A Minimal Winter’s Tale

The organizers of the Breckenridge snow sculpture championships in Colorado must be getting used to having a mathematical element in their annual competition.

A simple version of Enneper’s surface just before (above) and just after (below) it self-intersects.

The award-winning snow sculpture of Enneper’s surface.

For the second year in a row, a team assembled by mathematician Stan Wagon of Macalester College in St.