2016 Michigan Ice Fest Is In The Books- Here Is The Recap

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The 2016 Michigan Ice Fest is in the books and 611  participants ascended on a stormy and cold Munising, Michigan for what was undoubtedly the largest gathering of ice climbers in the Midwest ever! Climbers from at least 19 different states and 3 different countries were represented this year, as participants traveled from far and wide to enjoy the camaraderie of Midwest climbers and the chance to climb the beautiful ice formations at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore!

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TUESDAY
For the first time in MIF history, we set up an exhibitor display and opened registration on Tuesday at our new headquarters, The American Legion Hall. Participants had the opportunity to shop products, interact with athletes, and talk shop with sales reps from some of the leading manufacturers in the outdoor industry. Registration was set up and again this year, our Gold Sponsor Fits Socks hooked up our early course sign ups with brand new socks to keep their feet warm during classes. Thanks Fits for joining us again this year!

Headquarters

WEDNESDAY
The festival was officially underway on Wednesday as several full courses headed out with our professional athletes.  New to the class roster this year was a Backcountry Adventure Class, which offered participants an opportunity to head out onto the lakeshore to climb above the open water of Lake Superior.  The class also provided some transportation methods unique to the UP, including snowmobiling with local legend “Singing Carl” and riding in the awesome “Forward Frank” tank provided by Roam Automotive.


Roam from Down Wind Sports on Vimeo.
Brutal winds and road-closing snow conditions did not deter many folks who were new to the Fest, as most were too excited at the chance to climb the vertical pillars of Pictured Rocks to let a little snow stand in the way. A casual climbers social on Wednesday night at the American Legion beckoned those that had climbed all day as well as those that had just arrived in Munising, and plans for more type-II fun were made for the following day.

THURSDAY
With an unrelenting storm blowing across Lake Superior, participants headed out into the elements for a full day of climbing and clinics.  With the single-digit temperatures, many visiting climbers took advantage of the multitude of belay parkas that were available to demo from Patagonia, Adidas, Arc Teryx, and Rab.

Great stories kept coming in all day of climbers hitting the ice in what some would call “spicy” conditions as the storm intensified throughout the day.  Many exposed to the harsh conditions along the lakeshore, where they took on the full force of the storm, came back with tales of white out conditions, waves crashing at their feet, and bullet proof ice.  All in all, a great adventure!Bridal Veil Falls in the storm

In the afternoon, there were two off-ice clinics offered.  The first from professional climber Carlos Buhler, who presented an interactive seminar on Expedition Planning.  It was a wonderful opportunity to learn about the logistics of planning that trip of a lifetime from one of North America’s most accomplished mountaineers.

The second seminar of the afternoon was both interesting and extremely important, as Asolo Boot representative Henry Barber led a discussion on boot design and how technical features and proper boot fit enhance warmth and climbing performance. Henry even measured and custom fit each participant during the seminar.

Our two evening slideshows highlighted our new venue, The Mather Auditorium. Scarpa athlete Scott Bennett presented beautiful slides of his first trip to the Pakistani Karakoram. With two strong and experienced partners, the team made two big first ascents: Changi Tower (6500m) and the Southwest Ridge of K6 West (7040m). Inspirational to say the least!

Arc Teryx athlete Katie Bono rounded out the evening with a show on her climbing career, living in Canmore, climbing with amazing partners and her first American Women ascent of the Vail test piece The Lightning M13.Scott Bennett presentation

We were barely 48 hours into Ice Fest and the stoke was already high!

The evening’s social kicked off with a sampling from our official beer sponsor- The Ore Dock Brewing Company.  There’s really nothing we like more after a long day of climbing than to relax with our friends and enjoy a beer. Dairyland Coffee Mile Stout- named after one of our favorite climbs, was tapped and enjoyed by many.

FRIDAY
Waking up early Friday morning in the grips of a major blizzard, climbers hit the trails in search of ice. Several groups headed out the Lakeshore Trail, while others walked, skied or snowmobiled out to the backcountry climbs. The fest also saw an increase in participants demoing gear as many took the opportunity to check out equipment and climb in small groups throughout the park.

