About 400 people attended the two Friday masses, plus around 100 Saturday, said Father Ben Haase, pastor at St. Albert.

Since 2016, students at the Michigan Technological University parish have joined community members in building the chapel. Even people who aren’t Catholic, or even Christian, join in, said parish member Daniel Ryan.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Haase said. “Every year, we meet a lot of people we didn’t know through that process.”

A crew of about 20 to 30 people spent close to 60 hours building the chapel leading up to Winter Carnival, said St. Albert member Daniel Ryan. That figure didn’t include the additional detail work.

Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Father Romeo Capella, associate pastor at St. Albert the Great University Parish, leads the service at Saturday’s Ice Mass.

Like everyone involved in snow construction during Winter Carnival, the St. Albert students ran into adversity this year.

“We had walls leaning and collapsing, and we had a whole ice aisle that got caved in,” Ryan said. “And the snow just looked a little brown and nasty. But we got all the walls built, and it looks good now, and we got all the finishing touches.”

Temperatures dropped Friday, helping the crew with their detail work. But much of that happens at the last minute even in a normal year, Haase said.

“It’s always weather-vulnerable,” he said. “If you do the fine-tuning stuff a week ahead of time, you don’t know what’s going to happen to it.”

Weather caused St. Albert to dial back plans for what would have been its most elaborate chapel yet. But they were still able to introduce new features, like arches, which students were able to rebuild after some early collapses. The warm temperatures also spurred another innovation: Stations of the Cross made out of Jello.

Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Hundreds of Michigan Technological University students and community members attend St. Albert the Great’s Ice Masses during Winter Carnival. The parish holds two on Friday night and another Saturday morning.

“We’re always trying to pivot, to keep it interesting,” Haase said.

Over the years, the Our Lady of the Snow Ice Mass has been able to draw students and other members of the community who aren’t regulars at the church.

“I can more likely get people to come to a Mass in the Ice Chapel, because it’s a cool thing, than getting them to go into the actual church,” Ryan said. “… Just getting to celebrate the sacraments outside and being with God. It’s just the attraction of an ice chapel. No matter what it looks like, it brings people in.”

The chapel will stay up until spring break. More Ice Masses will be scheduled as weather permits. People can get announcements through the parish’s student email list or by calling the parish at 906-482-5530.

Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Clergy lead a processional out of the chapel during Saturday’s Ice Mass at St. Albert the Great University Parish.

Garrett Neese/Daily Mining Gazette Students spend hundreds of man-hours building the chapel for the Ice Mass, adding in new details every year.