Category: Gear and Techniques

Michigan Ice Fest 2011 Is In The Books!

Bill

The 2011 Michigan Ice Fest is in the books and turns out it was a record breaking year!  511 participants converged on Munising Michigan to participate in the 28th annual Michigan Ice Fest.  Twelve different states were represented this year with participants traveling as far from Texas and California coming to enjoy banner ice conditions this year.  Almost all of the classic ice formations were in this year and Lake Superior froze over enough to allow the most adventurous climbers to access Grand Island.

FRIDAY

New this year, the  Fest started with an Introduction to Ice Course on Friday where participants spent the day learning he tricks of the trade out at the Curtains.  The evenings festivities started off with a climbing social and free beer sponsored by Scarpa and Osprey.  Due to a family illness, Roger Strong was unable to make it to the Fest (but he has promised to come to next years fest), so the evening presentation was provided by Sam Elias.  Sam gave out a shout to his Michigan roots which drew a huge roar from the crowd, and then proceeded to show slides and video of his skiing and climbing exploits around the world.  One thing for sure, after watching the presentation, participants came away with how talented of a climber Sam is!  The rest of the evening you could find people browsing the booths of:

The American Alpine Club

The Ice Pit

Jeff Lowe’s Metanoia Movie Project

Outward Bound

Peabody Ice Climbing Tower

SATURDAY

Saturday we got the ball rolling early with equipment hand out for Ice Fest Courses.  As usual, the courses filled up fast and participants were treated to instruction provided by Mark Wilford, Steve House, Sam Elias, Majka Burhardt, and James Loveridge.  After getting the courses set and on their way it was time to hook up participants with demo gear.  This year the line to pick up gear was exceptionally long running down stairs and winding through the restaurant.  Some folks were unable to get gear and we realize that this is an on going problem and yes, next year we are taking steps to alleviate this problem.

The Demo area at the Curtains also saw changes this year with brand new ropes donated to the festival by Sterling Ropes!  Hundreds of climbers were challenged throughout the day with a variety of difficult climbs set up. Also new this year was the Adventure Medical Kits and Jetboil Medical Station.  A big thank you goes out to Peter Richards and Peter Zenti for manning the station all weekend tending to a few nicks and cuts!  Saturday at the Demo we also saw Jim Cantore of the Weather Channel giving ice climbing a shot.  Jim and his crew were at the festival doing a story on winter activities in the Upper Peninsula.  The show should air sometime in April.

After a long day of climbing, everyone converged upon Sydney’s for the Saturday evening social and free beer provided by Down Wind Sports.  With a standing room only crowd, our first presentation of the evening was from Majka Burhardt. Majka beautifully narrated her show of   growing up and her early days of climbing, follwed by her exploits of unexplored sandstone towers in Ethiopia which resulted in her book Vertical Ethiopia: Climbing Toward Possibility in the Horn of Africa, short listed for the Banff Book Award.  Midwest climbers, keep an eye out for her second book, Coffee Story: Ethiopia, which will be released in  spring 2011.

Our final presentation of the evening was from Steve House.  Steve is no stranger to the Michigan Ice Fest as this was his third visit to our festival.  His presentation started out with a dramatic video of him soloing two Classic, hard routes on New Hampshire’s Cathedral Ledge.  With jaws hanging, the audience sat and watched this incredible footage that was shot in February of last year.  The second portion of the show was of Steve and Vince Anderson’s ascent of Nanga Parbat’s infamous Rupal Face,  which is widely considered to be the greatest alpine wall in the world.  And if that wasn’t enough, the show finished off with an account of Steve’s 80 foot fall in the Canadian Rockies while attempting to climb Mt. Temple. The accident left him with multiple life-threatening traumatic injuries which he is still recovering from today.Missed the show?  You can read up on Steve’s exploits by checking out his book  Beyond the Mountain.  The book won the Mountain Literature Award at the Banff Mountain Book Festival and the UK’s Boardman-Tasker Prize. It’s a great read and the book maintains a 5-star rating by it’s readers.

SUNDAY

The effects of climbing hard all day Saturday and a late night of socializing must have took it toll on climbers as the demo area was a very laid back all day Sunday allowing climbers their choice of routes all day long.  The additional effect of having the Packers in the Super Bowl also caused our visiting Wisconsin climbers an excuse of bailing out early to prepare for their Super Bowl Parties!

All in all it was another great Michigan Ice Festival and we appreciate all of the patronage we get from Midwest climbers.  We are proud to say that over the weekend we were able to sign up 20 new members to the American Alpine Club, raised $200.00 for the Jeff Lowe movie project and exposed hundreds of first time climbers to the sport of ice climbing.