Most clinics were filled to capacity including one of our newest offerings: the Backcountry Adventure. In addition to the new class offerings, we were fortunate to secure 14 professional athletes — almost triple the amount of previous years — to instruct our clinics and offer some amazing learning opportunities for our participants, all of which wouldn’t have been possible without our sponsors. Even with the cold temps, blowing wind and frozen hands, it seemed like everyone who came through the doors of the Legion on Friday night were all smiles and full of stoke!

New this year we added mini slide shows at the Ice Fest headquarters which offered a more intimate setting to highlight some of the recent adventures our athletes have participated in.  Angela Vanwiemeersch told of her exploits climbing rarely formed ice routes in Zion National Park and Sam Elias on Rooted– his exotic trip to climb in Lebanon.  Both shows were standing room only!Henry Barber Presentation

The Friday evening programs at Mather started off with legend Henry Barber chronicling his storied climbing career cumulating with his amazing first ascent of the Vettifossen a 900-foot frozen WI 6 waterfall in Norway.

Our final show was brought to us by our new Title Sponsor Black Diamond.  BD was kind enough to send us Dawn Glanc who mesmerized us with tales of amazing ice climbs in Greenland.

For Party1the rest of the evening back at headquarters, you could find people browsing the booths of Mountaineer Bob, American Alpine Club, socializing with other climbers from around the country, sampling Black Diamond Brown Ale from the Ore Dock, introducing themselves to the athletes and reps that were scattered around the room or, of course, talking about the crazy weather that soon became the common denominator of all Ice Fest 2016 stories.

 

SATURDAY
Demo4 - Scott BennettAs usual, we got the ball rolling early with equipment hand out for Ice Fest courses. One of the unique aspects of the Ice Fest is the opportunity to take a course — whether entry-level or advanced — from one the most accomplished climbers in the country. Sent to the festival from our Gold Level sponsors, these athletes work with our participants to give them the tools to be successful. Talented, patient, funny and some of the nicest people in the industry- these climbers are what make Michigan Ice Fest so darn fun (and welcoming!)

The weather remained as a top conversation starter as the white-out blizzard shut down M28 for nearly an entire day, and even Sand Point Road for Friday evening. While most of the country was experiencing “El Nino”  we were experiencing “El Tovio”….a real, UP winter that is.  Logistical problems aside, everone got to their appointed classes and proved, once again, that Midwest climbers are a hardy bunch.

Demo Wall 2The demo area at The Curtains saw lots of first time ice climbers learning the basics on some of the many routes that were set up. Cold temperatures and high winds greeted the participants but most climbers were able to top out on their first climbs. Hundreds of climbers were challenged throughout the day with a variety of difficult climbs set up, as morning excitement to get on the ice quickly gave way to afternoon exhaustion that can only come from climbing hard in single-digit temps and Lake Superior gusts.

With a long day of climbing — for some, their third or fourth in a row — everyone converged upon Mather Auditorium for the highly anticipated Saturday night presentation by Tim Emmett and the World Premier of the Michigan Ice Film. Prior to the shows we introduced our 2016 Sue Nott Scholarship winners. Down Wind Sports has created the Sue Nott Scholarship with the purpose of promoting, inspiring, and introducing young females to the sport of ice climbing. The girls had to submit a letter regarding why they wanted to participate, a letter of recommendation from someone other then their parents, and their report card. Three girls were selected this year (triple the amount of previous years!) and were given free entry into the fest, as well as a spot in the Women’s Intro To Ice course. Recognizing these young athletes in front of hundreds of Ice Fest attendees is always one of our favorite parts of the whole weekend- way to go ladies!

With a packed auditorium of over 700 people Tim Emmett started the evening off with an entertaining presentation of base jumping and ice climbing.  The crowd was in awe as Tim described what it was like to be able to climb at Helmcken Falls, BC, where a 500 foot waterfall sprays the underside of a gargantuan cave, forming some of the wildest ice formations that we’ve ever seen. Inspirational, funny and motivational — if you ever get the chance to see Tim present- GO!

Finally, the weekend’s most anticipated event was cued up, as Aaron Petersen presented his labor of love, the Michigan Ice Film , to a sold out crowd! Three years of filming culminated into the world premier of the film, which was set against the crashing waves of an inland sea, and packed with humor and action from some of the biggest names in climbing alongside a cast of hardy locals. It is the untold story of one of the world’s largest concentrations of climbable ice in a scrappy corner of the American Midwest: Munising, Michigan. For a lot of people this was the highlight of the weekend.  A big congratulations goes out to Aaron and all of the people who devoted so much time and energy to making us proud to be not only Michiganders, but Midwest ice climbers.  Haven’t seen it yet?   Click the link above to see this feature length film!

