Massive Snow Whale in Minnesota

Winter time is one of our favorite times of the year at our home. As soon as the snow hits the ground my kids are out in the yard making snow forts, snowmen and whatever else they can come up with. But this giant whale set the bar really high.

There is a home in New Brighton where Austin Bartz and his two brothers Trevor and Connor are the creative force behind Walvis the whale. The whale is in their front yard. This is located at 2700 block of 16th Street Northwest in New Brighton. You can stop by and see it for yourself. It's really cool.

The brothers love doing these sculptures, and this is the biggest one they have sculpted yet. This massive whale is over 260,000 pounds of snow and towering more than 20 feet high and spanning more than 60 feet long.

“This has definitely been our hardest sculpture to date. This one took us over 800 hours to complete just due to the weather,” Austin said.

From last year’s Slinky the snail, to Octavious the octopus, the Bartz snow sculptures have been a major attraction for the past nine years. And it seems like each year they get bigger and better.

Their creativity is also an expression of charity, as Austin Bartz says this year’s creation will help raise funds for clean water in Africa. They have a place where you can drop donations in to this cause on site.