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NWT's snow sculpting dynasty
Easy-to-grip hockey stick handles, curved-up blades that leave no lines in the snow, and shovels with teeth are some of the customized carving tools that have helped Tuktoyaktuk's snow-sculpting Nasogaluak brothers clinch a slew of awards at Canada's National Snow Sculpture Competition since 2000. That includes second prize this year - the third time in five years for Team NWT - and first prize in 2002.
The brothers' Inuvialuktun heritage always emerges in their sculptures, from the goddess Auknukpuq to the four Inuit who were instrumental in getting American explorer Robert Peary to the North Pole.
Bill, 51, and Eli, 54, now both in Yellowknife, and Joe, 46, are all carvers, a great asset at Ottawa's annual February competition (Bill also paints). The brothers use scaffolding to tackle a 12-foot by 12-foot by 16-foot-high block of brutally hard artificial snow that's been remixed three times. Over four days, they put in 43...