After the show the excited crowd gathered on the city shuttles and headed over to the Legion. With an incredibly packed headquarters the evening concluded with the now famous Michigan Ice Fest raffle where we gave out over $7000.00 of gear and clothing to some very excited climbers. Soft shells, belay parkas, ropes, crampons, parkas, packs, tools, screws, and ice boots were only a few of the items raffled off to the biggest Saturday night crowd we’ve ever had!

SUNDAY
The classic UP weather finally broke, the highway opened and a wee bit of sunshine warmed climbers as they headed out to Sunday classes and the demo.  The effects of climbing hard all day Saturday and a late night of socializing must have taken its toll on climbers as the demo area was very laid back all day on Sunday. This afforded climbers their choice of routes for most of the day.

Asleep on a duffelWith all the changes we’ve seen this year and with over 100 new registrants, 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 54 new members to the American Alpine Club, and exposed hundreds of first-time climbers to the sport of ice climbing — not to mention all the professional athletes who were able to experience the cold and masochistic world of Midwest ice climbing for the first time.

As you look back on your Ice Fest experience we ask you to think about the companies and organizations that you saw this weekend- and if you liked what you saw or tried on during the weekend we encourage you to buy local. Buying local in the Midwest supports the reps that came, and in turn helps to keep the Michigan Ice Fest alive and healthy. Feeling some retrospective remorse for not buying those mountain boots? Down Wind Sports is still offering the Ice Fest discount for the next week. Give them a call at 906-226-7112.

We also want to thank all those who volunteered their time, energy, and hard work throughout the weekend. Without these folks Ice Fest would simply not happen.

The reason our event is so successful is because of the assistance behind the scene 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 and their support for the Michigan Ice Fest!

Patagonia
Allison.Allen@patagonia.com

La Sportiva
erussell@sportiva.com

Black Diamond
tyler.willcutt@bdel.com

Scarpa
mark@scarpa.com

Petzl
dburleson@petzl.com

Grivel
peterm@libertymountain.com

Sterling Rope
marketing@sterlingrope.com

FITS Socks
help@fitssock.com

Asolo
cbf106@asolo-usa.com

Camp/Cassin
glen@camp-usa.com

Lowa
brmreps@aol.com

Dry Ice Tools
Ben@furnace-industries.com

The North Face
abrown@lakeshorereps.com
mrobbins@lakeshorereps.com

Arc Teryx
justin.sweeny@arcteryx.com

Mountain Hardwear
noklobzija@mountainhardwear.com

Adidas
dkay@agron.com

And finally we can’t thank our athletes enough.  Over the years they have shared their expertise and knowledge to hundreds of Michigan Ice Fest participants giving them a solid foundation to help them to enjoy the sport we love and to help keep them safe while out climbing.  The 2016 lineup was as strong as it has ever been- to the following we are forever indebt. Many of these athletes are guides and would love to see Michigan Ice Fest participants in the future.  Want another adventure?  Be sure to click on their links to see where they might be able to take you!

Henry Barber
Scott Bennett
Katie Bono
Carlos Buhler
Anne Gilbert Chase
Karsten Delap
Sam Elias
Tim Emmett
Dawn Glanc
Kim Hall
Anna Pfaff
Jim Shimberg
Angela VanWiemeersch
Mark Wilford
Jeff Witt
Heidi Wirtz

Thank you so much for being part of the Michigan Ice Fest this year! The festival is a gathering of our tribe and we are so thankful that climbers from all over the Midwest continue to come up and celebrate everything that is Michigan Ice. We hope you had an enjoyable experience and you can be sure that we are already working on bringing you the best Ice Fest in 2017! Be sure to keep up with what is happening with the Michigan Ice Fest through our blog at michiganicefest.com or on our facebook page!

NEXT YEAR’S DATES!

ICE FEST February 14-19th 2017

Right Here And Now

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Outside a small diner in Munising, Michigan, a group of women stand in a small
circle, shuffling their feet and asking each other how their days have been. Some of the
women appear to know each other, but it’s obvious that most of them have no idea what
they’ve gotten themselves into.

