FLORENCE — Fresh off his attempt to set the world record for distance traveled in a pumpkin boat, Dave Rothstein is celebrating a different kind of world championship — in snow sculpting.

The Florence resident and his four-man team — Team Mexico — took home the gold medal and People’s Choice Award at last week’s Breckenridge International Snow Sculpture Championships in Colorado. The team also shared top honors in the Artists’ Choice Award, becoming only the second team in 33 years to achieve a hat trick.

Their winning sculpture, crafted from a 16-foot-high, 25-ton cube of manmade snow using only hand tools, was titled “The Beggar.” It depicts an emaciated man squatting on his haunches on tiptoes to pick up a gigantic bitcoin, with more bitcoins arranged around the base.

“This was Carlos’ idea,” Rothstein said, crediting his friend and team captain, Carlos Miguel Ramirez Pereyra of Colima, Mexico. “It’s the flip side of the beggar we all envision, a commentary on greed. Without a rich heart, wealth is a hungry beggar.”

He said it was heartening that the team’s effort resonated with people at the competition, and it was wonderful to see his Team Mexico partners relish the win and bring the prize — “basically bragging rights” — back to their country.

Rounding out the team were Israel Magaña Rodriguez, also from Colima, Mexico, and Adam Turner of Minnesota.

It’s not the first time Rothstein, 55, has taken home the gold at the international championships he dubbed the Olympics of snow sculpting — he won the gold medal as part of Team Vermont in 2016.

In November, he paddled at least 40 miles down the Connecticut and Deerfield rivers in a 1,024-pound pumpkin he carved out. It took him 22 hours over three days. He was hoping to break a Guinness World Record while also drawing attention to the Connecticut River Watershed.

Rothstein discovered his passion for snow sculpting while living in Alaska in the late 1990s, where they held a two-week winter festival to break up the winter doldrums. He signed up for the great outhouse race — riding downhill in an outhouse with skis on the bottom — but missed his chance at glory when the sponsor pulled out because of liability concerns.

“The only thing left was snow sculptures,” he said.

Rothstein quickly found it to be a supportive, communal activity.

“People lent me their tools and their experience,” he said. “Ever since, I’ve been looking for opportunities for spreading the joy of snow sculpting. It’s a wonderful way to engage with winter.”

He said he tries to get to Breckenridge every five years or so. Applications start in the summer, when hopefuls submit a sketch of what they propose to sculpt, a list of teammates and their “snow resumés.”

“Carlos and I have been friends for years,” Rothstein said. They’ve worked together in other media — they collaborated on a tower of owls made out of hay for Art in the Orchard at Park Hill in Easthampton — and had been looking for an opportunity to snow sculpt together.

Organizers at Breckenridge are creating an outdoor sculpture gallery, he said, and they’re looking for a mix of styles from around the world. Besides Mexico and the U.S., teams this year came from Germany, Lithuania, Mongolia, China, South Korea, Ecuador, Denmark and India.

Rothstein said he loves the cultural exchanges that Breckenridge fosters. He said he was speaking with the Mongolian team — whose tribute to Native American culture won the silver medal — and asking about a special tool they used, which he said all the sculptors were envious of. They so appreciated his interest that they gave him the tool, a mini trident with multiple short shearing tips attached to a three-part metal pole that screws together.

“They do the most beautiful work,” he said of the Mongolian team.

Tools are always a hot topic of conversation for snow sculptors, Rothstein said. Unlike with ice sculpting, no power tools are allowed. Although manmade snow feels a bit like ice when it freezes up, it carves more easily. Snow sculptors generally favor scaled-up woodworking tools such as a curry comb instead of sandpaper and large chisels, he said.

Wednesday marked the official end of the snow sculpting championships, but the festive spirit and feelings of camaraderie last much longer, Rothstein said.

“Our sculptures are short-lived,” he said, “but our friendships last forever, and are far more valuable than gold.”

James Pentland can be reached at jpentland@gazettenet.com.