The Michigan Ice Fest

There were still green leaves on the trees when I signed us up for the Michigan Ice Fest last year. After having a successful time there in February of 2017, we both felt it was a no brainer to attend again this year.

The Amphitheater PC-JDSTYLOS

The MIF may be a bit out of the way for a lot of climbers, but that doesn't seem to deter anyone. Hundreds of our small community come from all of the country to get on some of the famous ice pillars that the upper peninsula is known for. With this in the back of our minds, we decided to head to Munising a week in advance to get on some ice before the crowds arrived.




We drove the 1,283 mi from Bozeman to Munising in a long two day push. We overnighted (in the car) in North Dakota, where temperatures lingered around -16 degrees Fahrenheit. After two days of driving, we were itching to get on some ice. The morning after driving, we did not hesitate to put on our climbing gear and start hiking along the lake shore.

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The entire hike we didn't see another climber, a rarity it seemed since last year the trails were well used. We had a general idea of where some of the ice would be, and we knew that the likelihood of finding ice would be high. If you find a small stream above a cliff, you're bound to find an icy oasis below.




It didn't take us long to find our first objective. We hiked down into a small gulley and quickly set up a rappel. I peered below my feet to find a pillar that had no evidence of human contact in quite some time. With cold temperatures the ice was hard and brittle. I went to flick my tool into the ice and my tool harshly bounced back at me. I tried again, only to have the ice break away in protest. This was no Hyalite Canyon ice, where every tool was placed and greeted by sticky ice. Michigan was going to make you work to climb these pillars.

Sweet Mother Moses PC-JDSTYLOS

Joe and I both climbed a couple of times before venturing along the bottom of the cliffs to explore the ice formations. From above, you can’t see much of what is down below. So we took advantage of our location and admired the ice from a different perspective.




The next day we moseyed out of bed, and walked out to a small formation called Twin Falls. We got the chance to hangout with some other climbers that were also here for the fest. Though this climb wasn’t very tall, both Joe and I started working on our climbing technique and more importantly our leading. Leading on ice is a completely different story than leading on rock. With the chance of breaking your ankles and worse in the case of a fall, you do your best to never put yourself in a position to fall. So on top rope, Joe and I placed screws and practiced clipping the rope, perfecting the essential skills.

Our Entry for The Michigan Ice Fest Photo Contest... The Amphitheater at night.
Stay tuned for more details!
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Last year when we arrived in Michigan, on our first day of climbing we met some climbers who we spent the day with. Since then we followed each other on facebook and when I saw that they were in town getting on some ice, I was quick to reach out and ask if they wanted to meet up. So on our third day of being in Michigan the TuTu crew, Joe and I walked the mile across the east channel of Lake Superior to Grand Island. Ice flowed from one end of the cliff to the other, and formed massive pillars. Endless amounts of climbing was to be had.

East Channel of Grand Island
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The wind came across the lake with a vengeance and we sought shelter in a large sandstone cave. A few guys from their crew set up ropes and we all took turns running laps on the ice. With a -14F wind chill, all I wanted to do was to get on the ice to stay warm, as ironic as that sounds. Each time I climbed, I felt like I was chopping away to find good placements with my tools, and was constantly having to shake the blood back into my hands. With Lake Superior behind me, and with the pillar I was climbing framed by ice daggers, it made a for a surreal setting. We all took turns on the cie, some wearing tutu’s and all of us cheering each other on to make it to the top.

Grand Island PC-JDSTYLOS

As the day progressed, the weather shifted and the wind on the lake got more intense, and the temperature dropped. We opted to make the trek back across the lake mid afternoon. It was hard to see where we were going, as the wind whipped spindrift into our faces. With a good navigator at the front of the group, we made it back with no issues. After a fun day on the ice, we said our goodbyes and were already talking about trying to meet up again for more climbing next year.

Yes.. that is me climbing in a tutu!
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The first few days we were here we had been making the car home, and of course settled in quickly (even with below 0 temperatures). Before we arrived in Michigan we decided to book an AirBNB for later in the week and found one with the Midwest Mountaineering crew. As much as Ruby is wonderful and has given us a place to sleep, having a real house and bed while the temperatures dwindled well below freezing was beyond enjoyable. We stayed the rest of our time in Michigan at the house, with good people.

Grand Island PC-JDSTYLOS

With such success on Grand Island the day before, we decided to head to the west shore on the other side of the island. Singing Carl, a well known local (especially within the climbing community) gives climbers snowmobile rides out to the island. He drove up and offered us a ride along with a few others. We climbed into sleds behind the snowmobile and tried to keep our breakfast in our stomachs as we were violently shaken all the way across the channel to the island. After we got off, we said thank you and hiked around to find the ice. Similar to Sandpoint, you can’t see much of the ice below you. We took the chance and hiked down to the lake shore and found something that looked fairly interesting. From the shore, the climb was about 175 feet long, so we had to climb up a bit to do a top rope belay. We managed to get some good climbing in and got the chance to practice some belaying from above. Unlike a lot of the ice we had been climbing on prior to this, this ice was wet and fairly sun dried. You had to break a lot of the ice away to find the good stuff. After we climbed we hiked out to meet up with Carl and get a ride back to town.

