Braving the cold to design a colossal 14ft snowman, Donegal dad Kristian hopes 'Big Olaf the Second' can inspire everyone to embrace their inner child again.
Redcastle dad Kristian Shortt and his daughter Abbi (aged 5) have teamed up to work on building a monstrous snowman, called Olaf the Second.
Standing at an incredible 14ft tall, 8ft wide, this gigantic creation towers over the area with a motivational message for children and adults to get outdoors and enjoy the snow.
At this stage, Olaf the Second is reigning as Ireland’s biggest snowman of the year.
Kristian and Abbi got to work on Thursday after the heavy snowfall blanketed Inishowen, and within two days they had built the snowman so high that they needed a ladder to continue the construction.
While most families need twigs for snowman arms, this one has full-on branches and five carrots for a nose – a true beast!
At such a height Big Olaf is becoming famous in the town of Redcastle, and it is music artist and writer Kristian’s hope that his message can spread all across Ireland:
Kristian said: “I am not only doing this to be a hero for my daughter, that is my main motivation in all I do, but I’m doing this also to inspire children all around the country.
“I think that too many children these days would rather sit inside and watch TV or play computer games than enjoy mother nature at her finest when she blankets the land in snow.”
Kristian added: “Where I live here in Redcastle, when I was growing up, used to be booming with children building snowmen and sleighing etc but now I rarely see any. The land is barren from the laughter of kids playing in the snow.
“If it takes me single-handedly to brave the cold and build the biggest snowman in Ireland just to prove that point then I will do it. And hopefully as Olaf the Second stands mighty and tall he will be a reminder to many that the child within me will never die and hopefully he will ignite the children in all of us once more.”
The snowman was built beside a local graveyard, and as the figure watches over graves of the community, it has been officially called ‘Olaf the Second: Guardian of the Graves’.
“I’m very proud to have built this colossal snowman called Olaf the Second:Guardian of the Graves and hopefully it will inspire many more in my area to embrace their childhoods again and in the future they will come out in force to beat my record. The record now stands at 14 foot tall and 8 foot wide.”
This determined dad likes to set records. Three years ago he built ‘Olaf the First’ in Letterkenny, which stood at 13.5ft. He is also planning to produce one of the biggest books in the world, documenting his daughter Abbi’s life adventures with a goal to write 5,000 pages.