Snowzilla is a giant snowman which has been erected each pre-Christmas season since 2005 in the front yard of private resident Billy Powers' home in Anchorage, Alaska. Keeping good on a promise to return again some day, Snowzilla reappeared in snowy and cold December 2023.
The first Snowzilla was built in 2005. It rose to, and featured a corncob pipe, a carrot nose, and two eyes made out of beer bottles.[1] After drawing widespread attention,[2] the snowman returned the following year, built to a height of .[3] [4] In 2008 the accumulated snow rose to an estimated height.[5] [6]
One neighbor in the block complained of heavy traffic and cited safety concerns about a very large snowman on the front lawn of a residential neighborhood, as a result of which city officials issued a cease and desist order in December 2008, preventing Snowzilla from being completed (it was about 50% completed when the order was issued and the accumulated snow removed). However, a few days later it re-appeared on Powers' lawn, although he denied making it.[7] [8] [9]
A strong public outcry soon arose over the apparent municipal interference with the holiday tradition, and a website (formerly "Snowzilla.org") appeared on 23 December 2008.[6] On Christmas morning, a group of small sign-carrying snowmen appeared in front of Anchorage city hall, but the city quickly demolished them.[10] [11] In 2009, a new mayor was sitting in City Hall, and the family said that it expected to be able to erect the giant snowman without interference.[12] [13] Writing about the January 2011 version, an editor for Alaska magazine described Snowzilla as "a symbol of Alaska civil disobedience enacted, appropriately enough, in snow".[14]