Giant 'snow dragon' found in Siberia

In fact, the dragon is the latest creation of British snow artist Simon Beck, 57, for a Russian movie by prominent director Timur Bekmambetov. It is sculpted using his feet on a frozen lake in diamond-rich Sakha Republic - also called Yakutia, and the coldest region in Russia.

Creative producer of the movie, Igor Tsai, said: 'We stumbled upon Simon, wrote him a letter, and after some time, he answered. I think this is a great success, as Simon is the best in the world at what he does. Why did we choose Yakutia? Here you can definitely find snow at this time of year.'

The movie - called 'He is the Dragon' is a story of love between a young Slavic princess and a man-dragon. The final scene needed a vast image of a dragon, a sign of submission by locals. 

The artist was required to create the dragon image not once but twice as he worked in sub-zero temperatures. When most of the image was created,  suddenly the ice cracked. 

The crack spoiled the picture, and his safety on the ice was in question. He did not give up and in ten hours created another dragon at Us Khatyn, a sacred place for Yakut people. 

'I am very glad that a new stage in my development was the visit to Russia, and my first experience of cooperation with the film industry,' he was quoted as saying. 'The difficulty in creating of this snow dragon was that it was necessary to perform a very clear goals, to fit all the dimensions and parameters. This time I even had to pre-draw the draft on paper, which I do not normally do.'

The artist rose to fame decorating snowscapes in the Alps with his designs, many of which are mathematical. He walks up to 40 kilometres (25 miles) as he creates each of his magnificent images.