A BASINGSTOKE woman is bidding to become a world champion as she and her three teammates head off to the 2017 International Snow Sculpture Championships.

Maya Martin is one of a select team wh o will represent the UK at this year’ s championships, which sees the world’s best snow sculptors do battle over ice in Breckenbridge, Colorado.

Maya, a stonemason from Basingstoke, will be joined by experienced team captain Ollie Annaly from Winchester and who has competed in snow carving for six years, as they hope to make the cut against teams from across the globe.

And although she has yet to sculpt with snow, sh  and her fellow stonemasons hope for a good result in the USA.

“Fingers crossed we can go away and do well,” Maya told The Gazette

“Our piece is going to be a sabre tooth tiger with a very abstract design.

"So far we have only done the piece in plaster and not in snow, so we’re quite nervous about how this will go .

“We get a massive bit of snow, but once it’s gone it’s gone.

“You have to be careful not to break, or snap , any of the pieces on it as it’ s difficult to stick them back.

“But hopefully it should be okay.”

Sponsored by Budweiser, the annual championships see teams attempt to transform 20-tonne, 12 foot tall blocks of sno w into masterpieces in just over 65 hours.

Artists are only allowe d to use hand tools, creativity and inspiration to bring their ideas to life, with no power tools allowed – a cause for concern for Maya.

She added: “Last year, one of the team’ s piece fell apart at the last moment and just collapsed.

“The sun came out and it began melting and when it froze back again it just became icy, so it’s much tougher to sculpt.

“It’ s my first championships, so I’m nervous but I don’t really know what to expect.

“All I know is that so far I have struggled in the British cold weather, but it’s -26 degrees in Breckenbridge, so I have no idea how that’s going to go.”