HOUGHTON/HANCOCK -- The 2012 Winter Carnival at Michigan Tech had students working throughout the night to finish their snow statues.
The temperatures were nice and chilly, leaving the statues in tip-top shape for Thursday's judging. With pencils in hand, the judges gathered around the statues to score them in 10 different categories. Each category is weighted and the statue is judged in different areas like first impression, theme, lettering and intricacy.
"What we do is view the whole thing. We have to look at the whole thing and then after you look at the full picture of the statue, then you go out and start looking for the intricate details. There are different parts of that statue that stand out, and you know it when you see it. Believe me," said Rob Roy, one of the selected statue judges.
Some of the judges walked up close to the statues while others took a complete walk around them to make sure they didn't miss anything. Once they were finished, they piled back onto the bus to tally up their scores.
The Motor City sports teams carried Phi Kappa Tau to the first place finish in the fraternity division.
"Don't Under Estimate the Dreams of Detroit" was the title of the huge sculpture, featuring three of Detroit's sports teams and their stadiums.
Among the women's groups, Theta Chi Epsilon's sculpture of the Quincy Mine took first place. That statue is in front of the library. Their title, "In this cavern you will find precious copper to be mined."
The statues will be standing as long as the cold temperatures stick around.
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