Courtesy of member Eugene Evans

Tucked into the beautiful Fraser Valley and located just an hour and a half east of Vancouver, Harrison Lake boasts “angular” and “silty” sand, which is far more sculptable than the ball-bearing, tide-rolled grains found oceanside. An added bonus: in the absence of tides, sculpting teams have much longer to create — and to savour — their work.

Sand sculpture on this scale (one record-setting castle was almost 5.5 metres tall) is as much a feat of engineering as it is imagination. Using forms to create foundations and small knives and spatulas as carving tools, participants mix tonnes of sand with thousands of litres of water, carefully and systematically stirring and tamping their recipes, before unleashing their artistry to create multiple-spired castles, dragons or works of abstract art.

Part of sand sculpture’s charm, of course, is its ephemeral nature. As one longtime sculptor wisely notes: “The sculpture doesn’t belong to me; I can't take it home, can’t guard it on the beach. Its water will evaporate, its grains dissociate.” But at Harrison Lake, for a modest fee, visitors have till Thanksgiving to take in the wondrous works from the beach — until, that is, the winds of autumn take their inevitable toll.

For more information on the Harrison Hot Springs World Championships of Sand Sculpture Competition, visit www.harrisand.org/

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