Snowzilla, the sequel, rising

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Snowzilla the snowman is back – bigger than ever.

The original Snowzilla towered 16 feet over Billy Powers’ yard in his east Anchorage neighborhood last winter. Now with snow piling up over the past week, Powers is resurrecting the giant figure, supersized.

This time he expects it to tower about 25 feet, top hat and all, he said Monday.

“It’s a work in progress,” said Powers. He expects to complete Snowzilla II by today. Last year’s version, with Alaskan Amber beer bottles for eyes, drew scores of photo-snapping crowds and TV crews from Japan and Russia before it melted in the spring.

Powers vowed to build the snowman again this year. But until last week, there wasn’t enough snow.

“We were in trouble,” Powers said.

Then came last week’s snowfalls, which dumped 2 feet on the city.

By Sunday, Powers and some friends bundled up in layers of outdoor gear and got to work.

Scaffolding surrounded Snowzilla’s growing heft. Next-door neighbor John Woolsey pumped water into a garbage bin of snow and stirred to make the fresh powder more moldable. He put globs to Snowzilla’s head and smoothed it into place.

At the foundation of the new creation is a piece of the original Snowzilla. Last spring Powers’ son Hunter put the last remaining chunk of the melted snowman in a plastic bag and tucked it in the freezer. That lump was ceremoniously used as a starting piece for the new Snowzilla.

A neighbor with a snowplow pushed drifts up to Powers’ house for easy access.

Powers, a welder by trade, takes pride in the work he and his neighbors put in on Snowzilla. “A snowman’s good for everybody,” he said.