Let's be honest — how big can you even make a snow fort before it caves in on you? If you think about how rewarding it felt to make a four-foot-high snow cave when you were a kid, you'll be completely blown away by the ambition (and danger) it takes to build a 30,000-tonne ice castle...from scratch.

As part of the Silver Skate Festival in Edmonton's Hawrelak Park, Ice Castles has harnessed the power of its icicle farming team to grow the palace — which calls for 10 to 15 million gallons of water, seven or eight kilometres of sprinklers, a staggering number of icicles and a lot of climbing. It's hard work, but for lead artist Cory Livingood, it's worth it. He marvels, "You're leaving the city of Edmonton and you're going into an ice wonderland."

You'll get a sense of both the process and the magic in this video by filmmaker Tamarra Canu. You can see the ice castle through February and experience what Livingood hopes you do: "We want you to feel like you've entered a different world."