- Michigan's Upper Peninsula is a must visit destination when it comes to outdoor recreation, and the winter is no exception.

It was my time attending school here that taught me how to make the most of Michigan's cold snowy months.

This year, the city of Munising had over 200 inches of snow.

Combine that with below freezing temperatures, and you get this.

(upbeat music) Winters at Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore means knee deep snow, temperatures in the single digits and frozen waterfalls along Lake Superior.

These are the building blocks of Michigan Ice Fest.

So that's where I'm headed.

And I'm bringing a group of community members from West Michigan along for the ride.

Michigan Ice Fest is an annual ice climbing festival that draws over 1000 people from all over the world to ascend beautiful ice curtains and make the most of what Michigan winters have to offer.

But since most of us don't know how to climb or haven't had much experience with it, myself included, we are here at Higher Ground rock climbing gym so that we can get a little bit of experience and learn some of the basics before we head up north.

(upbeat music) - The only thing that really is off limits is just the roof that's above our heads, and I can tell I'm not disappointing anybody right?

- Cancel my plans.

- Right.

Going home now.

(gentle music) (laughing) - Ooh, that's good.

- Very well done.

- Thank you.

- Absolutely, that was cool.

- I was like, white knuckling.

- Yeah, awesome.

I'm really excited to see everyone in a couple of weeks.

- Alright, everybody say climbing.

- [Group] Climbing!

(gentle music) - Like a lot of folks in our group heading to the UP to go ice climbing will be a new experience for Kamyle and Victoria.

So I wanted to get their take as we set out on our adventure.

Have either of you been ice climbing before?

- Heck no.

- I hardly do ice walking.

- Right, right.

Close as I get to ice is throwing some salt on my driveway, putting it in my glass.

- So what, I mean, there are a lot of ways that you can enjoy the winter.

Why did you agree to go ice climbing of all things?

- I mean, when do you get a chance to go ice climbing?

Like the opportunity presented itself.

I mean, I could just ski, that's winter stuff, but this is way cooler.

- Yeah.

- To tell somebody.

- Yeah, definitely felt like a special opportunity.

And there's so many like barriers to go ice climbing, like all the equipment and stuff like that.

So it's like this is a gateway to try something new where a lot of that's covered.

So I'm grateful for that.

- Heck yeah.

- So how do you feel generally about just winter activities?

- Yeah, I feel like winter recreation just is like less successful 'cause you need so much to be able to safely and comfortably enjoy it.

So like I don't have a good pair of snow pants.

I just feel like I spend more time indoors just because I don't have like the resources that I would need to like comfortably and safely do something.

- Heck yeah, that is a good point.

It is more expensive to do winter activities.

Like when it's nice, I'll just walk outside.

You're doing outdoor activities.

- Yeah, yeah, what would make going to the UP feel safe or comfortable for you?

Or is it already, does it already feel safe and comfortable for you to go?

- Up until this point, have never gone with like a group of women.

I don't have like a lot of friends who have be down to like go camping or go like to a cabin in the UP, you know?

So I don't really have like community that I feel like would be comfortable doing something like this.

Do you feel like you have friends that would?

- I do have friends that I feel like would be comfortable.

Like everybody I've told that I was doing this, they were like, ooh, can I come?

Can I come?

But it is mainly my guy friends.

All of my girlfriends are like, no.

They're like, you're crazy, what are you doing?

But like, even when I do outdoorsy stuff, it is usually with my male friends.

Most of my female friends are like, I'm good.

Like, catch me on the boat.

Y'all can go do whatever you're doing.

- Are you nervous at all about like the climbing itself?

- For sure, yeah.

- Heck yeah.

Yeah, because shoot, I got like halfway up the rock wall.

I was like, alright, I think I'm ready to come down now.

Not 'cause of heights.

I was just like, I'm not used to using these muscles, so I'm just hoping I don't get like some random cramp in my pinky and can't hold on to like the gear or something.

I'm like uh oh.

- Yeah, when we did the practice, I like fell off the wall and that was kind of, it shook me up a little bit, I think.

So, yeah, I kind of wish that that didn't happen.

- Sure.

- But I think like we, having that experience is good 'cause I know what it feels like to be lowered down now from a rope.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, so I'm definitely nervous for the climbing part but.

- Yeah, I mean, you're climbing up a frozen waterfall, that's, there's something about that that feels unnatural.

Like counter intuitive to my body.

But I also, like, people have been ice climbing for a really long time.

- Right.

- Yeah.

- It's just a different way to engage with my body and engage with the outdoors and kind of experience the outdoors so.

- Yeah.

- Chance to explore something new.

- Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.

For most folks, Michigan's Upper Peninsula, or UP for short is pretty remote.

You can't exactly Uber there.

The UP makes up almost a third of the state's land mass, but only about 3% of Michigan's population live there.

- Cinematic video, ooh yeah, let's do that.

Come on.

- Running a distance of five miles, the Mackinac Bridge is one of the few access points to the UP.

As the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere traveling across it can feel like crossing a gateway to another world.

(gentle music) (footsteps) - This is a life sport.

You know, our youngest participant is about six years old.

Our oldest has been 80 years old.

So it's something that you can do it the rest of your life, and it really is a passion.

My name is Bill Thompson and I am the organizer of the Michigan Ice Fest, which is the country's oldest ice climbing festival.

And so it started back in 1991, and I was one of the original participants.

And in 1995, we took it over.

And every year it just seems to grow and grow and our community starts getting bigger and bigger.

