Last year, ice sculptors at Oregon WinterFest in Bend’s Old Mill District worried about their ice blocks melting in the warm spring-like weather.

That wasn’t a problem Saturday. Blustery wind and rain kept temperatures ideal for the sculptors who were working underneath a tent.

“We are pretty protected in here,” said ice sculptor Jon Stark, as he prepared his two ice blocks.

Stark, 35, of Sisters, planned to carve a raptor out of the ice. He is a woodworker by trade and hoped for the best in his third year at the ice sculpting event.

“Today, we are just going to have fun,” Stark said. “I have a loose idea of a bird, and we will see what it does.”

Stark works as a professional wood-carver with much of his work shown at Village Interiors Design Center in Sisters. He uses the same movements and tools on the ice that he does on wood, but he finds the ice is more difficult when it comes to creating details.

“It’s definitely it’s own thing, but there are a lot of similarities in the technique you are using,” Stark said. “The ice is so much softer, but it’s a double-edged sword. You get more done, but lose details.”

Will Nash, a professional woodworker who owns Nashwood in Bend, participated in the ice sculpting event for the first time. He, too, sees similarities between carving ice and wood but said more can be done with wood because of its different densities.

Ice is easier in the sense that it’s the same density throughout and scrapes just melt away, he said.

“The beauty of the ice is there is no grain,” Nash said. “With this, it’s all going to be a similar density all the way through.”

Nash worked Saturday to carve an ice sculpture in the Mobius art style, which is a surface with one side and one boundary.

“It allows me some flexibility,” he said.

While the cold temperatures kept the ice sculptors happy, it made for a chilly outing at the festival’s Royal Run 5K & 10K. Runners hurried to the starting line, shivering in their tights.

Despite the wind and rain Saturday, spectators made the most of the festival.

Corvallis resident Oceana Dodson strolled through the line of vendors with her 13-year-old daughter, Phoebe. They were with Dodson’s sister, Meadow Morris, of Redmond, and her family.

The group stopped in their tracks when they saw the ice sculptures. Dodson said she has seen sandcastle competitions, but never ice sculpting. She was impressed.

It was Dodson and her daughter’s first time at WinterFest. They came to the festival Friday night and planned to stay Saturday night, as well.

“I love all the booths and all the art,” Dodson said, especially the dragon sculpture that shot a ball of fire into the sky Friday night.

As much fun as celebrating the winter season is at the festival, Dodson and her daughter said they are ready for summer and coming back to Bend to paddleboard the Deschutes River.

“We like the spring and summer,” Dodson said. “We like to get the paddleboards and go out.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7820, kspurr@bendbulletin.com