Night Blast Lights Up Crazy Horse

Article Source
It’s an exciting weekend at Crazy Horse Mountain. Friday marked Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski’s wife Ruth Ziokowski’s 83rd birthday and the 133rd anniversary of the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Both events were celebrated with a night blast.

Dynamite blasts are fairly common at Crazy Horse, but there are only two night blasts each year. Both are done ceremoniously to celebrate the past while sculpting continues into the future.

With six decades of work recreating the image of this legendary Lakota leader, officials at Crazy Horse Memorial say it’s important to reflect on how far they’ve come.

“The family is hard working and the employees are hard working and to see others enjoy it once and awhile, it’s well worth it,” blaster Jeff Hermanson said.

Hermanson says crews have been preparing the mountain for days for the first night blast of the year. They’ve secured dynamite and cleared debris that may be harmful to the sculpture or dangerous to workers.

“Explosives are set off by shock. You have an explosive and rock falls on it, that’s shock. That explosive has a very good possibility of detonating,” Hermanson said.

Steps of precaution on a site that’s beautiful by day, and even more spectacular by night.

“I think it’s a celebration for a family that works their tails off and I think there should be maybe five or six each year as opposed to just two,” Hermanson said.