Great Lakes Section
Three-hundred and thirty-seven participants were greeted with extremely mild temperatures and a lean ice year at the 2012 Michigan Ice Fest over the first weekend of February. Participants traveled from as far as Kentucky and Colorado to Munising, Michigan, to enjoy the climbing at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. On Friday, Roger Strong thrilled the crowd with slides and a video from his days as a crab-fishing captain on the Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch,” along with tales of climbing icebergs, ice routes in the Northwest, and the story of a serious ski accident. After a long day of climbing on Saturday, everyone converged upon Sydney’s for free beer provided by La Sportiva. The evening’s first presentation featured Vince Anderson, who spoke about the direct new route he and Steve House pioneered on the Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat. The final presentation was by Ice Fest favorite Barry Blanchard. A fantastic storyteller, Barry reminisced about past climbing partners, including Kevin Doyle and Guy Lacelle, really hitting home on what makes a special climbing partner and friend.
After the shows we introduced Sommer Edwards and Izabella Tancredi as the 2012 Sue Nott Scholarship winners. Down Wind Sports created the Sue Nott Scholarship to introduce young females to the sport of ice climbing. Sommer and Izabella were selected from the largest group of girls ever to submit applications, and were provided with free entry to the Ice Fest and the Women’s Intro-To-Ice Course. Over the weekend we signed up 31 new members to the AAC and the Access Fund, and exposed hundreds of first-timers to the sport of ice climbing.
In the fall our section and Down Wind Sports hosted CLIMB UP 2012!, a four-day event on the south shore of Lake Superior. On Thursday, September 27, a group of climbers representing the AAC, the South Superior Climbing Club, and the Upper Peninsula Climbers Coalition met at Slugs Bluff, outside Palmer, Michigan, for a crag cleanup and dedication of new signs welcoming climbers to Slugs Bluff. On Friday, climbers congregated at Silver Mountain, just south of Keweenaw Bay, and were blessed with incredible climbing weather and peak fall colors. That night we gathered at Northern Michigan University in Marquette for a presentation by Bo White, who has recently climbed in Tajikistan and is planning a trip for club members in August 2013. Kurt Smith then entertained us with a perspective on his storied climbing career. On Saturday the crew headed to the local crag, the AAA Wall, for climbing, camping, and a bonfire party!
On November 10, Planet Rock of Ann Arbor hosted the Reel Rock film tour for a huge crowd of climbing enthusiasts. The Great Lakes Section was represented with a booth (conveniently next to the keg). A big thanks goes out to Planet Rock, and specifically to Christopher Lemon, for hosting the film and giving some big shout-outs to the AAC.