Each Year Students in Michigan Build a Church Made Entirely of Snow

Only in Michigan would a church be built from snow! This winter tradition is as "Pure Michigan" as it gets.

Here's why each winter students at this university in northern Michigan build a church entirely made of snow:

Organized by students at Michigan Tech and members of the St. Albert the Great University Parish in Houghton, Michigan, 2026 will mark the 10 years of celebrating mass in a chapel made of snow.

How is it Made?

In preparation for Michigan Tech's famous Winter Carnival in February, students and volunteers gather their plywood, buckets, and shovels to build the chapel in a tradition that was first known as "The Ice Mass at the Ice Chapel of Our Lady of the Snows" now simply known as "ice mass." As the Soo Leader writes,

Each year more students get involved in the build, and offer new creative dimensions. The chapel’s wintry centerpiece, the altar, is built using thick slabs of ice, hand cut from Lake Superior (it’s quite an ordeal to get it in place). Built into the snowy walls, one can find a raised pulpit, a Marian grotto, a hand-carved confessional, corridors along the sides, and beautiful ‘stained ice’ windows.

Michigan Tech's 2026 Winter Carnival takes place Feb. 4-7, 2026, and the theme is "Through Ice and Snow to Space We Go!"

St. Albert the Great University Parish will host three open masses during the Winter Carnival with several set to be live-streamed online. Find more information on 2026 ice mass here.

• Friday, February 6 at 5:30 p.m. (live-streamed)
• Friday, February 6 at 10:00 p.m. (live-streamed)
• Saturday, February 7 at 10:00 a.m.