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Release Date: 
Monday, February 6, 2012

HFCC Ice Carving Club wins National Title

The HFCC Ice Carving Club took home more medals than any other school recently at the National Ice Carving Association Collegiate Championship (NICA), winning first place at the NICA Championship.

A total of 32 students from eight colleges competed in the NICA competition, an event held every year at Zehnder's Snow Fest. At this competition, students carve for three days, using everything from chainsaws and torches to hot irons and chisels to carve works of art from 300-pound blocks of ice. They carved in the compulsory, freestyle and team multi-block events.

The winning students from HFCC include:

  • Chris Burnash of Allen Park; 
  • R. W. Ditto of Westland;
  • Jeff Lao of Dearborn; and
  • Paul Nuznov of Dearborn.

Ditto, the president of the HFCC Ice Carving Club, and Lao, public relations officer, who have been carving for three years, collaborated on a piece they called 'Tooting My Own Horn.' This technical piece represented an abstract human made of musical instruments with one leg above the ground.

Nuznov, who has been carving for two years, and Burnash, who has been carving for three months, collaborated on the 'Touchless Embrace.' This is an abstract representation of two people dancing without physically touching each other. For the singles competition, Nuznov placed sixth for his sculpture 'Heartless,' which was a human figure holding a heart.

'I am very proud of my students who have worked very well together both in practice and throughout the competition. They should be very proud of what they have achieved for themselves, the Ice Carving Club and the College. This is a well-deserved honor for them,' said, Chef Richard Teeple, the advisor of the ice carving club.

A Certified Culinary Educator (CCE) and Certified Executive Chef (CEC), Teeple has been involved in ice carving for more than 30 years and is a nationally certified ice carving Competition Lead Judge (CLJ) and Certified Professional Ice Carver (CPIC)

For further information about the Ice Carving Club, please visit www.hfccice.com.