Singing Carl
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Along with the climbing, the Michigan Ice Fest offers great presentations from professional athletes. Those presentations had started the night before. Early in the week they started with small, and personal presentations at the school before moving onto the bigger auditorium later in the week.




When I signed us up for the ice fest last fall, I also signed us up for an Intermediate Ice class. We met up with our class and teachers at the school before heading out to the ice AKA the schoolroom. One of our instructors, Anna Pfaff recommended a pair of North Face pants to me via instagram and asked if i was the “pant girl from instagram” when we met! When we arrived to the ice, our group and the intro to leading group joined up to form one large class. There was a bit of a mix up as to which class was suppose to be on which ice. Though it was a bit of a large group, it worked out well. We got the chance to listen to multiple pro athletes teach, including Anna Pfaff, Jon Jugenheimer, Jesse Huey and Colten Moore. We were a bit more advanced than most of our fellow climbers in our class. But the chance to spend an entire day watching others climb, learning about screw placements, and getting the chance to climb and get some critique was well worth it.

Anna Pfaff and Jon showing us how to work on foot technique
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We made it back to headquarters and spent that evening watching a presentation put on by Jesse Huey. Along with giving a presentation, he came up to the stage with a pair of ice tools in his hands. He offered to give the person who could come up to the stage, in their underwear, and plank the longest a new set of tools! People did not hesitate. While he talked about some of his accomplishments people shook with fatigue. After what seemed like 15 plus minutes the winner was announced... in his underwear… on stage…. but hey- he got new tools!

Gotta work for those tools! PC-JDSTYLOS

We took advantage of the AirBNB the next day and took a rest day, barely leaving the couch and watching the olympics. After climbing so many days in a row our bodies were in need of a day where we did nothing.




That night though, we headed back to headquarters where the largest of the presentations were happening and the famous gear raffle. We listened to Sasha Digiullian and Angela Vanwiemeersch talk about their own experience climbing in the UP. After them, Aaron Mulkey came up and gave us a great presentation on first ascents all throughout Cody, Wyoming. Both talks were inspirational and did not fail to light the fire to go out and do cool things.

Inspirational ladies! PC-JDSTYLOS

The one advantage to the MIF raffle, is the fact that everyone gets the same chance to win. If you sign up, you get only ONE ticket, instead of being able to buy as many as you please. Even with the same chance as everyone else, both of us came up short and didn’t win.




We signed up for the American Alpine club again, where we got to be apart of the raffle for that, where I won a belt buckle and Joe won a ice climbing book! We walked over to the 387 and danced with a bunch of climbers, and enjoyed the fireworks to wrap up a good evening.




The night after we had our class, Jon Jugenheimer had pulled us aside and asked if Joe and I wanted to join him and his wife on Sunday for a day of climbing on Grand Island. We did our best to keep our cool, but of course were beyond excited to get the chance to go climb with a well known athlete.

Our ride... PC-JDSTYLOS

We met up with Jon, his wife Liz and a couple of their friends on Sunday morning for half a days worth of climbing. There was a bit of a hold up for transportation and as we all started to walk across the frozen lake, a yellow corvette of an airboat pulled up and welcomed us inside. The company that makes these boats is called 1000 Island Airboats. They consist of a regular looking boat frame with a large fan on the back. With 16 layers of fiberglass, they are incredibly light, and have the ability to skim across ice and water... or both! So when we were flying across the ice, it was hard to not keep the smile off my face. We searched for the ice from the inside of the heated boat and all piled out when we found something promising.

Grand Island PC-JDSTYLOS

The better climbers lead the routes and Joe and I watched trying to take the exceptional climbing in. By the time we both hopped on the ropes, I was quick to realize that some of this ice would be the hardest ice climbing I had ever done. The route that Jon had lead, was slightly overhanging. I walked up to the climb to see the sky disappear and to be filled with ice. I climbed and struggled, but managed to get to the top. We walked down the lake for some more climbing. The next climb felt easy compared to the overhanging route we all had just climbed and we finished the day on a very vertical column, that pumped out your forearms and pressured you for perfect technique.

Jon leading
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All in all it was a surreal experience. There really isn’t enough thanks to go out to Jon for letting us tag along and letting us get some climbing in on some ice that we would have otherwise not been able to climb. Not sure why he chose us, but we sure are grateful and hope to get some more climbs in with them in the future!

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After our last day of climbing in Munising we stayed one more night at the BNB and hung out with our roommates. The next morning we left before the sun came up and drove towards Massachusetts.

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It was bittersweet driving away from Munising, as the week seemed to fly by. I can truly see us going back there for years to come. This time around, many more friendships were made and I think I can see that our future trips there will all be better and more fulfilling than the last.

The Cave
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It took us a day and a half to get to Mass and when we arrived the sun was shining and we went for a run in 70 degree temperatures. We have had a season of up and down temperatures, and with the ups comes the melting of ice. So our fingers are crossed that one last cold spell will come through New England before spring comes to stay. In the meantime we are training hard for our Alaska trip and spending lots of money on gear!




Cheers!