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Boreal boulders

NMU to host drytooling competition

Climber Colten Moore of Marquette demonstrates drytooling. The technique will be the focus of the NMU Boreal Boulder Drytooling Competition set for Oct. 27 at Northern Michigan University’s climbing wall at the Physical Education Instructional Facility. (Photo courtesy of Michigan Ice Fest)

MARQUETTE — The local climbing community has long been into boreal boulders and the like, but now that’s taking a different dimension.

The Upper Peninsula’s first-ever NMU Boreal Boulder Drytooling Competition, part of the USA Ice Climbing Competition Series, is set for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 27 at Northern Michigan University’s climbing wall at the Physical Education Instructional Facility.

Climber Bill Thompson, co-owner of Down Wind Sports, 514 N. Third St., Marquette, explained the differences between climbing’s various disciplines.

“That is a rock climbing wall, so that’s a sport,” Thompson said of the PEIF wall. “Ice climbing is a sport. Drytooling is kind of a marriage between the two sports.”

Drytooling, which uses ice axes to climb rock, originated from ice climbers looking up a rock face, he said.

A climber takes part in a past year’s Michigan Ice Fest. This year’s festival begins Wednesday in Munising. (Photo courtesy of Michigan Ice Fest)

“The ice is starting way up, not coming all the way down to the bottom, so they climbed up the rock to access the ice,” Thompson said.

Drytooling now is entering the competition circuit.

Thompson said that for the Oct. 27 NMU event, a couple of route-setters from Minnesota will bring specific holds made for drytooling to allow competitors to test their skills.

It’s not the speed that will be judged, but the difficulty.

“It’s getting from point A, which is on the bottom, to point B on the top,” said Thompson, with competition based on who scores the highest on each route.

Prizes will be awarded for first, second and third places at the drytooling competition, with categories being boys/girls ages 13-17 and men/women age 18 and over. The cost is $40 until Oct. 19, and $45 after that date. To register, visit nmu.edu/recreation.

Drytooling and ice climbing in the area could get a boost, literally and physically, in the upcoming months.

NMU is interested in determining the feasibility of an outside ice climbing tower on campus, he said.

“The actual benefit would be that it would introduce a lot of people to that sport,” Thompson said. “You could teach academic classes on the outdoor wall. You could hold competitions like this on that wall.”

The United States has many ice structures, but very few at universities, so that would be a bonus for NMU, said Thompson, who noted it also would be a great training facility since there already is outdoor ice climbing in Munising, which he called “some of the best in the country.”

“Now you could have a training program and develop youth, athletes, and they could go over and test those skills on real ice over in Munising,” Thompson said.

Ice climbing towers are made from materials such as plywood and concrete, but there also are “ice farmers,” Thompson said.

In fact, he believes the world of ice farming could be integrated into the academic program at NMU.

“There are jobs in this world where people go out and farm ice,” Thompson said. “They make ice, and people come from all over the world to climb that.”

One example is the Ouray Ice Park, a human-made ice climbing venue operating in a natural gorge near Ouray, Colorado.

It’s here where Thompson said ice farmers are hired to build ice formations and maintain lines to keep them from freezing.

Climbers don’t have to go all the way to Colorado, though, to get in some altitude, although they can learn the ropes, so to speak, right in this area.

“There are skills that you can take from here in Marquette — where we rock climb, we ice climb — and you can take those skills into the mountains where on a mountaineering trip you may have to use some of your rock climbing skills,” Thompson said. “You may have to use some of your ice climbing skills. You might have to use some of your camping skills to be able to successfully and safely go up a mountain.

Liz Peppin of Marquette is a longtime climber who has taken to the ice a few times.

She has mixed feelings about ice climbing.

“It’s challenging in different ways than rock, because the substrate is much more ephemeral,” Peppin said in an email. “I think ice climbers are all masochists, to be honest. They enjoy freezing while chunks of ice fall on their heads.”

She also is familiar with the NMU wall at the PEIF.

“We climb on the NMU wall all winter twice a week to keep in shape,” Peppin said. “We have to climb up, climb down and climb up again to get a reasonable workout, though. The wall is only 20 feet tall and routes outside are usually 40 to 100 feet.

“It’s an OK tool for training endurance, but mind-numbingly boring. We are very limited in our ability to set good routes on it so it gets old quick. A plywood wall would be way better. Then you can use whatever size hold you want, wherever you want and set really awesome routes.”

Of the highlights of the winter climbing season is the Michigan Ice Fest, with the next one scheduled for Feb. 13-17 in Munising. Seasoned adventurers and novices can take part, with classes covering all skill levels. There also will be evening slideshows and films about the special guests’ adventures and a Saturday night gear raffle with outdoor equipment and apparel handed out to participants. For details, visit michiganicefest.com.

The great thing about the Michigan Ice Fest, Thompson said, is that beginners can try out the sport at a relatively low cost.

Guided trips for people who want to try ice climbing can be booked at iceclimbmichigan.com, with equipment provided so people can view the spectacular scenery at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

Trips for rock climbing in the summer and fall can be booked at rockclimbmichigan.com.

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