iN VIDEO: Frozen smiley island handcrafted by Vernon athlete and friends

An icy smily face over 30 feet in diameter was hand-chopped by Vernon athlete Shanda Hill and some friends.

Hill was among a group of locals who enjoy plunging into icy waters at Kalamalka Beach. During their dip yesterday, Jan. 7, they decided to create a giant smily face.

"It was a hoot," she said. 

The group spent about 90 minutes crafting, and the project was recorded by Jacs Apollo and shared to Hill’s Facebook page.

The frozen floating surface is over 30 feet in diameter, 4 inches thick, and an estimated 18,000 pounds.

“…hand chopping this smile with our axes was a good old fashioned fun time,” Hill’s post reads.

Upon completion, the friends enjoyed the fruits of their labour by paddling around on the face and jumping through the eye holes. 

After spending time with it, the group gave the smily face away to a couple of paddle boarders who wandered over, and were willing to tow it away. 

"It's not easy to move but once you get going it can move slowly," Hill said. "We not sure what became of it."

–Story updated at 2:08 p.m. Jan. 8 with comments from Shanda Hill.

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