Snow art -- by Simon Beck

Simon Beck is a mapmaker, bellringer, mountain biker and trekker from Taunton, England, now based in Bourg St-Maurice, France. In the artist's own words: 

Simon Beck

I create by walking in the snow wearing raquettes (snowshoes). My personal face book website is facebook.com/snowartist. It started as a little fun after skiing one evening. Back in 2004 I was still taking orienteering seriously and used to train in the forests in the valley or hike up the Aiguille Rouge, the mountain above Arc2000 after the lifts closed in the evening. One day I couldn't be bothered but wanted a little exercise, and I got my Silva type 54 compass I use for surveying orienteering maps and went onto the little snow covered lake outside the building I live in, plotted 5 points in a pentangle; and joined them up to make a star. I then filled in the 15 triangles that resulted and later added some circles and the result was impressive especially as there is a nearby chair lift that gives a bird eye view of the lake. When fresh snowfall covered the design I did another more complicated design. More...

The following article is cross-posted from http://www.viralnova.com/simon-beck-snow-art/

It’s possible you’ve never heard of Simon Beck, but after today, you won’t be able to forget him or his wintry works of art. Simon is an artist and is most well-known for making incredibly delicate and detailed art in the snow, just by walking over a fresh snowfall. He literally walks miles in the snow to create these pieces. And the part that blows our minds? He could spend hours upon hours creating one design, just to have it be covered by snowfall or blown away by the next day. But he still makes them.

Simon walks over layers of fresh snow in special shoes to create his mind-boggling art.

Simon Beck

He can easily walk for miles just to create one design.

Simon Beck

CAREFULLY walking.

Simon Beck

But the results are worth all of the effort. In fact, they are mesmerizing.

Simon Beck

The most interesting thing about this art, though, is Simon creates it knowing it could be gone the very next day.

Simon Beck

These delicate patterns were created in the beautiful Savoie Valley in France, overlooking Mont Blanc.

Simon Beck

Simon found spaces in between lodges and mountains at the Les Arcs ski resort to create his masterpieces.

Simon Beck

He creates large, mathematical patterns that have different effects when viewed from different angles.

Simon Beck

At different times during the day, his creations will look different.

Simon Beck

It’s just hard to believe that he spends countless hours making these…

Simon Beck

Only to know that they will be gone from this world within a matter of hours or days.

Simon Beck

If you’d like to see more of Simon’s art (which is genius bordering on insanity), visit this Facebook page dedicated to it.