Since 2004 England-based Simon Beck has strapped on a pair of snowshoes and lumbered out into the freshly fallen snow at the Les Arcs ski resort in France to trample out his distinctly geometric patterns, footprint by footprint. Each work takes the 54-year-old artist anywhere between 6 hours and two days to complete, an impressive physical feat aided from years of competitive orienteering. The orienteering also helps him in the precise mapping process which often begins on a computer before he’s able to mark landmarks in the snow that guide his precise walking patterns.

Beck is a fan of producing mathematical patterns that have different effects when viewed from various vantage points in the changing light throughout the day. Preferring to achieve the 3D effects, he loves to snap his creations when the sun is at its highest point, causing the most contrast on the designs across the lake.

But creating art work in snow has its downsides. Oftentimes Beck is unable to finish a piece, due to fresh snowfall, or pieces he worked all day on quickly get covered by overnight snow. The impermanence adds a layer of magic to this extraordinary art form of transforming a snow field into a detailed art work. The beauty is even carried over to the warmer months, when the melting lake snow and ice reveal traces of the last pattern that Beck traced during the season’s last snowfall.