Frosty got a growth spurt!
A Massachusetts family’s second-annual construction of a goliath snowman was packed with a little extra cushion after Winter Storm Hernando tore through the state, boosting it to a whopping 23-feet tall.
Parker the Snowman, initially measuring 20-feet high and 21-feet wide, shot up an extra three feet on top of a four-foot expansion outwards after the weekend blizzard buried the state in snow.
The behemoth’s architect, Eric Aalerud, admitted to WHDH that he “was more sore” while undertaking the annual project “than anything” he’d attempted in the last decade.
His wife, Katie Aalerud, told CBS News that Eric built their first family snowman in November 2024, just after welcoming their daughter Emerson, while he “was going stir crazy in the house.”
He constructed the snowman from a massive snow pile that only kept growing over time, until it became its own roadside attraction with light-up features. Katie’s only problem was its “creepy” glowing red eyes, which were swapped out for blue this year.
Katie told NBC10 Boston that her husband used a snowblower, shovel, wood, ladder and “water to freeze everything” to pile up the snowman and keep it together for weeks on end.
The faux top hat on Parker’s head is made out of “a trash barrel and plywood, spray-painted black,” Katie said. The eyes, buttons, and large tree branch arms are all adorned with bright lights so that passersby can see the frosty fellow as they drive up the hill near their Shirley home.
“Last year it dwindled slowly, and I would say probably at the beginning of April when the last of it finally melted,” Katie told the outlet.
The Aaleruds plan to build a bigger and better snowman each year for as long as they are able.
During a rare snow day Monday, hundreds of New Yorkers sculpted their own snowmen and other snow structures, including makeshift igloos, throughout the city — but none so big as the Aaleruds’ masterpiece.