The reason our event is so successful is because of the assistance we get from all of our sponsors.  If you were at the event and had fun, enjoyed the presenters, or loved the killer raffle prizes please drop the following sponsors a note to tell them that you appreciate them supporting the Michigan Ice Fest!

Patagonia                         josh_nielsen@patagonia.com      dixiemarree@patagonia.com

Arc Teryx                        jwilmers@msn.com

La Sportiva                     lfryer@sportiva.com

Black Diamond              tj.kolanko@bdel.com

Scarpa                               Brian@goaao.com

Petzl                                   brad@pembaserves.com

Sterling Ropes               John@sterlingrope.com

Kayland                            brent@novationna.com

Suunto                              timharwood@comcast.net

Osprey                             Brian@goaao.com

Adventure Medical Kits  brad@pembaserves.com

Jetboil                             timharwood@comcast.net


SAVE THE DATES!

ICE FEST 2012 February 2-5th










Jetboil To Heat Things Up At Ice Fest!

Bill

New this year at the Curtains Demo site will be the Adventure Medical Kits First Aid Tent and Jetboil warm you up station!  We’ll bring the Jetboils, you bring your mug and drink, we’ll provide the hot water!  Big thumbs up to Tim Harwood at Jetboil for keeping everyone warm at Ice Fest!

Flash™ adds more enjoyment to your favorite outdoor adventure. Like all of Jetboil’s innovative systems, Flash is an all-in-one design, combining burner and cooking vessel in one compact unit. Everything you need is stacked and stored inside the 1.0 liter cooking cup. The system lights with the click of a button and within two minutes provides two cups of boiling water for cocoa, coffee, instant soup or a gourmet freeze-dried meal. The newly designed burner secures the igniter, protecting it from bumps along the road.



Flash™ is designed to be one of the safest cooking solutions out there. The cooking cup clips onto the burner, preventing accidental spills, and the fuel canister tripod ensures overall stability. The insulating cozy has a color-changing heat indicator that signals when contents are hot.
Features:
*1.0 Liter FluxRing® cooking cup with insulating cozy, featuring Flash color-change heat indicator
*Adjustable stainless steel burner with push-button “through-cup” igniter
* Drink-through lid and insulating bottom cover/measuring cup
* Tripod base for added stability

Like what you see?  Don’t forget we will have the Jetboil flash at Ice Fest Headquarters so you can take one home for your next adventure!

Suunto Hooks Michigan Ice Fest Up!

Bill

To commemorate Apa Sherpa’s historic 20th summit of Mt Everest, Suunto  released a limited number of their new Core Extreme Edition Everest wristop computers. Apa Sherpa is a Suunto ambassador and widely regarded as one of the world’s greatest mountaineers.
As a limited edition, Suunto will be producing only 8,848 models of the Extreme Edition Everest, correlating to the height in meters of Mt. Everest. Each wristop computer is numbered and features Apa Sherpa’s signature on the back so you know it is authentic. On the front inside bezel of the watch you will also find the words “Everest Edition”.

  • A numbered, limited edition of 8848 pieces inspired by Mount Everest’s height of 8848 meters
  • Altimeter with altitude log memory and altitude difference measurement
  • Barometer with storm alarm and weather trend indicator
  • Automatic Alti / Baro switch
  • Compass with semi automatic calibration and a digital bearing
  • Depth meter
  • Multiple watch, date and alarm functions with dual time and countdown timer
  • Sunrise/Sunset times for over 400 locations worldwide
  • Digital thermometer
  • Menu based user interface in English, German, French and Spanish
  • User-replaceable battery

It  retails for $429 and part of that is donated as charity to the Apa Sherpa foundation and thanks to Tim Harwood at Suunto, the watch will be raffled off Saturday evening! (I have to be honest, I saw this watch come in and it almost ended up on my wrist!)

Check out all of the fine watches at Suunto!

Sterling Ropes Rock!

Bill

We really could not organize the Ice Fest without Sterling Ropes…….really.  We finally retired our demo and course ropes this summer by cutting them into hundreds of dog leashes.  In steps John Branagan and Mark Wilford to save the day.  Sterling has set the Ice Fest up with a whole new demo fleet of dry ropes!  After years of having our hotel room draped in frozen ropes that were stiffer then cable, and a heater running full blast in a meager attempt to dry them-  Sterling comes along and donates all new Dry ropes.  I think the first toast Friday evening will go to John and the gang over at Sterling!  Thanks so much for all of your support!

