Ice needs to thicken up a bit more before Eagle River firefighters can consider construction of the community’s popular ice castle.
The castle is built with blocks of ice cut from Silver Lake.
In an update Friday, the fire department said the ice depth had reached about 11 inches.
They need 14 to 15 inches of ice to cut blocks for the castle.
The fire department said there is a lot of water and slush that will need to freeze solid to allow them to harvest ice.
They thanked volunteer Mark Bugni for helping to clear snow off the ice field, to help with the freezing process.
Eagle River firefighters will reevaluate things this week.
The ice castle is one of Eagle River’s most popular winter attractions, but conditions need to be right for it to be built.
Last winter, 2,200 blocks of ice needed to be cut to build the castle.
