A snow-carving team featuring the talents of Eau Claire’s own Winter After Hours snow sculptors Jason Anhorn and Steve Bateman – along with Wauwatosa artist Dave Andrews – won first place at the U.S. National Snow Carving Competition in Lake Geneva early this month. Bateman and Anhorn had competed against (and finished behind) Andrews in the past, but their mutual snow-carving respect brought them together after a December phone call from Andrews, who has competed at the U.S. Nationals 10 times. After viewing two of Andrews’s concept sketches, the three settled on a design called “Dancing Fire.” Andrews completed a clay mockup about a week before the competition, which ended Feb. 2. “During the (first) meeting, the snow started and the temps dropped and the wind picked up and kept cooling until it was well below zero for the remainder of the event, which is perfect for achieving tight details in snow,” Anhorn said. “Our team got off and running on Wednesday just after the meeting and we never looked back, working late into every night, taking breaks only to warm up our meals.” Along with its first place triumph, the team received seed money to travel to an international competition. Anhorn says they are shooting for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia and hoping for a national sponsorship. Oh, and we should probably also mention that Bateman and two other artists snagged third place at an international competition in Frankenmuth, Mich., one week before the U.S. Nationals.