The blast at Crazy Horse Memorial on Monday was small - a puff of smoke and a muffled boom from a viewing deck three quarters of a mile from the giant carving.

Still, the blast removed about 400 tons of rock, engineer Rich Barry said. That's 40 times larger than the first blast at Crazy Horse 59 years ago.

Like all the work at the Crazy Horse sculpture, Barry said, the blast followed a plan written by Korczak Ziolkowski, who died in 1982, and by his wife, Ruth Ziolkowski, who at 81 still runs the memorial.

The explosion was just to the right of the horse's head, on the southeast part of the carving, about 280 feet below the top of Crazy Horse's head. It removed rock for another "bench" to provide access to that part of the sculpture.

Crazy Horse vice president Jadwiga Ziolkowski - daughter of the late sculptor - said Barry and his crew had made good progress this summer, blasting two or three times a week, though the changes are subtle seen from the main viewing decks.

For spectacle, Jadwiga Ziolkowski recommends Thursday's night blast at Crazy Horse, which will follow the memorial's regular laser light show just after dark.

The night blast will have 130 explosions, set off in sequence across the carving, from the northwest to southeast.

Admission to Crazy Horse will be free Thursday with donations of cans of food for the KOTA Care and Share Food Drive.

Contact Bill Harlan at 394-8424 or at bill.harlan@rapidcityjournal.com