Artist pays tribute to 'Game of Thrones' with House Stark snow-sigil

BOURG-SAINT-MAURICE, France, March 7 (UPI) -- An artist trekked up into the French Alps to spend 13 hours creating a giant tribute to the upcoming season of HBO's Game of Thrones.

Sky Atlantic, the station that airs Game of Thrones in Britain, sent artist Simon Beck into the French Alps' Les Arcs ski resort, where he walked over a distance of 20 miles for 13 hours to create the image of a direwolf, the sigil of the show's House Stark protagonists.

Beck said it took a total of 64,800 steps to create the direwolf and accompanying text, "Winter Is Coming."

"There's always a feeling of anticipation as I get off the [ski] lift and walk towards the edge and look over," Beck said of viewing his own art. "And there it is in front of me. You see it for the first time, you never forget that feeling of anticipation."

HBO has been especially secretive about Game of Thrones' upcoming sixth season, refusing to mail out press copies for review prior to the April 24 premiere.