World Championship of Sand Sculpting

60 fun-loving artists from 17 countries who recently descended on a drizzly Seattle suburb to participate in the annual World Championship of Sand Sculpting. If the event’s name conjures up images of standard sand castles built on the beach, think again.

The beginning  of the World Championship competition is known as the “pound up” day. Sand sculptors ranging in age from 24 to 68 spend that day shoveling more than 33,000 pounds of sand into wooden forms that eventually get removed. The objective: To get the sand wet and compact it down, down, down so it becomes firm and stable enough to be transformed into high-flying, whimsical shapes.

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