(crowd chattering) (sand shuffling) - [Narrator] If you ever wander onto a beach full of professional sand sculptors, you might see something like this.

I know what you're thinking.

- It's not a birthday cake.

- [Narrator] That's David Smith.

He's one of 18 contestants in the annual St. Helen Sandcastle Competition.

They're about to spend the next three days building giant sculptures out of sand.

- (laughs) That one got me a little low.

- [Leonard] You could probably throw another three inches.

(water sploshes) - [Narrator] The sculptors mix sand with water so it's dense and easier to carve.

(tools thumping) Then they spend hours pounding the sand until it becomes almost rock solid.

- This not the fun part.

- [Narrator] The two person teams are randomly selected.

Some sculptors have years of experience while others are brand new.

Like Hayden Wright, who's a professional wood carver.

- Oh, this will be the first sand sculpting I've ever done.

- [Narrator] Bill Rose, on the other hand, is a seasoned veteran.

- I've been doing this for almost 30 years.

(water sloshing) - [Narrator] Chris Foltz is paired with Leonard Gonzalez, who's been sculpting since elementary school.

- You've got enough water there?

- [Leonard] Yeah.

- This is my second year doing sand.

I'm lucky to be paired up with a guy that's been carving sand for a long time.

So it's pretty cool.

- Ready to go?

- Yeah.

- Okay, we're ready to start carving between these two lines.

(tool scraping) - [Leonard] We're blocking out our design, trying to find everything and how it's going to lay out in our forms.

- We have stone work in here.

- So I guess like similar to drawing, this would be the sketch phase where you're putting your foundation down.

Then you could get rid of all the stuff that you don't want and then start refining into the detail work.

- [Ryan] Full sketch.

Here's with the pound up.

Use that for our references.

- So you want this arm out or you want to put it behind her like it is?

- [Ryan] I'd like to put it behind her.

- So I'll start on this side (calming classical music) and I'll take this line the rest away.

I'll take this line the rest away while you take away this side.

(tools scraping) (music continues) - [Narrator] When it comes to tools, the artists pretty much use anything that will get the job done.

Eraser sponges, drywall trows, and even beer bottles.

- [Chris] You can only find these tools at specialty stores.

- [Bill] When we get into doing the details, we have a mantra that it's spray, cut, blow.

You spray what you're doing, you cut it, and we blow the sand away.

(music continues) - You definitely get really focused once you get deep into something like a face or working on a hand and you start looking at your own hand as a model.

(music continues) (indistinct chatter) - There's a couple of guys that give me poop about, you know, "You never talk when you're doing it," and so it's because I'm into what I'm thinking.

What's going on and where I got to go after this.

You have to be focused.

(tool scraping) - [Sculptor] Maybe more salt water?

- My piece this weekend, we called it "Oregon's Harvest Moon".

And it was really just a look at different styles of fishing throughout history.

It started with a Native American spearfishing out of a canoe and then off to the side, a bear, who's fishing the natural way, the really natural way.

No tools, just his paw.

(inspirational music) (sculptor blowing) (sculptor blowing) - Just sort of think about what we want to do with the base.

- [Narrator] It's the last day of the competition and the teams are discussing their strategies.

- I kind of like how it dips down like this.

- [Ryan] Yeah, I like that too.

- But see, just taking this little bit here.

- Yep.

- Gives that hip a twist.

(music continues) - [Narrator] So much work goes into sculptures that'll wash away with the tide in a matter of weeks.

- [Bill] I don't even think about it as being temporary.

In fact, I have to tell myself that sometimes when you're in doing something.

It's like, it's good enough right now 'cause it's not going to be here tomorrow.

- They're all world class competitors, so I expected them to make amazing pieces and just hoping that my piece is anywhere close as good as theirs or better.

- [Narrator] The competition is winding down and the artists put the finishing touches on their sculptures.

- I kind of like the back between the cut through.

- Mhm.

- There's coral in there.

I can do some bottom teeth on the skull.

I realize I didn't do that.

- [Ryan] Yeah, oh, I love it.

- [Dean] Alright.

- Like two minutes.

(crowd cheering) - Just in time.

- [Narrator] After three long days, the winner is selected.

(gentle music) It's Chris and Leonard's piece, "Harvest Moon".

- It's very immediate and it's only a temporary art.

And when I let it go, I'm done.

I'm glad that the tide is going to take it away and I get to get my mind wrapped around whatever the next project is.

It's not just an art form for me.

It's actually a way of life.

So, there's a whole different appreciation for me when it comes to sand sculpting.

(music fades) (no audio) - Great people just doing their thing in their own northwesty way.

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