MARQUETTE — For the beginning climber, attending clases at the Michigan Ice Fest offers a unique opportunity.

“With the professional athletes we have coming in, it would be like going to a basketball camp taught by LeBron James, Steph Curry and Michael Jordan,” said Bill Thompson, festival organizer. “These are the best climbers in the country, the best climbers in the world.”

The Michigan Ice Fest, presented by Blue Diamond, takes place in Munising from Wednesday through Feb. 18. The event includes classes, demos, slideshows, films and all sorts of ice climbing related fun.

The ice climbing itself takes place in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, which has spectacular areas for climbers to use.

Thompson said the fest has been happening for close to 30 years.

“The first one was organized by Mark Reisch,” Thompson said. “I went to that first one, then took over (organizing) from there. We’ve grown from an event attended by 10 people to one that had 911 attendees last year.

“Our family has grown.”

The fest will be headquartered at the Community Center in Munising, with films and slideshows presented at the beautiful Mather Auditorium, and climbing at Pictured Rocks.

“Most of our weekend classes are full, but we don’t turn anyone away. We have some spots in the Wednesday and Thursday classes still,” Thompson said. “For our demonstrations, we have people gather at the Community Center, get their gear there, then take the shuttle to the demo area.”

Thompson said he hopes people do more than watch the demos.

“We have 10 to 15 ropes ready for people to start to try base climbing,” he said. “That’s the way to get into the experience.”

This year, they expect 900-1,000 people to take part in the fest.

“We almost will double the population of Munising,” Thompson said. “It used to be that in December or January, you would not see anyone ice climbing. Now we see people climbing other than just during the Ice Fest.”

Which is great for the businesses of Munising, Thompson said.

“People are enjoying what Munising has to offer,” he said.

This year’s Michigan Ice Fest participants come from 48 states and a number of countries including India, England, New Zealand, Slovakia and Canada.

“Spectators are welcome but we would like if people would try to climb,” Thompson said. “We hope they sign up and give it a shot. But if you want to just watch, you can buy tickets to see some of the presentations. You will hear presentations by some of the most unique professional climbers from all over the world.”

For more information about the festival, visit michiganicefest.com.

Renee Prusi can be contacted at 906-228-2500, ext. 240. Her email address is rprusi@miningjournal .net.