HOUGHTON — Renderings of iconic Copper Country sights, from the National Park Service vessel Ranger III to the Keweenaw Waterway’s lower entry light, earned Tau Kappa Epsilon (TKE) first place in the 2024 Michigan Technological University Winter Carnival overall monthlong snow statue competition.

Winter Carnival organizers, the Michigan Tech Chapter of Blue Key National Honor Society, announced the 2024 snow statue winners in the afternoon on Thursday, Feb. 8. Teams in monthlong and one-night categories created statues based on the overall Carnival theme “From Forests to Shores We Love the Outdoors.”

“The Lighthouse Shines The Way As the Ranger Heads to Bay” put TKE in the top spot for the first time since 2018. The Hancock-based Phi Kappa Tau, coming off a five-year winning streak, was awarded second place with its Gilligan’s Island-themed “Just Sit Back and See a Tale, A Tale of a Fateful Trip.” Alpha Sigma Tau Gamma took third place with “Step Out Your Door and Explore the vAST Outdoors.”

As it has for nine out of the past 10 years, St. Albert the Great University Parish Campus Catholic Ministries won the all-night competition. Students and community members have not stopped building, however. Today they were moving an ice slab into place for the snow chapel where mass will be held during Winter Carnival, a tradition since 2016.