Devon Snow Artist and Team Snag Silver in Cool Italian Showdown

Pippa Unwin, a talented sculptor from South Devon, recently helped the GB Snow Carving Team win second place in a major international competition in Italy. Along with her teammates Patrick and Dave, Pippa traveled to Italy at the start of February to compete against teams from all over the world. The event was part of the 2026 Winter Olympics cultural program, which made it even more special. Each team was challenged to create a snow sculpture that represented the theme of 'Olympic Fair Play. ' Pippa and her team designed a sculpture showing five athletes bursting through the Olympic Rings. The athletes included a skater, a snowboarder, a skier, a slider, and a curler. Their sculpture was both creative and impressive, showing the excitement and energy of the Olympic Games.

The competition was tough and the rules were strict. Each team was given a huge block of snow, measuring three meters on each side. They had only three days to turn this block into a work of art, using just hand tools, extra snow, and water. Pippa described the design as 'ridiculously complicated' and said it was very difficult to figure out how to make it work. She admitted that on the last day, she was not sure if they would finish in time. The weather made things even harder, as it snowed a lot during the contest. However, the fresh snow also helped cover up any small mistakes. In the end, their hard work paid off, and the judges were impressed by their sculpture.

Pippa was thrilled with the result, saying, 'We came second which is just very exciting because there were some really good ones. ' She has been competing in snow carving events for the past ten years, traveling to places like Breckenridge in America and the Dolomite mountains in Italy. Even though she lives in Devon, where there is not much snow, Pippa is an experienced stone sculptor. She explained that carving stone and snow is similar because both require removing material to create a shape. Pippa is proud of her team's achievement and hopes to inspire others to try snow carving or other forms of art. Their success shows that with creativity, teamwork, and determination, you can achieve great things, even in challenging conditions.