https://www.theguardian.com/science/alexs-adventures-in-numberland/gallery/2014/nov/06/simon-becks-snow-art-landscapes-mathematical-designs-drawings-alps Skip to main content Advertisement The Guardian - Back to home * News * Opinion * Sport * Culture * Lifestyle [ ] Show More * News + US news + World news + Environment + Soccer + US politics + Business + Tech + Science + Newsletters + Fight to vote * Opinion + The Guardian view + Columnists + Letters + Opinion videos + Cartoons * Sport + Soccer + NFL + Tennis + MLB + MLS + NBA + NHL * Culture + Film + Books + Music + Art & design + TV & radio + Stage + Classical + Games * Lifestyle + Fashion + Food + Recipes + Love & sex + Home & garden + Health & fitness + Family + Travel + Money [ ] What term do you want to search? Search with google * Make a contribution * Print subscriptions * US edition + switch to the UK edition + switch to the Australia edition + switch to the International edition * Search jobs * Digital Archive * Guardian Puzzles app * Guardian content licensing site * The Guardian app * Video * Podcasts * Pictures * Inside the Guardian * Guardian Weekly * Crosswords * Facebook * Twitter * Search jobs * Digital Archive * Guardian Puzzles app * Guardian content licensing site [c9141b6a-d] Alex Bellos's Adventures in Numberland Simon Beck's astonishing landscape and snow art illustrates the cold beauty of mathematics - in pictures Simon Beck's astonishing landscape and snow art illustrates the cold beauty of mathematics - in pictures * Share on Facebook * Share on Twitter * Share via Email For the past decade, Simon Beck has been decorating the Alps with his stunning mathematical drawings, created by running in snowshoes across freshly laid snow. Each image takes him up to 11 hours to make and covers an area about 100m x 100m, requiring him to travel up to 25 miles as he marks out the pattern. He has inspired a clothing range and has diversified into beach art. Below is a selection of his images of his creations. I spoke to him to mark the launch of his book Simon Beck: Snow Art Alex Bellos @alexbellos Thu 6 Nov 2014 09.43 EST Last modified on Thu 22 Feb 2018 12.31 EST * Simon Beck produces about 30 snow drawings every winter in the northern hemisphere, mostly in the Alps. He started 10 years ago doing it for fun and now it is his main occupation. 'When you have a blank piece of paper you draw on it,' he says. 'So drawing on a blank snowfall seemed like a natural thing to do.' Facebook Twitter snow art * Beck almost always draws mathematical patterns. The geometrical designs are more fun to do, since there is less tedious measuring. 'You can get to drawing much sooner. You are just following simple rules. You don't have to keep referring to a diagram. You can do it from memory. And they just look the best.' Facebook Twitter snow art * 'When you go to ski resorts you frequently see drawings in the snow that kids have made: teenagers drawing rude things, and at Valentine's Day love hearts all over the place. The only difference is that I do it on somewhat a larger scale.' You can get a sense of its size by seeing how tiny the onlookers are. Photograph: Simon Beck Facebook Twitter snow art * Beck, 56, went to Millfield School and studied engineering at Oxford university. In 1974 he won the British Orienteering Championships. He has spent most of his adult life working as a freelance orienteering mapmaker. Photograph: Icebreaker Facebook Twitter snow art * * The drawings are made using only a compass, and by counting paces. 'Normally you want to start in the middle but of course you can't start in the middle because you have to get there somehow. If it is a star you have to walk in a straight line to the middle, then take a compass bearing, and then work out the other bearings.' Photograph: Icebreaker Facebook Twitter snow art * Simon wears snowshoes, and by running in them makes a path. He cannot step outside the path since this will disturb the fresh snow. 'It is actually quite a puzzle to work out the best way of doing it. Usually you will do a way which is passably good, but you will know you could have done it a slightly quicker way.' Photograph: Icebreaker Photograph: Icebreaker Facebook Twitter snow art * The first hour is measuring out the important points. 'Once you have been going about an hour you get quite a network of tracks going through the area of the drawing and you can get from A to B quite easily. You will always end up backtracking because you get hungry to go back to the start to get your food.' Facebook Twitter snow art * 'Making these drawings is map-making in reverse. You start with the map, and you need to make the ground agree with the map.' Facebook Twitter snow art * * 'The main danger is having a minor accident skiing down at night after I have finished drawing. Or running out of steam, if you push yourself too hard at the end of it. It is quite frightening how quickly you can run out of steam.' In easy conditions he can go for 12 hours, but 10 hours is his usual limit. Facebook Twitter snow art * Many of the images are standard mathematical shapes, such as the Koch snowflake, the Sierpinski triangle and this one, a version of the Mandelbrot set. These three are fractal shapes. 'I used to do these kind of drawings just for fun on paper.' Facebook Twitter snow art * The technique only requires a compass and an ability to count. So, if he wants to find the half-way point of a line, he counts the paces along it and divides by two. 'It takes a lot of practice, but I have these skills as an orienteering map-making expert.' Facebook Twitter snow art * Beck takes pictures of all his artworks, and earns his living by selling high resolution copies of the photographs. Facebook Twitter snow art * * Since he started 10 years ago, he has made 175 snow drawings. 'Part of the rationale of making snow drawing my winter exercise was because my feet were a bit buggered and I couldn't do the running I would have done. It was a lower injury prone activity.' Facebook Twitter snow art * This design was for World Aids Day. 'The design is a simple twisted polar grid with male genitals added. I got the design from the shape of men's genitals, the way condoms are designed, and spiders' web gives it a twist.' Facebook Twitter snow art * Last month New Zealand clothes label Icebreaker launched The Art of Nature Simon Beck Collection - a range of merino wool under- and overgarments inspired by his designs. Sexy maths. Photograph: Icebreaker Facebook Twitter snow art * This Sherpinsky triangle long sleeve top, is inspired by the Sierpinski triangle. Photograph: Icebreaker Facebook Twitter snow art * * Earlier this year Beck was approached by a wealthy American who wanted him to do a beach drawing as a live performance. Having never done a beach drawing before, he spent this summer at Brean beach in Somerset learning how to do it. Facebook Twitter beach art * He uses a compass and a rake. 'The main difference between beach and snow drawing is that on a beach you can usually walk across it without making much of a track, or any track at all. So you can do all the measuring without leaving any unwanted tracks. This makes it much easier than a snow drawing.' Photograph: Simon Beck Facebook Twitter beach art * The Sierpinski traingle! You draw a triangle, and divide it into four triangles. The you divide the outer triangles into four triangles, and so on. Here Beck has added a 3D effect. Photograph: Simon Beck Facebook Twitter beach art * Simon Beck, the master in front of his creation. Facebook Twitter beach art * * Another reason beach drawing is easier is that walking on flat sand is easier than walking on deep snow. 'You can walk for 11 hours on a beach much easier than you can in the snow.' Facebook Twitter beach art * The problem with beaches, however, is the tide. Although at neap tide at Brean there is a 100m patch of sand that doesnt get washed away at high tide. For more details about Simon Beck and his creations please see here. Facebook Twitter beach art Topics * Mathematics * Alex Bellos's Adventures in Numberland * Skiing holidays * Snow * Snowboarding * Art * Drawing More galleries View all comments > Order by * newest * oldest * recommendations Show 25 * 25 * 50 * 100 * All Threads * collapsed * expanded * unthreaded Loading comments... Trouble loading? 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