glace remove sleeping bags, blankets, etc., and bulldozers knock everything down in a few hours. The Saranac Lake Ice Palace is left up as long as it’s deemed safe, Manchester said, but once the stability is questionable, workers remove the lights, then the town sends in heavy equipment to push everything back from exactly where they got it — into Lake Flower. Christensen said once they close, excavators knock down the structures for safety reasons, then they simply allow nature to take its course. "We just let the massive ice field melt away as spring arrives."