Schreiber, Ont., man stuns community with unique large-scale snow art

A snowshoer in the town of Schreiber Ont., located about 200 kilometres from Thunder Bay, is using frozen lakes and snow covered fields in the region as his canvas to create some breathtaking artwork.

Kim Asmussen creates large scale two dimensional displays in the snow around his community, using few tools and learned techniques to create one of a kind designs. For him, the draw of this artwork is all about the challenge that comes along with it.

"I'm an outdoors type of person. I kind of like, a lot of them are geometric shapes. So, that part of my brain seems to operate quite well. I like just designing stuff and seeing if I can do it," explained Asmussen in an interview with CBC Radio.

Asmussen maps out his designs and each shape carefully, using Google Maps and other drafting software. He said other tools he uses range from rope, sticks, a compass, and of course snowshoes.

"So a big part of the planning process is to figure out how to do it, where you're not walking all over the field. I'm starting to find out now, if you start with a basic circle and then from there you can divide it up into different degrees. You can get quite a few shapes that are irregular shapes," he said.

The retired school principal said he was first inspired to give the activity a try last winter when he saw the work of internationally-acclaimed snow artist Simon Beck online.

Since then, Asmussen has been hooked on creating the snow masterpieces and expanding his designs, while also introducing the craft to friends and members of his community.

"A lot of people want to come out and help … so the interest is starting to build," he said. "This year we had a couple of friends who didn't get to go away to Arizona, so we've done some snowshoe artwork."

Asmussen explained that making snowshoe artwork is something that's already been incorporated into six schools in the Superior-Greenstone district, adding that he hopes the activity is something he can expand throughout the region.

"It's just a matter of when we can open it up. What I'd really like to do some day is to have a snowshoe art festival where maybe we can get a whole bunch of people together … all along the fields around Dorion in through Nipigon, Terrace Bay, Schreiber all the little lakes and fields and whatnot where you could have snowshoe art displayed," he said.

Asmussen said his next goal is to get a website up and running as a resource for people to try out their own snowshoe art, and to follow his work in the winters to come.