Ice Fest Wrap-Up

2013 Ice Fest.

With plastic ice, legendary climbers, and unmatched camaraderie, our biggest and best Fest yet has come to a close. Now in its 17th year, the Bozeman Ice Fest brought ice aficionados together from around the globe. People couldn’t wait to sign up for our seven different clinics, crashing our servers five minutes before the registration even opened. Apparently, ice climbing is better than bikinis—according to our web host, the last time their server crashed like this was for a Miss America Contest photo shoot website! Over 250 clinic participants learned everything from swinging an ice axe to swinging upside-down in the Bingo Cave.

Alongside live music from Cure for the Common and 15 kegs of beer, the legendary Scottish all-arounder Dave MacLeod and German strong-woman Ines Papert crossed the pond to regale us with their climbing accomplishments. The Fest also hosted the inaugural UIAA North American Championships in downtown Bozeman, bringing Olympic-caliber athletes from 10 countries on three continents. This event helped deliver even more exposure to the sport—ice climbing will be a cultural event in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, as it bids to become an Olympic medal sport for 2022. And our local stars were shining equally bright as Whit Magro and Adam Knoff closed out the Fest at the Sunday Wrap Party with a presentation of their recent integral link-up of Winter Dance and The Big Sleep: Hyalite’s two hardest and most mythical routes.

Thanks again to all the sponsors and volunteers that helped make this Fest our most successful yet. Make sure to mark your calendars for next year’s event, taking place December 10-14, 2014. Check out our Facebook and Instagram (#bif17) for photos and film of this year’s Fest.