Courtesy S-Editions
Simon Beck creates massive geometric designs in the French Alps by trudging through the snow. His new book, Snow Art, features over 200 images of his drawings.
Courtesy S-Editions
Each line is made from of his individual paces. The drawings take up to 12 hours to complete, and involve walking the equivalent of 20 to 30 km.
Courtesy S-Editions
Beck, who previously worked as an orienteering mapmaker, spends about 45 minutes developing each design. "You just need a few measurements and a good idea in your head about how you're going to do it," he says.
Courtesy S-Editions
"Usually I just think of a pattern I haven't made yet -- some kind of star or a new way of drawing a star -- or a simple set of rules that can generate the boundaries of any area."
Courtesy S-Editions
He first started snow drawing in 2004, but only started taking it seriously five years ago when foot problems caused him to seek out a workout less rigorous than orienteering.
Courtesy S-Editions
He has created 175 snow drawings in the last 10 years. He intends to create at least 30 more this winter.
Courtesy S-Editions
Many of the drawings are made on frozen lakes. "Skiers don't ski onto lakes, they're absolutely flat, and there are no plants or rocks or trees sticking through," he explains.
Courtesy S-Editions
A proper snow drawing requires at least one foot of snow, but Beck has done practice drawings in as little as three inches.
Courtesy S-Editions
In the future, Beck would like to create drawings on remote alpine lakes where they actually wouldn't be seen by the public.
Courtesy S-Editions
Conversely, Beck would also love the opportunity to make one his drawings in front of famous tourist spots like the White House or Buckingham Palace.

Story highlights

Simon Beck creates geometric shapes in the snow with his footsteps

The designs are often inspired by fractals and other mathematical patterns

Beck previously worked as an orienteering map-maker, and as an engineer

His new book, Snow Art, includes over 200 images of his best works

CNN  — 

If you frequent the pistes of the French Alps, you may see more than just skiers and snowmen scattered around the trails below. For the last 10 years, British artist Simon Beck has been decorating snow-covered lakes and mountainsides with massive geometric designs, often based on fractal patterns, using his footsteps as his implement.

Beck’s snow drawings have attracted attention and opportunity beyond the Les Arcs ski resort in France where he got his start. This year alone, he’s delivered TED Talks in Austria and Cyprus, collaborated with New Zealand clothing brand Icebreaker on a series of garments, and has seen his international Facebook following grow to 280,000. Now he adds Snow Art, a book of over 200 photos he has taken of his work, to his list of accomplishments.

From engineering, to orienteering, to art

Beck’s journey to art was unconventional. He was working as an orienteering cartographer when he made his first snow drawing, and before that the Oxford graduate was an engineer. He created his first snow drawing, a star on a lake near his apartment at Les Arcs, to pass the time after a day of skiing in 2004.

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“When I did my first drawing, I had no idea how good it was going to look,” he says. “It’s just so unusual and unique. No one else is doing anything like it.”

But it wasn’t until five years ago, when he recognized the toll that his frequent orienteering trips had taken on his feet, that he started to take his drawings seriously.

“I realized that it would probably be better to do something a bit easier than orienteering, and do something less painful,” he says. Snow drawing went from an occasional hobby to his primary form of exercise during the winter months.

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One hundred and fifty snow drawings later, quite a few things have changed. Where he was once restricted to scouting locations and photographing his work from mountain tops and ski lifts, he can now afford to work out of an aircraft if he chooses; instead of winter boots, he now wears snowshoes. His work has gone from a fairly solitary pleasure to something enjoyed by thousands online.

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However, his techniques have remained the same. Beck still walks as many as 30 km across distances as large as six soccer fields, counting each pace as he would while orienteering, armed with nothing but a compass and a map he designed himself. A single drawing can still take as long as 12 hours to realize.

But he now has his art down to science. Beck knows the best terrain (thoroughly frozen lakes), the best time to shoot (just before the drawing goes into shadow at the end of the day), and the best conditions (sunny, at least one foot of snow). He can now shift his focus from creating the perfect drawing to pushing himself creatively.

Exploring new territory

Earlier this year, Beck spent time in New Zealand and Somerset Beach in the UK creating sand drawings, raking complex designs into the sand to be washed away by encroaching tides. Fans have suggested that he try his hand at working in mud or deserts, or even try mowing a lawn, but he’d most like to try his hand at creating crop formations. He’d also like to start exploring more remote lakes in the towns surrounding the Alps, like Zermatt, Switzerland.

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“And there are other places I’d just like to (try) because of the location, like Central Park in New York. I’d love to do a drawing there, or on the grounds of the White House, Buckingham Palace gardens, or the parks in London,” he adds. “If you ever got the conditions to be right, it would be fantastic to go and do something like that, and get famous buildings in the background.”

Snow Art by Simon Beck (S-Editions) is available for purchase online at snowart.gallery.

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