New Sponsor Adidas To Send The Dynamic Duo!

September 29, 2015September 29, 2015 Bill

For the past few years we have been entertained by Ben Erdmann who recounted several amazing expeditions with his buddy Jess Roskelley. Now thanks to our new sponsor Adidas, we will have both of these amazing climbers at this years fest! The guys will be fresh off of another Patagonia expedition and will be back with fresh adventures!

Jess Roskelley has been an extreme athlete and mountain guide for half of his 30 years. He grew up in an outdoor sports family, hiking, backpacking, climbing and mountain biking throughout the west.

“My dad used to put me on his back and we would mountain bike through the Tetons, the Selkirks, and other mountain ranges looking for moose, elk and antelope,” Jess said. “He took me on many climbs as well and, as I grew older, I knew then that mountain climbing was in my blood.”

Jess was a three-sport varsity athlete throughout high school, competing in wrestling, cross-country and track, sports that developed endurance, strength and determination. He also raced mountain bikes around the Pacific Northwest and snowboarded during the winters.

Jess passed the Rainier Mountain Guides exam at age 18 and began guiding clients on Mt.Rainier. During his breaks from multiple ascents of Washington’s highest peak, he would find more challenging alpine climbs throughout the Cascades, developing a passion for more extreme mixed ice and rock routes. “Extreme alpine climbing challenges me mentally and physically,” Jess said, “There are so few activities where rigorous training and past experience are essential to making immediate and critical life and death decisions.”

In 2003, Jess reached the summit of Everest via the North Col/North Ridge Tibet route, becoming at the age of 20 the youngest American to stand on top at the time. He’s gone on to challenge peaks and routes throughout the world, focusing on unclimbed lines and other extreme alpine routes.

Ben Erdmann is an avid Alpinist and an Industrial Rope Access IRATA/SPRAT Level 3, working with rigging systems as a passion and profession. His initial introduction to recreational climbing was through frozen waterfalls, seeding his pursuit of the cold and sheer wall. Migrating his year between the extreme poles of the Western Hemisphere, he winters in Patagonia and summers in Alaska where he continues to explore the remote walls of his beloved Kichatna Spires.

His ascents in Patagonia are marked by a continuous-movement style of Alpinism, the endurance pushes. With numerous successful summits of the FitzRoy and a recent first ascent in the quiet South Marconi region, his pursuit of learning the land and the life in Chalten continues.

In Alaska his curiosity of the Kichatnas and Patagonian climbing tactic application has resulted in teaming with close friend Jess Roskelley and Kris Szilas to establish a first ascent on the East face of the Citadel at VI AI5+ M6+ 5.10R A3 in 70 hours camp-to-camp. More recently he and Roskelley established a first ascent on the NE Face of Augustin in the unfrequented Trident Glacier region of the Kichatnas.

We are beyond excited to have Adidas, first time Michigan Ice Fest sponsor, sending the amazing team of Jess and Ben to the 2016 Fest!

Michigan Ice Fest 2015 Recap

February 12, 2015 Bill

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!

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!

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.

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.

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!

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

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

2013 Michigan Ice Fest Recap

February 6, 2013February 7, 2013 Bill

The 2013 Michigan Ice Fest is in the books and 434 participants braved winter blizzard conditions to ascend on Munising Michigan for this annual gathering. Eleven different states, and six 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.

THURSDAY

The Fest started with an Introduction to Ice Course, and a Top Rope Anchor Course on Thursday where participants spent the day learning he 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 participants battled snow to get out after some of the classic lines that drop into Lake Superior along the Lakeshore Trail.

We kicked off the festival on Thursday night with the second annual “Participants Slide Show: Beers with Bill II” while enjoying a tasty beverage climbers were treated to a collection of slides submitted by Ice Fest participants and set to music. Ben Erdmann, a local climber who moved to the great state of Alaska, entertained us with a beautifully presented slide show of his climbing adventures in Alaska, Yosemite and Patagonia.

After the slide shows concluded we began to celebrate the release of a new ice climbing guide book for Munising. An Ice Climbers Guide To Munising Michigan Michigan was available for purchase, and guidebook authors Jon Jugenheimer and Bill Thompson were available to answer any questions about the book.

FRIDAY

Waking up early Friday morning with temps hovering around 11 degrees and a stiff wind blowing snow across Lake Superior, climbers hit the trails in search of ice. Several groups headed out the Lakeshore Trail, and others checking out new routes listed in the guidebook. The fest also saw an increase in rentals as many took advantage to check out gear and climb in small groups throughout the park. Three more courses, an Introduction to Ice Course instructed by Joe Josephson, a Top Rope Anchor Course as well as a Rigging and Rescue course taught by Ben Erdmann were filled and went out for a day of instruction and climbing.

Friday evenings festivities started off with a climbing social and free beer sponsored by Scarpa and Trango. We are so glad that Gold Sponsor Scarpa sent Fabrizio Zangrilli out this year to instruct and present. Fabrizio thrilled the crowd with shots and video from his days climbing and guiding throughout the world.