A shuttle bus comes to a stop in front of the group, and the sole professional ice
climber among them (and instructor for the day) Anna Pfaff yells “alright ladies, lets
rock! Or, um, ice!” One by one — daypacks and borrowed dry ropes in tow — the 15 women from Wisconsin and California and Michigan file onto the bus, cramming into corners and getting more comfortable with each other with each invasion of personal space.
Once on the bus, Anna introduces herself and gives the women a quick lesson in crampons and appropriate layering. She finds one woman she hasn’t spoken to yet and
asks her what her favorite place in the world is, her go-to conversation starter,
something to bond over. “Alaska” the woman says, unzipping her neon snowmobiling jacket to show Anna her sweatshirt, ‘The Last Frontier’ written across it in bold letters. Anna smiles and nods before adding that she also loves Alaska.

The women are dropped off at a road-side trailhead as quickly as they were picked up. They take off up the trail in a single-file line, immediately under cover of birch and oak trees as they make their way to the frozen waterfall that will be their classroom for the day, making small talk all the while as everyone gets acquainted. After receiving a secondary crash course in crampon and ice axe operation, the women head down a steep bank to the bottom of the climbs — two nearly identical waterfalls, frozen solid by negative Upper Peninsula temperatures, surrounded on both sides by sandstone cliffs that flake off handfuls of sand when brushed against. From a vantage point above it, the climbing area resembles a theater, as the visible stratum of the sandstone walls all end on those two focal points — 40-foot-tall, vertical flanks of ice, and 15 women pacing at their bases, some wondering how on earth they’re expected to climb up these things. It takes only a few minutes before the women are an opera of positive reinforcement, a ballet not of flats and tights but of crampons and ice axes, each performing their own solo as they find their way to the top of a waterfall in front of 14 new friends.

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This is Michigan Ice Fest. Most of these women haven’t been on ice before, though three or four have climbed on Rainier or Kilimanjaro or any number of other mountains around the world and have all somehow ended up in Munising, Michigan for the annual festival
celebrating freezing temperatures, ice climbing and a motley reunion of some of the country’s best climbers and mountaineers.

Twelve of the 15 women in the day’s beginner ice climbing class are staying together in a rental, many of them not knowing the others before this weekend. How they all ended up here is serendipitous at best — Gina convinced Tina to come, Tina went to college with Marge and invited her along, Marge brought Susie, who brought her workout partner Laura, who knew none of these women before yesterday morning. Etcetera etcetera, 12 times over. Laura, who is from Wisconsin, wasn’t too hard pressed to find a reason to tag
along on the U.P. girl’s weekend. Laura lost her husband in July 2014, and finding a way
to fill the void hadn’t been easy. “The more Susie talked about it, the more intrigued I got. I said ‘Sign me up, I need an adventure, I need to go do this,’” Laura says through tears, her friend Susie sitting beside her, fitting her crampons. Susie has her own reasons for attending Ice Fest; Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis a few years prior, she now wears bright pink, heart-shaped sunglasses while talking about how she just ran her first full marathon after completing half marathons all over the world. In 2011, she, Gina (who also suffers from MS) and Tina climbed Mount Kilimanjaro to raise awareness of MS and Parkinson’s disease.“Gina and I both made it to the top,” Susie says, beaming with pride four years after the fact. “It was so cool. Tina was our companion climber, we were with 10 people who had MS, and four people with Parkinson’s. “It was so life-changing, I can’t even begin.”

Anna, the instructor for the climbing clinic that brought these women to Munising, is a La Sportiva athlete and a world-class ice climber. Once they’ve made their way to the base of the climbs for the day, Anna gathers the women to talk form where the overhanging sandstone cliff forms a sort of cave: Do this, not that. Be a triangle, not a square. Step, step, pick. No chicken wings. Push your hips closer to the wall. Perfect. The most daring ladies — Laura included among them — volunteer to go first but still approach the belayer with hesitance. This is the embodiment of the things Laura didn’t think she could ever do, and it’s becoming more and more real as her belayer ties a figure eight and tells her to ‘climb on.’ She looks back timidly, as if waiting for someone to object to this crazy thing, but eventually she looks up at the wall. Tied in, axes in hand, feet shuffling to stay warm, she throws an axe into the ice and looks up.

