Are aliens giving up cornfields for cold, mountain air?
Nope. Turns out these incredibly awesome snow designs are the work of decidedly human artist Simon Beck, who takes the concept of a crop circle to new heights by strapping on a pair snowshoes and getting to work.
"They are made by a kind of reverse orienteering," he explains on his Yahoo! Groups page. "The main lines and points are surveyed using a sighting compass (as used for surveying orienteering maps), with distance either by pace counting or string."
It can take Beck hours of trudging around in the snow to create his masterpieces, which can run the size of a soccer field. Why go to the trouble?
"The main reason for making them was because I can no longer run properly due to problems with my feet, so plodding about on level snow is the least painful way of getting exercise," he says. "Gradually the reason has become photographing them, and I am considering buying a better camera."
