Crop circles, Alpine style: Artist creates incredible impression with his giant patterns in the snow




No, aliens haven't chosen a more wintry medium in which to leave their mark.

These snowy 'crop circles' are in fact the work of a lone artist who has spent hours, and a whole lot of effort, trudging around a French ski resort.

The patterns, some of which span the size of six football pitches, come in a range of designs from intricate snowflakes and spirals to cubes and rather more abstract creations.

Snow going: One of Simon Beck's wintry 'crop circles' which he created at the French ski resort of Arc2000 with a lot of dedication, patience and energy

Cubist design: Mr Beck used a type of orienteering methodology to plot the intricate shapes before walking the lines in snowshoes

N-ice work: Some of the designs stretch to the size of a football pitch and can take Mr Beck several hours to complete

Simon Beck uses what he describes as a 'kind of reverse orienteering' to plot his intricate paths before walking along the route in a pair of snowshoes.



'The main lines and points are surveyed using a sighting compass (as used for surveying orienteering maps) with distance (established) either by pace counting or string,' explains Mr Beck on his Yahoo Groups! page.



'The main reason for making them was because I can no longer run properly due to problems with my feet, so plodding about on level snow is the least painful way of getting exercise.

'Gradually, the reason has become photographing them, and I am considering buying a better camera.'

More of Mr Beck's handiwork can be seen on his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/snowart8848



Mountainous effort: The energy needed to create the designs could get you half way up Mount Blanc

Good exercise: Mr Beck says setting out the design serves as the warm-up before the real effort begins to walk around it

Snowing off online: Mr Beck has put pictures of his art on his Facebook and Yahoo Group! pages

Mr Beck, who studied Engineering Science at Oxford University, said the designs were created at the Arc2000 ski resort in Savoie, France.

Many take as long as five hours to construct and can equal the effort needed to climb halfway up Mount Blanc, he said.

He added: 'I usually keep at it until I get too tired, using a headlamp if it gets dark first. It takes typically five hours until I can't go on, but that can depend.

'The setting-out serves as the warm-up then the real training is completing the design. Once this second stage is started, I put on my personal stereo.'

Therapy: Mr Beck said the main reason for making the patterns was because he can no longer run properly due to problems with his feet, so he took to the snow instead

Otherworldly: At first glance, some of these designs may send paranormal enthusiasts into a spin as they look remarkably like those of their crop-circle cousins

Eye for style: Mr Beck said he initially set out on his artistic pursuits for fitness, but he says its now as much about taking the pictures afterwards

Spiralling hobby: Another of Mr Beck's creations

And here's the man himself....