During the first annual sand sculpture competition of Pacifica’s Fog Fest, a group of four Skyline students, including Elise Peix, took home the $300 first prize.

For Elise, it all began in her sculpting class here at Skyline. One day, representatives from Fog Fest visited her class to talk about the new sand sculpture competition and how it was free for students to enter. Participants could only use sand and water to create a figure. Elise Peix decided to enter the competition along with three other classmates.

“I’ve always been into art-type things, but I hadn’t sculpted in sand before,” said Peix.

Peix’s group, who called themselves the “Skyline SunJive Sandinistas,” beat out the rest of the half-dozen or so teams that also participated. Their winning sculpture was of an octopus, which they worked on for nearly six hours straight, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26. During the final hour, the Sandinistas were primarily focused on putting the finishing touches on their work of art.

“We were originally going to do a mermaid sitting on a rock,” said Peix. “But we overheard another group saying they were going to do the same thing.”

The outcome was determined the following afternoon, with 50 percent of the judging determined by the public’s vote. In the end, the Sandinistas just barely beat out the Bay Area Young Architects’ sand lighthouse by three votes. Third place belonged to “Funky Tuts” who assembled a pyramid and a sphinx.

“I was worried about the Bay Area Young Architects,” said Peix. “I thought they were going to win the event.”

According to Peix, the judges looked at several factors to decide the winner. Some of these were how much time and effort a team put into their work (some of the teams disbanded after only a few hours), how much detail was shown, and if you could see all the way around it.

“Sand is a really cool medium to work with because you can subtract and add any amounts of it at any time,” said Peix. “But it is a tricky medium to work with as well. After about a half-hour to an hour, you start to get the hang of it.”

Peix has some general advice for people who want to compete in sand sculpture competitions or even those who just want to make a successful sand castle the next time they find themselves at the beach.

“Pack it a lot,” said Peix. “The best way to go about it is to use your hands, not tools. Also, wet sand works better than dry sand.”

Peix suggests that if you do use tools, improvise with them to create something that would be difficult or impossible to make with your bare hands.

In the end, not only did Peix walk away with the first place prize but she also had a really enjoyable day.

“It was so much fun,” said Peix. “It was a cool environment. I am going again next year for sure.”