TRAVEL TALES

Young Chang

What remains at the front of Loren and Richard Moriarty’s memory of

their trip to Utah last month is not the women’s hockey game at the

Winter Olympics nor the skiing and the yoga classes, but ice angels.

And ice eagles, frozen gods and goddesses, even an iced scene of a

lion attacking a deer attempting to flee.

They arrived at the spot of the International Ice Carving Competition

in Provo, Utah at about 11 p.m. They found more than 30 international ice

sculpting teams from around the world creating art from 300-pound blocks

of ice.

“It was all lit up by light,” said Loren Moriarty of Newport Beach.

“It was so cool because of the contrast of darkness and the water and the

ice flying from the artists in action.”

Moriarty and her companion Richard traveled to Sundance, Utah to visit

Richard’s brother Donald Moriarty. For three days, the couple skied --

actually, Loren Moriarty doesn’t ski so she took yoga classes at the

Sundance Spa instead -- watched a women’s hockey game at the Olympics and

watched ice turn into art.

“We love hockey but we aren’t avid fans,” Loren Moriarty said. “We

were just really curious to see what a women’s hockey game would be like

. . . The women were very professional and aggressive and energetic.”

Being among throes of Olympic fans was an experience in itself, she

added. Everything was more organized than the couple expected it to be

and sports fans seemed happy just to be there, regardless of who won

which game.

“It was so exciting to be among people from all over the world,” said

Moriarty, president of Newport Vineyards and Winery.

Richard Moriarty, who was skiing in Switzerland last week, developed

and owns the city’s first vineyard and winery.

After hearing about the ice-carving competition from a concierge at

their hotel, the couple devoted one late-night outing to watching people

melt ice with enormous heating plows.

“They probably had a dozen different tools they were using,” Loren

Moriarty said. “It was so dramatic.”

The carving went all night and the judging happened the next morning.

“They had these big tools they were using to carve these beautiful,

graceful pieces,” Moriarty said.

* Have you, or someone you know, gone on an interesting vacation

recently? Tell us your adventures. Drop us a line to Travel Tales, 330 W.

Bay St., Costa Mesa, CA 92627; e-mail young.chang@latimes.com; or fax to

(949) 646-4170.