British sculptors use 100 TONNES OF SNOW to create tribute to Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards' ski jump

Two British snow sculptors used 100 tonnes of the stuff to create an ice tribute to Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards' ski jump - and it's the size of a double-decker bus.

Justin Scott, 50, and Martin Sharp, 45, spent five days recreating Edward's famous bottom-ranked jump, performed during the 1988 Winter Games in Calgary.

Their 15m long masterpiece in Austria's Tyrolean Alps features the Olympic rings and flames, with Edwards depicted mid-jump.

The creation was part of a competition in Ischgl and saw them come fourth out of ten teams.

Dad-of-three Martin, an IT consultant, and fitness instructor, from York, said: "You can’t get a better sports hero.

"The others we were against were all professionals, so we're the under-dogs like Eddie.

"He told us that Ischgl is one of the places he’s never skied.

“Often you’re not allowed to interact with art, but we like to have people walk on it and touch it.

"Watching parents photograph their kids climbing on it is the most important thing for us.

"It's hilarious when we go through the airport with two shovels, three wood saws, and a snow raft all in a hockey bag.

"The Austrian police usually pull their guns and ask us to open the bag really slowly."

Justin, a gardener and tree surgeon, from Driffield, Yorkshire, said: "We do it for the love of it.

"You've got to work fast and be really focussed.

"When it’s minus 20 and snow and ice is blowing up the hill you’re basically in a blast freezer.

"It’s even difficult to see your sculpture.

"It’s like trying to sculpt fog.

"It’s taking part that matters most to us.

"It's about passing on goodwill.

"It just lifts people and becomes bigger than us and generates something positive that can be passed on.

"It was a cold week, but the snow was really good this year.

"Eddie said he's never had a snow sculpture made of him before."

The event, which took place earlier this month, sees snow plows used to move the mounds into place before the sculptors got to work.

It involves teams of two that submit their designs based on the theme, which is then selected by a committee.

The pals take an annual sculpting holiday together to ward off winter blues, they said.

This year their sculpture was made between January 9 and 13, and when temperatures dropped to -14, it was so cold they had to take breaks every 90 minutes.