The world's tallest snowman was created in Bethel, Maine in 2008. It measured in at 122 feet / 1 inch and weighed 13,000,000 lbs.
Maine Built a 122-Foot Snowman Using 13 Million Pounds of Snow
In February 2008, the small town of Bethel, Maine accomplished something absolutely ridiculous: they built a snowwoman taller than the Statue of Liberty. Well, almost—at 122 feet and 1 inch, "Olympia" fell just a few feet short of Lady Liberty, but she still crushed the world record for tallest snowperson ever built.
It took residents an entire month and a staggering 13 million pounds of snow to complete her. For perspective, that's the weight of about 65 blue whales. Or 2,000 elephants. Or one really, really committed community project.
Not Your Average Snow Day
Olympia wasn't just tall—she was accessorized. Her 48-foot-wide fleece hat was hand-stitched by local schoolkids and volunteers. Her 8-foot carrot nose was crafted from chicken wire and cheesecloth. She wore a 130-foot scarf, a 6-foot-6 snowflake pendant necklace, and three 5-foot truck tires as buttons down her front.
The details get weirder. Her lips? Painted car tires. Her arms? Two 30-foot spruce trees. Her eyelashes? Eight pairs of skis. Yes, someone looked at this colossus and thought, "You know what this needs? Ski eyelashes."
Maine's Snowman Rivalry
Here's the thing: Bethel had done this before. In 1999, they built "Angus," a 113-foot-7-inch snowman that broke the previous record held by Japan (96 feet). Austria later attempted to beat Angus but was disqualified by Guinness World Records—apparently, there are rules for building giant snowmen, and Austria didn't follow them.
So Bethel came back in 2008 with Olympia, adding nearly 9 more feet and switching from a snowman to a snowwoman. Named after then-Senator Olympia Snowe (who represented Maine), she reclaimed the title and held it firm.
The Record Still Stands
As of 2025, no one has topped Olympia. She stood at 122 feet with a base diameter of 125 feet—wide enough to park a small house on. The logistics alone were absurd: cranes, bulldozers, dump trucks hauling snow, and hundreds of volunteers working in freezing temperatures.
Eventually, Olympia melted (as snowwomen tend to do), but her legacy remains. Bethel still celebrates the achievement, and the Guinness World Record certificate hangs proudly in town. It's a reminder that when a small Maine community decides to do something utterly unnecessary and wonderful, they go all in.