A 250-foot ice carousel spun on Long Lake this weekend as the Northern Maine Ice Busters returned for their ninth year building the massive rotating disks.
Crews drilled a circle of holes with augers to mark the outline of the carousel, then used long-bar chainsaws to cut through the ice and free the massive disk from the surrounding lake.
Organizers said the 250-foot diameter was chosen as a nod to the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary.
The carousel spun for the first time during a test last Friday, reaching speeds close to 4 mph, according to John Mazo, media liaison for the Northern Maine Ice Busters.
“That’s fast for the amount of weight that has to be moved,” Mazo said.
He estimated the disk weighed about 5.6 million pounds.
The carousel was spun again during the Long Lake 100 snowmobile event on Saturday, where racers competed on a 6-mile course on the frozen lake. Organizers estimated about 2,000 people attended the event over the weekend.
Organizers had planned a youth snowmobile race on the carousel, but the 250-foot disk was ultimately deemed too small for the event. On Sunday, however, several riders briefly rode snowmobiles around the carousel as part of an informal demonstration, Mazo said.
The spinning disk was also used in a compass raffle. Boat motors powered the carousel until 3 p.m., when the engines were shut off and the ice disk was allowed to coast freely.
The final GPS heading where the carousel stopped determined the winning raffle number. The disk came to rest at 116 degrees, making Glori Coty the winner.
At top left: A volunteer uses a long-bar chainsaw to cut through the ice; at bottom left: Volunteers drill holes through the ice to mark the circular outline of a 250-foot ice carousel; at right: A line of holes drilled with ice augers marks part of the circular outline of the carousel before crews cut through the ice to free the rotating disk. Credit: Courtesy of Aroostook UAS
About six volunteers helped cut the carousel this year, Mazo said. During larger world-record attempts, the project can involve 30 or more people working on the ice.
The Northern Maine Ice Busters have gained international attention for their frozen engineering projects and have held the world record for the largest ice carousel three times.
Modern ice carousels were pioneered in 2017, when Finnish engineer Janne Käpylehto created the first known large ice carousel in Lohja, Finland, measuring 400 feet in diameter.
Inspired by the Finnish project, volunteers in northern Maine formed the Northern Maine Ice Busters and set their sights on breaking the record.
In April 2018, the group built a 427-foot carousel on Long Lake in Sinclair, earning their first world record.
The team reclaimed the title again in 2021 with a 1,234-foot carousel, dramatically increasing the size of the spinning ice disk.
They improved on that record again in 2023, when volunteers created a 1,776-foot carousel on Long Lake, a size chosen to represent the year of the United States’ independence.
U.S. Sen. Susan Collins also offered encouragement to the volunteers working on the lake.
“Maine’s winter traditions are second to none,” Collins wrote in a message supporting the event. “Sending my best wishes to the volunteers in Sinclair … Not only is this a feat of engineering, but it’s a wonderful boost for local tourism and a testament to the strength of the Northern Maine community.”
Referring to the effort to reclaim the title for the world’s largest ice carousel, Collins added: “Let’s get that record back.”
This year’s carousel was not a world-record attempt, organizers said. Instead, it served as a smaller project ahead of the group’s next goal.
“Think of it as the warm-up lap before the big show,” they wrote.
The Ice Busters are planning another world-record attempt in 2027, when organizers say the carousel will measure more than 2,000 feet across. A team in Finland currently holds the record with a 1,975-foot carousel.
The Ice Busters acknowledged the friendly rivalry on social media, writing: “Records move. Legends respond.”
