Harvest time for Sweden’s 30th Icehotel

tractor with ice block on a snowy Torne river
Photo Asaf Kliger

Press Release March 14, 2019

This week work gets under way on the 30th Icehotel in the Swedish village Jukkasjärvi, a place that has attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world since 1989.

2000 tons of ice

What started as a random overnight stay in an ice igloo is today Sweden's most famous tourist destination with around 70,000 visitors a year. 2019 marks the 30th anniversary of the Icehotel and this week the ice for next season's ice hotel is being harvested from the Torne river.

It sure feels special. Thanks to the river as well as fantastic artists from all over the world, we have had the opportunity to create a unique place for our guests for three decades. I am very grateful that so many people choose to visit us every year.

FOUNDER OF ICEHOTEL, YNGVE BERGQVIST

At this time of year, the ice in the Torne river is thick after months of freezing temperatures. During the harvesting, giant ice blocks will cut out and lifted from the river with the help of unique machines and tools, then stored in a depository until the creation of the new hotel in the fall. In total, about 1000 ice blocks are harvested in the spring - each with a weight of 2 tons.

When the first snow reaches Jukkasjärvi, around mid-November, artists from all over the world will gather to create the art exhibition of snow, ice and light that will become Icehotel # 30.

Each year, around 150 artists apply to create one of the winter hotel's fifteen "Art Suites". The artists’ designs will be released in May.

 


 

In numbers

How many tons of ice are harvested in one season?
This spring we can harvest 1000 blocks that each weigh 2 tons.

What is the weight of each chandelier?
Seasonal hotel: 70-100 kg, the 365 hotel : 200-250 kg.

What is the weight and dimensions of the base column blocks?
The base column blocks are 40x40x220 cm they weigh 324 kg each.

How many cubic meters of snice went in to the final building this year?
For the hotel (not the walls around the hotel area) we used about 22500 cubic meters of snice, which is about 14000 tons.

What is the total Meters Squared of the whole Ice hotel?
The area for the part of the hotel with the rooms are 2000 square meters.

CONTACT

For more information and interviews please contact our PR & Media manager.

Josefin Lindberg
[email protected]

Visit our media & press room for images and press information.

 

ABOUT ICEHOTEL

Icehotel opened in 1989 and is beside a hotel also an art exhibition with ever-changing art out of ice and snow. Icehotel is created in a new guise every winter, completely made out of natural ice from Torne River, one of Sweden’s national rivers and last untouched waters. 

When the winter season’s Icehotel has melted back into the river in the spring, a part of the hotel remains; Icehotel 365 - a place where visitors can experience the ice and sleep in hand carved art suites all year-round.