He then build a two-story prototype of an "ice stupa", a cone of ice that he named after the traditional mound-like sacred monuments that are found throughout Asia. Last ice standingThe revolutionary aspect of the ice stupa is that it works even at low altitude and in very warm temperatures. A crowdfunding effortHow much does it cost to build an ice stupa? The ice stupa also netted Wangchuk a Rolex Award for Enterprise in 2016 , which carried a 100,000 Swiss Franc prize (around $105,000). This might sound a bit like mixing the sacred and the profane, but Wangchuk thinks the ice stupa itself is a bridge between different cultures.

Source: CNN July 20, 2017 01:23 UTC