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Ice Fest has offered women’s climbing clinics for years, though almost no women attended the event in its humble beginnings from 1991 until the mid-90s. Anna was the only female athlete to attend in 2015, out of a group of professional mountaineers that included Barry Blanchard, Will Mayo, Raphael Slawinski, Mark Wilford and Ben Erdmann. There were nearly 500 registrations in 2015, Ice Fest’s biggest year to date. Just under half of those registrations were women. Among the attending women was a college student studying aerospace engineering at Purdue and others who were lawyers, professionals, athletes, widows and teenagers. Sixteen-year-old Leigha Woelffer got her first taste of climbing over the weekend as the recipient of the Sue Nott Scholarship, which provides a local girl under
the age of 17 the opportunity to attend Ice Fest and take a women’s clinic in order to inspire and introduce them to the sport of ice climbing. “When I got the acceptance letter, I was so happy and was counting down the days until I could go to Ice Fest,” Leigha says in between climbs. “I already can’t wait for next year. This will become part of my life after this, and if I hadn’t gotten this scholarship, who knows if I would have ever had the chance to do it.” Now that she’s here, the other women in the group have taken Leigha in as their
own for the weekend, growing the motley group one burgeoning ice climber at a time.
Susie jokes that she has become her adoptive mother for the day, and takes lots of
photos while offering words of encouragement to Leigha. Tina chimes in that Leigha has
acquired 13 other adoptive moms this weekend, which, she laughs, “must be a complete
nightmare for her.”

At first, Laura tries gently pushing her crampons into the ice with little success. Three or four tries later, the aggression comes. Now she’s kicking with full force, chipping off chunks of blue ice with every swing of her foot or pick of her axes. Anna continues to preach form between shouts of encouragement , while the others keep morale high with intermittent reminders of “get it girl!” and “you rock! Or, um, ice!”As Leigha gets tied in, Laura finishes the climb and is lowered to the snow once again — standing, finally, at the base of the ice, she is embraced by Susie and begins to “I wish he could have been here,” she whispers.

Later that night, after a slideshow by professional mountaineer Barry Blanchard, Susie reflects on that moment, and the many reasons she convinced Laura to come along to climb some ice on Lake Superior’s south shore. “When something so traumatic happens in your world, sometimes you need other women to pull you out of that,” Susie says after winning a raffle for a new down jacket. Laura also had some luck on the last night of Ice Fest, receiving the grand prize for a brand-new pair of mountaineering boots that she’ll use when she inevitably returns to Ice Fest next year. She mentions that she’s already planning a trip back to Munising before the winter’s over, before the ice melts and the temperatures rise once again.

Laura’s favorite travel destination in the world is Alaska. She wears a sweater under her jacket with “The Last Frontier” in scripted font, a tiny brown pine tree emblazoned next to it. She went to Alaska with her husband. They once climbed into and out of the Grand Canyon together. They kayaked, biked and did triathlons. And when her husband Alan died two years ago, Laura elected to take her now shattered life day by day. Hour by hour. Moment by moment. “I had absolutely no idea what my life path was going to look like. I’ve just been taking it one moment at a time, not looking too far out, keeping my focus on right here and now.”

That refined focus led her to Munising, Michigan. It led to throwing sharp objects into clear blue ice surrounded by sandstone cliffs. It led her to 13 women she had never met but who have already convinced her to return to Munising later in the winter for a few more attempts on the ice. It led her to Ice Fest, and to strength that can only be found at the top of a frozen waterfall.

Amanda Monthei is a freelance writer and an employee at Down Wind Sports in Marquette, Michigan. Whether by writing or selling gear, she enjoys making action sports more accessible for those who wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity or desire to try them. More of her writing can be found at www.amandamonthei.com

Fresh Off An Expedition And Ready For The Fest- Anna Pfaff Returns!

unnamedAfter making her first appearance at Ice Fest last year, we had several ladies request that we invite Anna back- and now thanks to CAMP USA Anna is coming back!  We are so thankful to CAMP USA for making this happen!

Anna Pfaff 

Originally from Ohio, Anna discovered climbing in Indian Creek, Utah when she was attending nursing school in Colorado.  While she loves all types of climbing, from bouldering to big walls, Anna quickly fell in love with the mountains of Colorado, and the complexity of alpine, traditional and ice climbing.  Anna has been climbing since 2003, and has completed multiple expeditions to the Karakorum Range of Pakistan, Himalaya of Tibet and India, the Tian Shan of Kyrgyzstan, the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy (Colombia), and the Peruvian, Bolivian and Patagonian Andes, to include several first ascents.  In the process, she had been nominated twice to the preliminary selection for the Piolet d’Or.  Anna is an athlete with Camp USA, La Sportiva, and Maxim Ropes.

