With the Keweenaw hitting over 200 inches of snow this season, there was plenty of snow present for the long-awaited Winter Carnival Statue competitions.
The month-long statues began construction on Jan. 1, 12:01 a.m., and went on until Feb. 5, 9 a.m. Judging occurred at 9:30 a.m. the same day.
Phi Kappa Tau won first place overall for their month-long statue “Keweenaw in Another Universe,” marking their second consecutive statue win. The statue depicts iconic structures from the Keweenaw, such as the Quincy Number Two Shaft Rockhouse and the now-demolished Hubbell Hall. The statue’s tallest point reaches roughly two stories, with additional intricate ice sheet display screens.
Tau Kappa Epsilon won second place overall with their month-long statue inspired by the 2005 movie, “Zathura: A Space Adventure,” while Delta Zeta and Delta Sigma Phi won third place overall with their collaborative month-long statue based off of Futurama.
Phi Kappa Tau won first place for the month-long men’s division as well. Alpha Sigma Tau won first place for the month-long women’s division. Delta Zeta and Delta Sigma Phi’s collaborative month-long statue also won first place in the co-ed division.
The Wednesday of Winter Carnival marked the start of the All-Nighter Statue competition. Despite relatively loose and dry snow, 72 organizations pressed forward and built many different statues.
The overall first-place winner was the Catholic Campus Ministries at St. Albert the Great with their entry “Faith in Space.” The statue depicted a council of different fictional intergalactic figures, ranging from Buzz Lightyear to Jabba the Hutt.
Second place overall was The Navigators, with their statue depicting a Space Ark, while third place went to SAF Forestry with their flying saucer statue. The first-place winner of the women’s division was the Women’s Rugby Club, and first place for the men’s division was taken by the Dungeons and Dragons club.
To see the full list of winners along with the pictures for each one, visit this year’s Winter Carnival website at mtu.edu/carnival/2026/.