- Yeah and Ice Fest also brings in folks who do have a lot of experience, right?

I mean, you've kind of got the, like the all stars of, you know, of ice climbing.

- We have professional athletes that come in from all over the world, and they are our instructors.

And it's like if you were to go to a basketball camp and have LeBron James and Steph Curry as your instructors, that's what our ice festival is in our small little world.

And so they come in and they are drawn here because of the massive amounts of ice, and they wanna share their passion as well.

- What is your hope for the younger generation, the newer climbers, folks who've never tried this before?

- You know, we're, we've been making an effort to reach out to a lot of different populations and bring them together, and really, you get people this opportunity to go out and climb, and then they fall in love with the area.

So we're, we're all about protecting resources, getting more people involved in the industry, and just giving them a healthy lifestyle so people can come up here with nothing, no experience, no winter clothing, no gear.

We provide all of that plus professional instruction.

And so hopefully with that opportunity we turn people into climbers or, you know, just giving them an experience where they can be proud that they did something.

- Ensuring a safe, comfortable ice climbing adventure means having the right gear, but this kind of gear ain't cheap.

Knowing what gear you need and being able to afford it can be a significant barrier to ice climbing.

Fortunately, Michigan Ice Fest helped us access most of what we needed to climb some ice curtains and stay warm while we do it.

- We are here today in the beautiful area of Munising, so wanna make sure we do some checks to make sure we've got everything before we get on the bus.

The thing with ice climbing is that we're going to be going from times of extreme activity when we're climbing to either belaying or just kind of hanging out.

So you wanna make sure that you keep that warmth after those extreme periods.

So make sure you have a layer to put on, especially with the temps today.

We'll be in an area called opening curtains.

We're gonna take the bus out.

What's nice here for these front country climbs is we are gonna take a shuttle.

It's gonna drop us off and get our crampons on, and then we'll do kind of some ground school, meaning doing some technique at the bottom of the ice.

Meanwhile, while we're doing that, Tim is gonna go up and set the ropes for us.

What that means is gonna set up some, some lines at the top.

So we're gonna top rope today, and then get climbing.

Sound good?

Awesome.

- Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore is a coastal park on the ancestral homelands of the Anishinaabe.

The tribal nations on this land include the Keweenaw Bay Indian community, the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the Bay Mills Indian community, the Hannahville Indian community, and the Sault Saint Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

This beautiful park runs along the shores of Lake Superior, or as the Ojibwe people call it Gitchi-Gami, which loosely translates to Great Sea.

- To the right, to the right, to that big column.

Awesome.

So what we got in our hands is what we call a modern day ice tool.

This is specifically designed for climbing vertical ice, because the way these are designed, they're designed for downward force.

So everybody step one, arm up, chest up, make sure that's set nice and high.

And then two is your elbow.

So you're gonna come straight down with your elbow.

So somewhere like over here is gonna be better onto this.

It's gonna feel a little bit better for a nice clean swing.

- So how are y'all feeling?

- Nervous.

(laughing) - That's true.

- Yeah.

I think it's one thing to think about it.

And it's another thing to be here.

I mean, she's killing it but like.

- Like I knew it was gonna be hard, but like, it is about to be like super hard.

- Right?

- I mean, even getting up that hill, it was like.

- Right.

- Right, yeah.

Man, I was look like a chimney I was breathing so hard and I got up that mother sucker.

Shoot.

- Yeah, I think like, I'm not afraid of heights, like I'm afraid of falling.

- The heights isn't the issue for me.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- And so like, I don't know.

I know the rope is safe, but.

- I do not want to fall.

- I know it's gonna be more tiring, I think, than.

- Man, shoot, that hill was tiring.

- I like glorify it in my head to be where I'm just like, it's fine, and then, but like in all actuality it's, it's a lot, but I'm excited to try it out.

- But it feels good to be in a group though, that like, if I wanted to do it once and I was like, I'm tired, I don't think I can, I feel like it's safe's to be here.

Which is important to me.

- I'm definitely gonna do it once.

Will I do it twice?

Depends on how good the first time goes.

I might do it twice.

- Yeah.

- Heck yeah.

She on it now.

Pro.

- She's locked in, you could tell.

- Have y'all ever been to Pictured Rocks or like this area before?

- No.

- No?

First time.

What do you think so far?

- I mean, it's a lot of freaking snow.

- There is a lot.

- This is the most snow I've ever seen in my life, like period.

- Okay.

- Yeah.

- When we passed Lake Superior, or Gitchi-Gami as we were coming here, you know, we're here in Ojibwa and in Anishinaabe land and yeah, Pictured Rocks is a really special place.

It's, you know know it's a national lake shore, but like some of these rock formations are eons old.

And I come here in the summer and enjoy it.

But it's something about climbing on the ice and seeing it this way.

It's a whole other way to see the area, you know?

- Heck yeah.

- I mean, I wouldn't even be able to make it up this hill without these crampons.

Seriously, these shoes have, these crampons have opened up a whole new world into Pictured Rocks that I wouldn't otherwise see, which is cool.

Yeah, I'm hoping that in a little bit you try some climbing, I also wanna put some tobacco down and just say thank you to the land we're spending time on.

- You got this, you got this.

- You see it, you see, you see the nerves on my face.

- Yeah.

- Let's see how I look after.

- Okay, yeah.

(upbeat music) - One more and then we're done.

You are doing the best work.

Yeah, the best.

Thanks so much for watching Color Out Here.

Don't forget to check out the second part of our Michigan Ice Fest Adventure.

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

(upbeat music)