Visit her blog at www.climbingmadness.blogspot.com

 

Photo Karsten Delap

Michigan Ice Fest 2015 Recap

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The 2015 Michigan Ice Fest is in the books and 492 participants ascended on Munising Michigan for what was the largest gathering of ice climbers in the Midwest ever!  Climbers from 13 different states, and two different countries were represented this year with participants coming to enjoy the camaraderie of Midwest climbers and the chance to climb the beautiful ice formations at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and Grand Island!

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THURSDAY

The festival got underway on Thursday with Introduction to Ice Courses, and a Top Rope Anchor Course where participants spent the day learning the tricks of the trade out at The Curtains. Many folks new to the Fest were excited to get out on the ice and a chance to climb the vertical pillars that are so common in the park.  Other early arrivers jumped at the chance to get out on the Lakeshore Trail and take advantage of the great ice conditions.   Sunny and mild temperatures made for an enjoyable day of cragging!

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Thursday night with a cold brew in hand, climbers were treated to a collection of slides submitted by Ice Fest participants and set to music, during the third annual  “Participants Slide Show: Beers with Bill III”.  After the show many hung around Sydney’s hatching plans for an early morning departure and dreams of climbing the big routes along Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

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FRIDAY

Waking up early Friday morning with temps hovering around 20 degrees, climbers hit the trails in search of ice.  Several groups headed out the Lakeshore Trail, and others walking, skiing or snowmobiling out to Grand Island  The fest also saw an increase in demos as many took advantage to check out gear and climb in small groups throughout the park.  Introduction to Ice Courses, a Women’s Into to Ice, a Top Rope Anchor Course as well as a Rigging and Rescue course were filled to capacity and went out for a day of instruction and climbing.

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Friday evenings programs started off with a climbing social and free beer sponsored by Salewa.  Exciting news of a new guidebook coming to the Canadian side of Lake Superior and a short slide show on climbs in the Agawa Canyon area started off the evening’s festivities.  The first presenter originally from Marquette, was Ben Erdmann and now a proud climbing bum.  Fresh off the mountains of Patagonia, Ben entertained the crowd with shots of his adventures.  We are so proud of Ben and what he has accomplished in his climbing career!

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We are so happy that Title Sponsor La Sportiva sent Will Mayo out for a second straight year to instruct and present.  For the last few years Will has been literally on fire putting up and climbing some of the hardest mixed routes in North America.  Friday evenings presentation was highlighted by Will’s trip to Alaska with Josh Wharton – the two completed a new route on Huntington, Scorched Granite (4,200′, M7 AI6), just two days after leaving home in Colorado!

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The rest of the evening you could find people browsing the booths of  Mountaineer Bob, The Access Fund /American Alpine Club, socializing with other climbers from around the country, introducing themselves to the athletes and reps,  and heading over to the Down Wind Sports booth looking to score a few deals!

 

SATURDAY

As usual we got the ball rolling early with equipment hand out for Ice Fest Courses.  One of the unique aspects of the Ice Fest is the opportunity of taking a course from one the  most accomplished climbers in the country.  Sent to the festival from one of our Gold Level sponsors, these athletes work with our participants to give them the tools to be successful.  Talented, patient, funny and some of the nicest guys in the industry- these climbers are what make Michigan Ice Fest so darn fun!  Two Intro to Ice, Lead climbing, Women’s Intro to Ice and the Kids courses all filled up fast and participants were treated to instruction provided by Will Mayo, Mark Wilford, Ben Erdmann, Anna Pfaff, Raphael Slawinski, and Barry Blanchard.  Again this year, our Gold Sponsor Fits Socks hooked up course participants with brand new socks to keep their feet warm during classes!  Thanks Fits for joining us again this year!

