- [Speaker] Oh yeah.

Oh.

(upbeat music) (laughing) (upbeat music) - [Alice Lyn] A lot of folks in our group were feeling a little anxious about getting on the ice before we started.

And if I'm being honest right now, I'm feeling a little nervous myself.

I've only been ice climbing once before, but I'm deciding to trust in my body's ability to at least give it a try.

- [Speaker] All right.

- I have you on the top of my device, and you're locked and you are ready to climb.

And you're on belay.

- All right.

I'm nervous.

I'm new at this.

- That's okay.

So you watched what he did with the whole kicking and how to do that?

- [Alice Lyn] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- And when you're kicking, it's okay to kick through.

Make yourself a little platform.

- Yeah, excellent.

- Yeah.

There you go, that's a good stick.

(ice crunching) Oh yeah.

Oh.

(ice crunching) Right there.

Yeah.

- Okay.

I might be done for now.

- [Tim] Okay, okay, that's totally fine.

Just go ahead and lift the tools out.

I gotcha.

- Ha!

- Pretty tiring, I know.

- Thank you.

- [Tim] You're gonna get it.

- Yeah, I appreciate it, thank you.

My forearms though are done.

- I can't even imagine.

(chill music) - Cool, all right, how are y'all feeling?

- A lot better than earlier.

(laughs) - Good, yeah, so good.

- Yeah.

I think it was as hard as I thought.

I just didn't realize how hard that was gonna be, if that makes sense.

- [Alice Lyn] Yeah.

- But like once we got like the advanced techniques, then I was like, okay, I have a plan.

I was just kind of like panicky, kind of, just like, don't fall, don't fall the first time.

But after we got the little A-frame stuff, it was smooth.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- It was definitely like harder than I thought it was gonna be.

But then we got the right technique, and I was like, okay, like this makes sense, but it's just not natural, like, movements, and you're just like having to float down and like trust the rope.

So, yeah, I think most of it was mental for me.

Yeah.

- How did you feel about just the time that you spent here in this, chilling out in this wintry wonderland for the last few hours?

Would you do it again?

- I personally would.

I think it's a cool way to connect with nature that I don't do.

- I mean, I don't know, ask me tomorrow.

I do like being out here.

Like it is nice, like hanging, the climbing was hard.

I ain't gonna lie.

You know, the nerves and anxiety got me initially, and I'm like, I'll never do it again.

But I may watch it again.

- Sure.

- You know what I'm saying?

I gotta see how tomorrow does or how this next climb goes.

- Yeah.

- We'll see.

- Plus I feel like enjoying or experiencing cold weather is really different when you have the right gear.

- Yeah, it's not that bad.

- [Alice Lyn] So, I think just one degree when we woke up, but I think the fact that we all have all of this gear on, that we were able to rent from the gear library and also that Ice Fest was able to provide, that definitely made it a lot more enjoyable to just kind of hang out here, like cheer on our friends when we're not the ones climbing and things like that, so.

- [Kamyla] Word.

- And shout out to our instructors.

- Word.

- [Victoria] Because like they were professional and they were hype men on the bottom.

So they were really nice.

- [Kamyla] They definitely got a couple more steps outta me, hyping me up.

I was like, I'm done.

They're like, no, oh, okay.

I give you a couple more.

- [Alice Lyn] But also not making you feel bad if you're like, I'm done though.

- Yeah, they were super understanding.

- I think they understand the mental versus the physical.

So they were like, push yourself, but also like, if you tap out, like, it's cool.

- Yeah, like you know your limits.

- [Alice Lyn] Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is sacred and ancient land.

The oldest rocks visible above water were deposited between 1 billion and 500 million years ago.

Humans have inhabited the land in this region for over 10,000 years, the Anishinabe people being the first to call this land home and continue to live here to this day.

Pictured Rocks is named for the colorful vertical stripes along its cliff sides.

Groundwater streaks of natural minerals paint the rock face in hues of reds, greens, blues, whites, and blacks.

This land we're on is truly stunning, and I can't help but think what a gift it is to build community in this beautiful place.

