Yellowknife (Feb 06/06) - Three well-known NWT carvers are in Ottawa this week to compete in the annual Winterlude festival snow carving competition.

Eli Nasogaluak, originally of Tuktoyaktuk, and Fort Simpson-born carvers John Sabourin and Randy Sibbeston teamed up for the prestigious challenge this year.

Nasogaluak is a veteran of the national competition. He and his brothers Bill and Joe have placed strongly in the contest for the past five years, winning first place in 2002 and receiving the artist's choice award last year.

He and his new team are working with the theme Winter Sports Mania.

Their design depicts a sports record book with the pages spread at a 45-degree angle. Three eight-foot-tall speed skaters explode from the pages, frozen in a dynamic pose as they bank on a sharp turn.

The cover of the book will include delicate lettering. The giant skaters will balance on their skate blades.

"The whole concept of the competition is to beat the time with the strongest image possible," Nasogaluak said.

The carvers will have 40 hours spread over four or five days to shape a 16-foot-high block of snow into a frozen work of art. The competition runs from Feb. 8-11.

"It's out there. It's crazy," Sibbeston said, of his team's ambitious design. "We're attempting an insanely technical and highly detailed sculpture."

The choice of subject is appropriate, said Sabourin, given that Canadian speed skaters are responsible for a large percentage of Canada's winter Olympic medals in recent years.

The artists are permitted one chainsaw and a variety of custom-made shaving tools donated by Paul Brothers Welding Ltd. NorArt Gallery in Yellowknife also joined the team as a sponsor.

They'll use a small-scale version of the sculpture to work from. The last time Nasogaluak used such a model his team won first place.

"This might be my last year, so I want to pass the torch," Nasogaluak said. "And these two carvers are the best."

All three carvers want to see snow sculpting grow as an art form in the NWT.