Michigan ice + life update

• 00 Introduction
• 01 Northeast Ice
• 02 Michigan Ice
• 03 Conclusion + future plans

00 Introduction

It’s official. In mid-January, I moved out of New York City to live out of my car for the next five months. I spent the rest of January and the beginning of February in New Hampshire preparing for the roadtrip and organizing my life into a car—from cookware to clothes to all the gear I will need for rock climbing, ice climbing, drytooling, skiing, and running. I don’t think that I’ve forgotten anything in particular, but I suppose I will find out soon enough. I’m currently in Ouray, Colorado and am a bit delayed on writing up some of my adventures in the Northeast as well as Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

01 Northeast Ice

While in New Hampshire, I had the opportunity to get out a few times to the White Mountains, Catskills, and Adirondacks. Most notably, a first ascent at the Barton High Cliffs with Ben Farrell. “Traveling Wilburys” was a three pitch mixed climb involving a frozen moss gulley, tree stemming, and a full-on sustained pitch of pure ice—all done in single digit temperatures. Ben led all the pitches and I had the honor of belaying and following.

The rest of my days out in the Northeast include two days out at Arethusa Falls (one as a top-rope solo day), a day out at Frankenstein Cliff, and a trip to Devil’s Kitchen in the Catskills. It was great getting some more days out on ice while sharing it primarily with climbers I met in New York City.

02 Michigan Ice

I was in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan from February 12-16th and got out to some of the classic ice flows along the Pictured Rocks Lakeshore as well as Grand Island, an island that’s only accessible every few years when the temperatures get low enough for Lake Superior to freeze.

On our first day, I got out with my climbing partner, David, to Good Bad and Ugly (WI3-4). Being our first time in Michigan and unwisely arriving with minimal research, we got slightly hosed on the approach—both from not expecting it to be as long and having trouble locating specific climbs. Serendipitously, we ran into Conrad Anker who was just getting off the route. He graciously gave us some information about the condition of the route as well as how his group rappelled down to the bottom of the climb. We ended up getting to the bottom of the climb at the same time as another party which had approached from the lake. The pillar was plenty large though with room for us to all climb. The ice was very aesthetic—a large pillar in an amphitheater overlooking Lake Superior.

Having done an unexpectedly long approach on the first day out, David and I decided to get an early start to the next day to tick off some of the “no approach” climbs by Sandpoint. We started at the Dryer Hose (WI3) then made our way to the Curtains where the Michigan Ice Festival had a demo area set up. They had already set up ropes for people to climb so we took advantage of it and got another climb in. The two climbs were not the tallest or steepest ice we climbed; but, the approach—or lack thereof—definitely made up for it and allowed us to get a relaxing half-day on ice. Wanting to conserve energy for the next day, I called it after the two climbs, got a short run in, and explored what Munising had to offer.

On our third day, we decided to commit to crossing the lake to get to Grand Island. Due to the infrequency of the lake freezing over and granting safe passage, everyone I spoke to recommended making the trip out to Grand Island. The trek across the lake did not disappoint as within a few miles, we were greeted by assorted sheets and pillars of ice on the east side of Trout Bay. Although some of the climbs are documented online and in guidebooks, we did not utilize these resources and instead explored and chose climbs that looked like they would be interesting to climb. The day out involved scouting different amphitheaters along Trout Bay and then trying to get on some ice in each area. We got on four different flows and on our way back, ran into a larger party that had snowmobiled to Trout Bay. They had a couple lines up and were very open to sharing them with us. After such a solitary day out on untouched ice, it was kind of surreal running into a large group of ice climbers in a pretty remote area. Overall, this was probably the best day I had out in Michigan due to the volume of climbing done and the general remoteness of the climbs.

After Grand Island we took a rest day. In all honesty, I probably would’ve been fine climbing on the rest day, but given that I have nearly five months ahead of me, I think that some rest days are in order to avoid injury and burnout. I’ve come to realize that I can have far more quality days of climbing when programming intentional rest days rather than trying to climb every day and performing progressively worse.

One restful rest day later, David and I made plans to climb HMR (WI5) which is located between Chapel and Mosquito beach. We planned for a somewhat lengthy approach so I chose to ski in while David—perhaps regrettably—chose to hike in with his boots. While we expected a long approach, we didn’t exactly expect the approach to be 7.5 miles to get the top of the climb. There were some sections where I had to remove my skis, but apart from those inconveniences, I avoided any and all post-holing. David did not.

HMR was a very aesthetic line; however, the approach had us questioning things… The climb was fun, sustained, and full on. The approach was not fun, but sustained and full on. Returning to our vehicles was an adventure—we both made it, but at what cost? Having had quite the day out and wrecking my feet in the process, I decided not to overstay my welcome in the Upper Peninsula and headed out the following morning.

03 Conclusion + future plans

Michigan was a great stop on my journey out west. I made some steps towards dialing in the systems that will let me live out of my car for the next five months. I also got to climb some cool ice and meet new people. Looking towards my future plans, I’m currently in Colorado and am planning to head to Montana later this week—more updates to come. I’m still figuring out a sustainable schedule to combine climbing with other pursuits. Finally, I should probably find a place to do some laundry. This trip so far has not yet gotten desperate, but I probably have another week or two before I become a menace to any public space I inhabit. Fortunately, my stay in Colorado involves a cabin with accessible showers and running water—the next five months will likely not be this luxurious.

Hopefully the next update will be more timely and with more photos.