A 30-foot snowman brings a family and a community together

When Eric Fobbe decided to build a gigantic snowman in his backyard, he had no idea the impact it would have on his hometown.

When snow kept on falling in Minnesota, Eric Fobbe from Buffalo set himself a challenge that would make the most of the heavy snowfall.

With the support of his neighbors, Fobbe gathered up snow from their yards and started constructing a giant snowman measuring a final 30 feet high and 20 feet wide.

The frosty giant took Fobbe 40 hours to build. After gathering up all the snow, with the help of a snow blower, he managed to pile it higher … and higher. The snow sculptor then needed a ladder and a temporary staircase to complete his epic snowman, and place the all-important traffic cone nose and top hat on his head.

The final result certainly impressed his wife, who shared the snowman on Facebook:

According to a report in Detroit’s Fox 2, Fobbe explained that Frosty Fobbe — as the snowman is called — requires some maintenance:

“When it’s sunny out, or it’s over 30 degrees, I’ll come home from work, and I’ll notice it’s shrunk a little bit, so I’m out here adding snow to it non-stop.”

And his efforts have been appreciated by not only his family, but the wider community, who drop by to see the snowy construction.

For the Fobbe family, Frosty is their biggest build to date, having previously built a 20-foot and a 25-foot snowman. According to the Guinness World Records, the largest ever snow-woman was built in Maine and stood at 122 feet, with skis for eyelashes.

The chilly project is the perfect example of not only using nature to provide us with some wonderful family moments, but of also teaching our children to take on challenges.

And of course, people are so often drawn to giant sculptures, so Frosty Fobbe is certainly bringing the community together, and putting Buffalo, Minnesota, on the map!