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DEMOS

Year after year the leading manufactures of ice climbing gear and clothing step up to the plate and send loads of demo gear to our festival for participants to “try before buying”.  We really appreciate the effort and the amount of gear these companies send to help ensure that the demo is a success and that we are able to outfit many first time climbers.  Besides our long time sponsors of the demo- Sterling Ropes, Black Diamond, Petzl, Scarpa, Salewa, Asolo, Camp, Cassin, Grivel- Liberty Mountain, Patagonia, Hopp Outdoors, University of Minnesota, and the Ridge Roamers.  Saturday morning saw long lines of participants winding through Sydney’s waiting to score their gear.  It was close but we outfitted nearly 275 participants with the latest ice gear!  We thank everyone for their patience and we are working to secure more demo gear for next years event.

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Gold Level sponsors Black Diamond and Patagonia graciously supplied their Stance Belay Parkas to the Michigan Ice Fest participants to keep the participants warm and happy throughout the weekend.

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The Demo area at The Curtains saw lots of first time ice climbers learning the basics on some of the many routes that were set up.  Mild temperatures and a light snowfall greeted the participants but determination and grit got most climbers to top out on their first climbs.  Hundreds of climbers were challenged throughout the day with a variety of difficult climbs set up, and excitement filled the air as climbers celebrated their success.

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After a long day of climbing, everyone converged upon Sydney’s for the Saturday evening social and free beer provided by Dry Ice Tools.  During the shows we introduced Leigha as the 2015 Sue Nott Scholarship winner.  Down Wind Sports has created the Sue Nott Scholarship with the purpose to promote, inspire, and introduce young females to the sport of ice climbing. Girls had to submit a letter of why they wanted to participate, a letter of recommendation from someone other then their parents, and their report card.  Leigha was selected from the applications and was provided with free entry into the fest and the Women’s Intro To Ice Course.   It is always one of our favorite parts of the whole weekend- way to Leigha!

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With a standing room only crowd, our first presentation of the evening was from Cold Clear Cinema on a new film project called Michigan Ice. Producer Aaron Peterson premiered the trailer and answered questions on the film.  Be sure to make it to the 2016 Michigan Ice Fest as we will have the world premiere of this beautiful film!
 
 
 
 
Raphael Slawinski followed with a wonderful show highlighting the spectacular climbing in the Canadian Rockies as well as his amazing climb of K6 in Pakastan.  A plethora of amazing ice and mixed routes filled the screen as Raphael described various routes he has established and climbed over the years.   A huge thank you goes out to our Title Sponsor Black Diamond for hooking us up with a class act like Raphael.
 
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Our final presentation of the night was from Ice Fest favorite Barry Blanchard.  One of North America’s top alpinists, Barry read excerpts from his new book The Calling: A Life Rocked by Mountains.  Entertaining, funny, and poetic, Barry never disappoints delivering a great show.  Questions and a book signing followed this amazing show.

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As usual the evening concluded with the Michigan Ice Fest raffle where we gave out over $6000.00 of gear and clothing to some very excited climbers.  Soft shells, belay parkas,  Sterling Ropes, Cassin crampons, Mountain Hardwear parkas, Patagonia packs and jackets, GoPro, Petzl Nomics and La Sportiva ice boots were only a few of the items raffled off!

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SUNDAY

More mild temps greeted our Intro to Ice  and Intro to Leading participants which made for comfortable classes all day long.  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 for most of the day.

 

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 34 new members to the American Alpine Club, and the Access Fund  and exposed hundreds of first time climbers to the sport of ice climbing.

As you look back on your Ice Fest experience we ask you to think about the companies and organizations that you saw this weekend- and if you liked what you saw or tried during the weekend we encourage you to buy local.  Buying local in the Midwest supports the Reps that came, and in turn helps to keep the Michigan Ice Fest alive and healthy.  Having remorse for not buying those mountain boots?  Down Wind Sports is still offering the Ice Fest discount for the next week.  Give them a call at 906-226-7112.

