For more than a dozen Kauai Community College students in the Garde Manger Culinary Arts class led by George Levendis, Wednesday marked the end of two days of instruction with award-winning Waikiki hotel Chef Dale Radomski and Charlie Matsuda, the executive sous chef at the Sheraton Kauai at Coconut Beach.
The students devoted Tuesday to vegetable carving, then wrapped up the educational hands-on sessions on Wednesday by learning ice sculpting under the tutelage of the two chefs who made up the three-person Team Hawaii that competed in the Sapporo Snow Festival in Japan.
“It was their 50th anniversary, and we’re the 50th state,” Radomski said. “How could we not go? It’s like these students. Vegetable carving and ice carving are dying arts. We’re just trying to keep it alive.”
Radomski said Team Hawaii has been competing at the Sapporo snow festival for 21 years, always placing high, but never winning a medal until this year. The team was made up of Radomski, Matsuda and Norimitsu Wada-Woode, who works with Radomski at the Royal Hawaiian Resort in Waikiki.
“We have the gold medals and the trophy to show,” Radomski said. “When the announcer called ‘Thailand,’ I told Charlie, ‘Dang it! We didn’t get anything.’ And then, the announcer called ‘Hawaii,’ and people went nuts.”
The Hawaii team was honored for its creation based on a gecko and monstera leaves.
Radomski said people in Japan like Hawaii and its people.
“We beat Thailand,” Matsuda said. “They won for 12 years, including getting gold medals. But when the announcer called ‘Hawaii,’ they were the first to congratulate us.”
Radomski said the festival — which is held every year during the first week of February — only invites 10 teams worldwide to compete.
“Snow carving is different from ice carving,” Radomski said. “We worked with a block 10-by-10 feet, and every minute of the week counted. If you broke the piece, it was over. With ice, if you make a mistake, you can re-freeze it and work around the break.”
The weather was the worst the festival had seen in 50 years, Radomski said.
“It got down to -14 degrees at night,” the chef said. “They had record snowfalls, and it was so bad, we almost couldn’t get out. They were shutting down the trains and the airports.”
According to online sources, Finland won first place at the 2026 Sapporo Snow Festival International Snow Sculpture with its “Momentary Stillness” created by Anna Koivukangas, Jonna Taikatie, and Saija Koskelainen.
Indonesia was named to second place with Mongolia taking third place before Hawaii was called to fourth place with its creation based on a gecko and monstera leaves ahead of Thailand in fifth.
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