Skaneateles resident Chris Uyehara and his teammate, John Kolonko, of Auburn, returned from Alaska recently with much more from their trip than photographs and good memories.

The two, accompanied by two other teammates, Stephan Koch and Ken Deiderich, came home with a third-place finish in the realistic category of the World Championship Ice Sculpting Competition in Fairbanks.

Uyehara, a chef, met Kolonko when the two worked at the Sherwood Inn in Skaneateles.

But Uyehara's interest in ice sculpting actually dates back much further.

“I was working as a chef at Hilton Hawaii,” Uyehara said. “That was when I first really watched someone do ice sculpting and I thought that was something I'd like to do, but it was something that I'd get to later, down the road. The tools and everything are so expensive, that it was something that I kept telling myself I'd try later.”

In the meantime, Uyehara honed his skills in many kitchens, working in other mediums like chocolate and sugar to make sculptures.

“I have to see it before I can do it,” Uyehara said. “That is what works best for me. I like to make very realistic pieces.”

Uyehara and Kolonko stayed in touch, developing a good friendship and mutual respect through the years. Kolonko, who owns Ice Farms, a business dedicated to creating ice sculptors for special events, found Uyehara to be the perfect person to fill in for him when a back injury kept him from working for a time.

“He expressed an interest in it,” Kolonko said. “He is very talented and has a great eye for this kind of thing.”

While Uyehara was interested in ice sculpting, he thought of it as a side interest, but Kolonko approached him about teaming up to travel to several competitions this year.

The pair performed well at national competitions in Ohio where they received a silver medal. Kolonko, along with another partner, went on to earn a medal in Ottawa.

This earned Kolonko, Uyehara, Koch and Deidrich, with whom Kolonko has worked with at various competitions in the past, the chance to compete on the world stage in Fairbanks, putting their skills to the test against teams from 25 other countries.

“That is the cream of the crop,” Uyehara said. “This was my first time competing at something this big, it was really exciting.”

On route to Alaska, Uyehara and Kolonko ran into some trouble at the airport when security wouldn't allow their chainsaws on the plane, despite the fact that the saws met all safety requirements and the pair had traveled by plane with them previously.

Uyehara's wife had to retrieve the saws and express ship them to Canada. The pair had to borrow some equipment in the beginning.

“But I think we were still able to do OK, even if it did set us back a little bit,” Uyehara said.

The team also battled the weather. The temperatures reached into the high 40s, making it difficult to work in ice, but the team persevered.

Once in Fairbanks, the team set to work, putting in six consecutive 15-hour days to create a piece that Kolonko had been imagining in his head for the past year.

In the end, the team created a 26-foot, 48,000-pound sculpture they called Coral Corral, featuring large seahorses set against a coral backdrop. For this kind of work, Kolonko thought Uyehara's fine details skills really shined through.“He was able to make the seahorses look very realistic,” Kolonko said. “I was very pleased with what we were able to do.”For their performances in both Ohio and Alaska, the team has earned the opportunity to compete next year at both competitions for the chance to earn a spot in the 2010 Olympics for ice carving.“It is really exciting,” Uyehara said. “I was really happy with the way we did in Alaska. And now we get another chance to do it all again next year. It should be a lot of fun.”