We also want to thank all those who volunteered their time, energy, and hard work throughout the weekend.  Without these folks Ice Fest would simply not happen.  A big shout out to  Maddog Lynch, Mario Molin, Linda Wappner, Bryan DeAgustine,  Neil Poglese, the Schneiderhan’s, Ian Hahn, Colten Morre, Alec Berghoef

 

The reason our event is so successful is because of the assistance behind the scene 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                       dixiemarree@patagonia.com   Jimmy.Hopper@patagonia.com

La Sportiva                  erussell@sportiva.com

Black Diamond            Holly.Merriman@bdel.com

Scarpa                                mark@scarpa.com

Petzl                               james@figure8sales.com        codette@petzl.com

Grivel                               peterm@libertymountain.com

Sterling Rope                 marketing@sterlingrope.com

FITS Socks                       help@fitssock.com

Salewa                               info@salewa.us   nrgsales1@gmail.com

Asolo                                 cbf106@asolo-usa.com

Camp USA                      glen@camp-usa.com

 

 

 

Thank you so much for being part of the Michigan Ice Fest this year!  Be sure to keep up with what is happening with the Michigan Ice Fest through our blog at michiganicefest.com or on our facebook page!

 

NEW DATES!

ICE FEST 2016 February 11-14th

Anna Pfaff

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We are tremendously excited to announce that Anna Pfaff has joined our stellar lineup of instructors at this years Ice Fest! We are so thankful to CAMP USA for making this happen,  See ya soon Anna!

Anna Pfaff 

Originally from Ohio, Anna discovered climbing in Indian Creek, Utah when she was attending nursing school in Colorado.  While she loves all types of climbing, from bouldering to big walls, Anna quickly fell in love with the mountains of Colorado, and the complexity of alpine, traditional and ice climbing.  Anna has been climbing since 2003, and has completed multiple expeditions to the Karakorum Range of Pakistan, Himalaya of Tibet and India, the Tian Shan of Kyrgyzstan, the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy (Colombia), and the Peruvian, Bolivian and Patagonian Andes, to include several first ascents.  In the process, she had been nominated twice to the preliminary selection for the Piolet d’Or.  Anna is an athlete with Camp USA, La Sportiva, and Maxim Ropes.

Visit her blog at www.climbingmadness.blogspot.com

 

Photo Karsten Delap

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT- PRESENTER CHANGES!

 

 

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Due to some unforeseen circumstances Kyle Dempster and Doug Robinson will not be able to attend the 2015 Michigan Ice Fest.  While we are disappointed that the guys won’t be able to make it this year we will most certainly see them in Michigan next year!  Thanks to some scrambling and hard work by Jon Jugenheimer of Black Diamond, and Brett Merlin of CAMP USA, we are very excited to announce that Raphael Slawinski  and Anna Pfaff will be joining us as instructors/presentors!

 

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Raphael Slawinski

I got into climbing late, in my mid-twenties. And maybe it was for the best, as I’m still excited about it more than twenty years later. It was moving away from the Canadian Rockies to the flatlands of Chicago, where I went to grad school, which got me into climbing. There were no mountains to scramble, so I started rock and ice climbing on small Midwestern cliffs. These days I’m comfortably settled back in Calgary, on the doorstep of the Rockies. Fortunately my job as a physics professor leaves me lots (but never enough!) time to play in my favorite mountain range.

Picture1It’s a good thing I like winter, because it’s really, really long here. There’s so much you can do: ice, mixed, ski … and sometimes, when the motivation’s high and avy hazard low, even winter alpine. Don’t get me wrong though, I love our summers too. High in the shadows of a big limestone north face, looking down on sunlit glaciers and forests far below, is one of the best places I can imagine being.

Ten years ago I discovered the great peaks of the Pakistani Karakoram. There’s something among those giant pyramids of granite and ice, rising above arid, brown valleys, that I haven’t found anywhere else. Whatever it is, it’s drawn me back time and again.

You can check out all things Raphael at his blog by clicking here!

 

Raphael is being sent to Michigan Ice by our Gold Sponsor Black Diamond!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Anna Pfaff

Anna grew up in Ohio and started climbing when she moved out west in hery early twenties.  Some of her earliest memories of climbing include routes like the Emmons – Winthrop on Mount Rainier, Washington, the Salathe on El Capitan, Yosemite with Jean Readle, the Beckey-Chouinard in The Bugaboos, Canada. She has also climbed and ice-climbed in some of the most spectacular locations on earth. From Patagonia, Kyrgyzstan, Tibet, Pakistan, the Himalaya’s.  More info on Anna to come but in the meantime check out her blog here!

Anna is being sent to Michigan Ice by our Gold Sponsor CAMP USA!

 

UPDATE PRESENTATION SCHEDULE

Thursday

TBA

 

Friday

Ben Erdmann

Raphael Slawinski

 

Saturday

Will Mayo

Barry Blanchard