(jazzy music) The last few years, the organization Detroit Outdoors has partnered with Downwind Sports in Munising to host a gathering for folks to come together, have some good food, connect with old friends, and make new ones.

This is where I had the chance to catch up with Phil Henderson.

Phil's kind of a legend around here.

Among many other feats, Phil organized Full Circle Everest, the first all Black summit up Mount Everest.

- If you wanna learn to ice climb, you come here.

- Yeah, can you share a little bit about that?

This is my first time at Ice Fest, and you know, clearly there's this huge sense of community here.

You know, we've heard Bill Thompson talk about it as sort of a family reunion.

- When you have festivals like this, it's like, yeah, the ice is, a lot of times it's good.

Last year was not, it was almost non-existent, but you get to see the people.

And it might be the one time in the year, or the only time in the year, or the only time in your life, that you see some of those people.

But when you see those folks a year after year, you know, and one time you see 'em, you may not remember their name, but-- - [Alice Lyn] You built a community.

- You build a community with 'em and it's fun.

- It's beautiful.

How did you come to make this a profession?

Or what does it look like for you to do this for a living?

- Yeah.

I really stumbled on the outdoor industry, you know, but that was 30 years ago, and the industry is not today what it was then.

- [Alice Lyn] Sure.

- [Phil] It's changed in a lot of ways.

And so through that time, you know, I've been able to, you know, travel the world really, you know, and educate and guide some, you know, some of the world's best guides in some of the world's highest mountains, you know?

- That's amazing.

- Yeah, the thing is, I mean, there's not a lot of folks that look like me doing it, there never have been.

You know, I've led trips to Kilimanjaro, even Everest as well, you know?

- Yeah.

- And so just two years ago, you've probably heard about it, the Full Circle Everest Expedition.

But we had a team of 11 Black folks, you know, for the first time in history to summit Mount Everest.

- [Alice Lyn] That's amazing.

- [Phil] And you know, the thing about that is, it was a lot of us knew each other, you know.

It was more about kind of next steps as well as bringing more representation into the outdoors.

You know what I mean?

- I've found in the experience that I've had in that nature and being in the outdoors really amplifies the community-building opportunity.

Like you build trust faster, you're vulnerable faster, you have to share resources to keep each other safe and healthy and well.

And it's been, I think that's one of the most beautiful things and one of the things that really drives me the most to wanna keep showing up to these spaces and curating them or helping to facilitate or make space for them as much as I can.

- Exactly.

- Appreciate what you're doing.

- Well, keep doing it.

- Yeah.

Thank you.

It's an inspiration.

- Keep adding to that community for sure.

- Yeah, well, cool, thanks, Phil.

- Yeah, good to see you.

(chill music) - [Alice Lyn] One thing I've learned about Michigan Ice Fest is that it isn't just about ice climbing.

Community is a big part of the experience here.

From first timers to seasoned climbers, this year, Ice Fest pulled in over a thousand attendees from seven different countries and 37 states in the US.

Every year the festival fills up the small town of Munising where it hosts learning sessions, keynote speakers, coffee hours, and after parties.

For those who return to Ice Fest, every year can feel more and more like a reunion.

(chill music) - We did it.

- We did it.

- How are y'all feeling?

Like physically, emotionally, spiritually?

- Sore.

- Sore?

- Very sore.

- Yeah.

- But happy I did it.

Because I mean, I was like excited we were on our way up, and then I got up there and I was like, F this.

Why did I do this?

But like, once I actually did it for real, it was like good.

It felt good to, like, I guess do hard things and know that I could, even though I might not have done it to the level at which I wanted to.

- Sure.

- You know what I'm saying?

But it was something new.

It even opened me up to like be more open to like maybe even doing this again or just doing other stuff that I probably wouldn't even have thought of trying.

- Yeah, 'cause when we had first got up the hill, when we went to that class, you saw the wall and you're like, I'm never gonna do this.

- I was like, what?

- [Victoria] You were like, I will tell you right now, I'm not gonna do this again.

