How did it all start? … It’s 1989. There’s an ice and snow sculpture art course on in the village of Jukkasjärvi – pronounced ‘you-kas-yayr-vi’ (try saying that with a reindeer salami in your mouth). A snow house has been built as the art course venue. But there’s a sudden shortage of accommodation. What to do? Easy. Stick them in the snow house with the frozen art, of course: give them sleeping bags; survivalist advice; tips on toilet trip management on ice; and a sauna in the morning to burn off the frostbite … And the ICEHOTEL was born.
The Entrance
Lit Up View
The Bar
Now, every winter, ice is cut from the frozen Torne River in Jukkasjärvi. Builders and artists get to work with mammoth sized ice blocks and at the end of frenzied months of chopping, cutting, sculpting and probably a lot of schnapps drinking, you get one ICEHOTEL and an ICEBAR. And a lot of tendonitis injuries. Then to add insult to injury, it melts every spring! But that is the joy of the ICEHOTEL. You get a new hotel and art installation every year.
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