That drip, drip, drip sound you hear is not music to the ears of an ice sculptor.
As temperatures rocketed to the mid-40s Friday, Super Bowl ice sculptures began taking it on the chin.
The 13-foot football player lost his facemask and his face got a "little melty," said Robbie Harrell, founder and head of Minnesota Ice. "It's still obviously a football player, but with the finer details on his face not as sharp. Sharp corners might be a little rounded off."
The mini-meltdown should stop as temperatures steadily fall over the next few days. And if the ice carvers have time, they may slice off the football player's head and give him a new one.
Besides the football player, ice sculptors, including a few who flew in from around the country, completed a Vince Lombardi Trophy, a Skol horn and a 12,000-pound LII. On Friday, Harrell's crew of 13 carvers worked on a 45,000-pound LII.
The art chiseled out of 650 ice blocks will survive any spring blast, Harrell said. Unlike a cloudy ice cube, Harrell said, his ice is crystal clear. "The density and purity" keep it from melting as quickly, he explained.
Some of the sculptures were wrapped with reflective material to prevent "sun rot." And 32 NFL jerseys frozen in blocks of ice were being kept in a warehouse freezer until temperatures drop, Harrell said.
Liam Flahive, a St. Paul ice sculptor, shrugged when asked about the warmth. "It happens," he said. "The alternative is 30 below and it's too cold for people to come out to see them. Thirty to 35 [degrees] is the Goldilocks zone."