For over fifteen years now, Sterling Rope has been designing and manufacturing the highest quality, most technically advanced rope and cord for climbing. Our ropes for climbing and outdoor are designed for their specific purpose and as such we offer a broad range of great ropes from which to choose. Sterling ropes are made to perform extraordinarily well in all conditions due to our unique DryCore™ and Better Braid Technology™. These processes give you incredibly durable ropes that are smaller in diameter, lighter, and better handling, as well as dry cores, designed to keep moisture out and performance up.

Sterling Rope spent years researching and testing various solutions and treatment processes. We developed a process, using our own proprietary coating, that greatly improves dry treatment of rope. Studies have shown that wet ropes are more difficult to handle and their dynamic performance is drastically reduced. Our dry treated ropes provide an additional safety factor for alpinists, especially on ice, mixed ground and in winter. Protecting the rope from water absorption eliminates weight increase, risk of freezing in cold weather, and slows the wearing of the rope considerably.

In conventional ropes, it is usually only the sheath fibers that are dry-treated. Sterling Dry Ropes not only have a superior coating on the sheath, but also have DryCore standard on all its cores, reducing the ropes natural inclination to absorb moisture to greater levels. Sterling’s Arid system ensures a more effective and durable water resistance, while improving handling, resistance to friction, dirt, and durability.

Don’t forget we will have a full selection of Sterling Ropes at Ice Fest Headquarters at special pricing so you can take one home to send your next project!  Check out all of the fantastic product that Sterling produces by clicking here!

More Climbing Tips From Rapael Slawinski

Bill



With the ice season started and folks are getting on the ice for the first time in months- we’re trying to offer a few tips from a few of our Ice Fest Friends.  Check out these tips from Raphael Slawinski.  Raphael cut his ice climbing teeth at Grand Island and has moved on to put up some of the hardest routes in the Canadian Rockies!

Raphael Tips- Check it out here!

Attention: 2010 Petzl Nomic and Ergo Owners

Bill

It has come to our attention that the adjustment system of the GRIPREST (the lower hand rest at the bottom of the handle) on the 2010 NOMIC (U21 2) and ERGO (U22) in some cases may not stay fixed in the desired size position.


This issue concerns NOMIC and ERGO ice tools with serial numbers between 10208 and 10329 and all GRIPREST (U21 GR2) accessory parts. It does not concern the new QUARKs or the older versions of the NOMICs, QUARKs and QUARK ERGOs.


Following conversations with end users and extensive lab testing, we have determined that this problem can occur when an inward force is applied to the GRIPREST, damaging the adjustment teeth at the base of the tool’s handle that mesh with the GRIPREST (see photo). Once this damage occurs, users may lose the ability to fix the GRIPREST in the desired size position.  Petzl has developed a solution to reinforce the GRIPREST, which permanently fixes it in the position of your choice (S, M, or L). This procedure will be expedited to reduce any interruption to your climbing season. Because this solution eliminates the ability to adjust the grip’s size, we will replace your tools with redesigned versions of the NOMIC or ERGO once they are available in autumn 2011.

Warranty procedure


Anyone with a damaged NOMIC or ERGO or who has concerns about the durability of the GRIPREST adjustment system, is encouraged to <span>contact the Petzl America warranty department at returns@petzl.com</span> or the store from which they were purchased for further information about the warranty procedure. You will be provided with directions on what to do next, as well as an estimated time to modify your tools and have them returned to you.


We would like to thank the climbers that alerted us to this issue.    We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you, Paul Petzl (President), Romain Lécot (General Manager) and the entire Petzl team


Additional information pertaining to the proper use of GRIPRESTS :


As part of our analysis into the GRIPREST issue, we also came to realize that some people may have

misunderstood the proper use of the GRIPREST. In some cases, climbers place their rope over the GRIPREST while placing an ice screw or hook their harness’s belay loop over the GRIPREST to hang and rest while

working difficult moves on mixed terrain. The GRIPREST was not intended to be used in this manner and it may break if used in this way.

The strength of the GRIPREST is rated to hold 150daN (equal to 150kg or 330 pounds). When hooking your rope over the GRIPREST a climber can easily surpass this amount due to the physics of the multiplication of force in this system.

For example a person weighing 70kg (154 lbs) will exert twice this amount  (over 140kg / 308 lbs) on the GRIPREST when suspended by a rope hooked over the tool in this manner. When including the additional weight of clothing, boots, climbing gear, and any slight dynamic loading, the total force could exceed the rated strength of this GRIPREST.

The GRIPREST is only designed to support your weight when using the tool in your hands.  Any other usage is forbidden. The grips of these tools include a hole through which you can connect a carabiner for use as a suspension point.

For more info click here