And then you went up again that day, and then you went up the next day, and now you're saying like, I might do it again.

- Yeah.

- So it's like, and that was really 'cause everyone-- - Definitely changed.

- But that was really 'cause of like the community that y'all had cultivated and like even down to like having, you know, a person of color there to help us train us the first day.

Like everything felt.

- I think that everyone in this group was just so amazing and badass.

And it helped me as somebody who's only done this a handful of times before to be able to define success in ice climbing in what success looks like for me.

We saw at the Detroit Outdoors event, like y'all were dancing at the event, and that was super, that was dope.

Is that something that you were expecting?

- I'll say, no.

I just thought we were gonna climb ice and then go back to the B&B and kind of chill.

So it was kind of dope going to the social.

I did have to get out and hit a hustle.

You can't have a Detroit event without a hustle.

So that was cool that like people were willing to hop in with me, so I'm not just out there by my lonesome looking crazy.

- So now that you've had the chance to experience like a pretty solid Upper Peninsula winter experience, what were your thoughts on that?

- Yeah, I thought that I would be like having to power through.

- Yeah.

- And I came in with the expectation of like, I'm gonna be cold, but I'm just gonna suck it up and whatever.

And you and I were like always the last ones hanging back to go down, 'cause it's like I'm fine just hanging out, even if I'm not gonna climb and experience that, which I didn't expect that.

I thought like when someone offered an out, I was gonna take the out.

- Yeah, like, oh, we're leaving now.

- Right.

But I hope that people, like, who are organizing these kinds of events understand the limited access to like an $800 coat.

- Seriously.

- And that they continue like investing in offering like rentals, low-cost rentals, no-cost rentals.

For me, it's like without all of that, it's not really accessible, but also it was really nice gear.

- Heck yeah.

- So I hope that, you know, through different initiatives like this, that people can continue to invest in offering that as a resource.

- So, last year, Ice Fest was essentially canceled.

The UP 200, which is the annual dog sled race that goes across the UP, that was completely canceled 'cause there was basically no snow, which is unheard of in the Upper Peninsula.

Climate change is starting to really, really, really impact our ecosystem, you know, in our own backyard.

- I felt like it was like shifting, but it's really not.

It's just disappearing kind of the snow.

It's been weird.

It's 'cause I'm like, I've wanted to get out in the winter, but then there's a lot of winters where there's not enough snow to even try.

'Cause I was saying I wanted to learn how to ski, and then I'd be like, oh, I'm gonna go ski.

And they're like, yeah, we're closed, 'cause there's not enough snow on any of the slopes.

- Yeah, I think with like the national disasters that have just been happening with like the last six months.

- Goodness.

- Like climate disasters and climate change have just like weighed on me very heavily.

So, I think like experiencing a winter like this provides me with kind of like some kind of hope, I think, like experiencing the snow.

When you experience something and you care about, like now I'm like, oh, I wanna go out in the snow.

Like, it makes me want to like advocate and take care of something more, because I understand the joy that could be had in the snow.

- [Kamyla] Heck yeah.

- Any final concluding thoughts?

- Thank you.

- Yeah.

- For the experience.

- Seriously.

- Thank you.

- Thank you.

I would've never done this if this wouldn't have come up.

So, I'm grateful for the opportunity to like experience new things with like, like-minded people and people that are like, you know, excited to do new things and hard things.

It was a good trip overall.

(chill music) - [Alice Lyn] Ice climbing may not be for everyone, but for me, it's providing a new way to experience Pictured Rocks and to make the most of Michigan winters, a way to see nature from a vantage point many of us haven't before.

It may come as no surprise, though, that my favorite part of this week has been the community.

This experience was made rich by the relationships, making new friendships and nurturing old ones with some wonderful people and this beautiful land.

I think it's safe to say that I hope to be back for more next winter.

(chill music) Thanks so much for watching "Color Out Here."

For resources, ways to get involved in "Color Out Here," for behind-the-scenes content, and for future episodes, check out WGVU.ORG/COH.