A first time Michigan Ice Fest athlete, Joe Josephson was welcomed into the Michigan Ice Fest family and proceeded to entertain folks with slides of routes he pioneered up in the Canadian Rockies as well as some of his recent work- the beautiful video Genesis 40 Years of Ice Climbing In Hyalite Canyon. Joe is also the organizer of the Bozeman Ice Festival– something we should all visit soon! If you missed the show check this out!

The rest of the evening you could find people browsing the booths of Bob The Mountaineer, 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. 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 Joe Josephson, Mark Wilford, Fabrizio Zangrilli, Zoe Hart, and Will Gadd.

After getting the courses set and on their way it was time to hook up demo participants with demo gear. This year the line to pick up gear was exceptionally long but once again this year all of our demo sponsors really stepped up by sending larger demo kits and everyone was able to get outfitted and get out on the ice!

The Demo area at The Curtains saw lots of first time ice climbers learning the basics on some of the routes set up. Cold temperatures and constant snow fall added to the challenge of the 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 the success of their first climbs.

After a long day of climbing, everyone converged upon Sydney’s for the Saturday evening social and free beer provided by La Sportiva and Montane. Before the shows we introduced Rachel Hahn and Madison Almquist as the 2013 Sue Nott Scholarship winners. 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. The 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. Rachel and Madison were selected from the largest group of girls ever to submit applications and were provided with free entry into the fest and the Women’s Intro To Ice Course. Super special this year, Evi Nott, Sue’s mother, flew in from Colorado to meet the girls and to climb with them over the weekend! It was a special part of the weekend for the organizers and we were so excited that Evi was able to come join our ice climbing family. Way to go girls!

8449647212_86183a9cc1_z — Evi Nott and Maddie

With a standing room only crowd, our first presentation of the evening was from Zoe Hart. A huge thank you goes out to Gold Level sponsor Patagonia for flying in Zoe from her home in Chamonix France. A fast pace show, Zoe kept folks entertained with stories of climbing in the mountains, sharing adventures with Sue Nott, and funny videos of her exploits with her husband Maxime Turgeon.

Our final presentation of the night was from Ice Fest favorite Will Gadd. A fantastic story teller, Will spoke of his family and early adventures, kayaking and paragliding, climbing ice bergs, a new adventure television show he is a “guinea pig” for, and a highlight for the crowd- ice climbing with Tim Emmett on the spray ice wall near the 463-foot Helmcken Falls in British Columbia. An amazing show if you ever get a chance to see a Will Gadd show- don’t miss it!

Missed the show? Check out this video of the incredible climbing that will is doing on spray ice!

As usual the evening concluded with the Michigan Ice Fest raffle where we gave out over $5000.00 of gear and clothing to some very excited climbers. Soft shells, belay parkas, Ice Axes, Sterling and Petzl ropes, Osprey Packs, and La Sportiva Nepal Evo ice boots were only a few of the items raffled off! A big shout out to Patagonia, La Sportiva, Mountain Hardwear, Arc Teryx, Sterling, Black Diamond, Petzl and Osprey, Montane, Fits Socks for providing such killer raffle prizes! As a side note the 2013 Michigan Ice Fest marked the second time in our history that we had a marriage proposal during the weekend- see it is true, you can fall in love at the Michigan Ice Fest! (she said yes!)

SUNDAY

More cold temps greeted our Intro to Ice and Intro to Leading participants which made for challenging 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.

New this year, our Gold Sponsor Fits Socks hooked up demo participants with brand new socks to keep their feet warm at the demo! Thanks Fits for joining us this year!

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 44 new members to the American Alpine Club, and the Access Fund 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 iachey@sportiva.com

Black Diamond tj.kolanko@bdel.com

Scarpa Brian@goaao.com

Petzl brad@pembaserves.com

Osprey Brian@goaao.com

Grivel PeterM@LIBERTYMOUNTAIN.com

Sterling Rope marketing@sterlingrope.com

FITS Socks help@fitssock.com

Mountain Hardwear BPittam@mountainhardwear.com

Salewa info@salewa.us

Montane matthuff@sport-hansa.com

Loki loki@lokiusa.com

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!

SAVE THE DATES!

ICE FEST 2014 January 30st-February 2nd

Benjamin Erdmann

September 24, 2012September 24, 2012 Bill

I call the Matanuska Valley of Alaska home, living the simple life in a cabin smaller than most folks master bedroom… though I tend to chase weather patterns across this awesome Earth (sometimes following sun and dry rock, sometimes shade and frozen smears of ice). I am 25 years old, and age quickly above 20,000ft(see photo, ha!)

You, Bill Thompson, took me ice climbing for my first time at age 15… and Ive absolutely hooked ever since. I’ve flailed and sent in the Great Range of Alaska each year since I was 18. Completely fallen in love with Patagonia and have participated in climbing trips from the far southern tip to the northern border. Last year I spent 3 months in Nepal exploring and climbing in the rarely visited north west Api Nampa region.

I have rappelled hydro electric dams, wind turbines, the Space Needle, and the pipelines in the oil fields of the North Slope in Alaska where I currently work as an Industrial Rope Access Technician, which funds these far fetched adventures.

I am happiest when life is reduced to sleeping on the ground and eating beans and rice.

Ben will be presenting a slide show of his climbing adventures Thursday night of Ice Fest!