Nanouk – The Ice Climbing Polar Bear

The Quebec Winter Carnival emerges as a hub of winter innovation, where design transcends the boundaries of imagination. Globally renowned, it celebrates the essence of Quebec while inviting everyone to join the festivities. After a first prototype of an ice climbing mount tested in 2023, this time, the goal was to merge the spectacular, the functional, and the symbolic, with the ambitious mission to mark the 70th edition. Despite very tight development deadlines, winter conditions and technical parameters of temporary installation an emblematic structure, a call to adventure, and a collective artwork, embodying the unyielding spirit of winter was born.

In response to the need for recurrent use and to maximize the infrastructure’s utility, the bear was ingeniously designed to be completely dismantlable and storable. Its positioning underwent significant evolution during the design phase to ensure easy integration into the site, offering a welcoming aesthetic impact for visitors day and night, while seamlessly concealing technical support elements. All stakeholders, including the client, climbing infrastructure specialist, engineers, manufacturer, and creative team, collaborated seamlessly in a design-build process. This approach enabled a swift response to the commission, achieving remarkable results within a record time frame and through a highly efficient iterative process.

The Carnival is an eagerly awaited annual event, cherished by both the local community and tourists. With its rich history and heritage, the Polar Bear stands as a pivotal feature of the festival, resonating deeply with attendees and boasting innovative event design elements. The Bear’s faceted and perforated aesthetic optimizes materials, reducing wind resistance while offering intriguing surfaces for ice climbing initiation, lights and projections. As a centerpiece of the 70th anniversary celebration, it garnered international attention even before the festival began. Visible from numerous buildings bordering Quebec’s lower town, Nanouk captured the hearts of festival-goers and locals alike.

Every year, the Carnival adds new dimensions to its program, immersing visitors in the whimsical world of the iconic Bonhomme Carnaval. This legendary figure of Quebec folklore dreams of making winter a year-round presence in everyone’s hearts. It’s a celebration of local culture and northern identity, a moment of collective joy that breaks conventions. Thus, each experiential site embraces the Carnival universe in quirky and surprising ways. In 2024, Nanouk the Ice Climbing Polar Bear reigned over a new site in the lower town, an area currently undergoing significant transformation for the tourism industry near the Port of Quebec, themed as ”Gougoune et Doudoune,” literally Bonhomme’s winter beach. It’s with a fresh perspective that visitors gain access to this lesser-known winter spot, aligning with the Carnival’s mission to decentralize festivities and reach a broader audience across the city’s neighborhoods. The Ice Climbing Polar Bear became a flagship attraction, pertinently integrated into the international reputation of Bonhomme and his Carnival, alongside the Ice Palace, canoe race, and snow bath. It’s this uniqueness and the desire to offer a unifying experience that guided the development of this megastructure, which comes to life day and night, embodying the spirit of the Carnival.