Amazing Snow Circle Art Not The Work of Space Aliens

We finally had a decent snow storm in Vermont the other day, and it is nice to see that clean, fresh blanket of white, instead of the brown grass, dirty patches of ice and muddy hillsides we'd gotten used to this time of year.

It's hard to improve on such a white landscape, but out in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, an artist named Sonja Hinrichsen has done it.

The artist, along with some assistants, paintakingly, carefully carved beautiful circles and spirals into a snowy landscape by walking in snowshoes in precise patterns. Of course, this being snow, the art didn't last, but luckily, the work was photographed.

The patterns in the snow make the field the work was done on resemble an intricately woven fabric. More pictures are at this Flickr Page.

And here's a great video, taken from the air, as the project was nearing completion. So cool!