Minnesota is now home to the world's biggest ice carousel!
Fascinating stuff coming out of the beautiful northland this week.
[Audio Transcript]
Tonight Boyd Huppert spins the tale of a trend turned world-record.
" It's just the perfect day out"
Minnesotans are used to making circles in the ice.
"Something to do" Symmetry that gets us through the winter,
"You can get cabin fever very very quick"
But lately our winter circles have been getting an upgrade.
"Fingers crossed" Chuck Zwilling first saw an ice carousel two winters ago on YouTube.
A finlander named Janne, had cut the circle in the ice viewed online by hundreds of thousands of people who smiled and went back to their lives.
While Chuck saw things bigger
"We got about eight feet done only thirteen hundred and forty two more feet to go"
That would be roughly a quarter mile around the world's largest ice carousel.
" We're creating the gap that will let it spin."
And this is not Chuck's first .. attempt. "Keep it good and tight Kari"
That's Chuck, last winter as one jury-rigged cutting machine broke down...
"The blade is hitting"... then another.
Chuck's 2018 attempt to find, by a lame quarter spin; and near tragedy
when a skid steer went through the ice.
"That kind of killed the whole buzz"
"I want another crack at it! Yeah... I want it,... I want it to spin"
And what do you know ... "One step across"..This time... "Welcome" It spins.
"Strange feeling, even though it's moving slowly, it's just odd! "
"- Our carousel is powered by four trolling motors. -"
" It's weird because I feel like
that side is moving, when we're really moving. And we were over there at one point and now we're over here"
and look who's here....
I'm Janne Käpylehto, The chairman of the World Ice Carousel Association.
Remember that trend-setting YouTube video from Finland. "After that I've done about 50."
Janne is the man who brought an old Finnish tradition back.
" 100 years ago
in Finland there has been Ice carousels, but it was basically forgotten. "
Now he's created an organization. "It's always exciting and fun" to certify Ice Carousel World Records.
"Gonna measure the size of the circle to make sure we're the largest in the world."
Chuck's chances seem good. With a carousel large enough to host within it...
a hockey rink, a curling sheet, "oh oh" and a
speed skating track.
Plus ... "it feels weird" several smaller
carousels within the larger one. "Whoa were in the water"
And this
guy ...
I'm Roger Morneau and I'm here cuz I'm the current world record holder for the World's Largest Ice Carousel.
Rogers team built this carousel last winter near his home in Maine.
Nearly a football field and a half across
" I cut 20 feet out of his tape measure so I hope he doesn't notice it"
"seventy four feet... 500 right there."
Final measurement.. "that's close enough" ...508 feet!...
"Congratulations..." "Where's that trophy?"
"This is the trophy. It's gonna surely bring a gigantic smile to his face and an even larger frown to mine to have to turn it over. Now it's gonna be in Little Falls, Minnesota for how long... we don't really know. Even the little chainsaw even turns on it."
"Ow, Geez it does work!" "The sting"
"It's official!" ... "Thanks Roger"
"Thanks for bringing it with and letting it go. We're glad we're not sending it back home with you"
Despite last year's disappointment, Chuck's ice carousel finally came full
circle...
"Add a little excitement in the
middle of the winter"
...on Minnesota lakes
this time of year.
"Being outdoors and"
It's just not hip, ... "it's fantastic" ...to be
square.
"That's impressive!" "That's really
cool"
Boyd Huppert for KARE 11 news ..."here on
the World Record Ice Carousel" ... Little
Falls.
In addition to the spectacle, the
Zwilling family raised $15,000 with
their ice carousel and donated it to a local charity.
Chuck says he's already planning something even bigger for next winter.
