2013 Ice Fest Recap

We are so grateful to all that showed up to help pull off the 2013 Nipigon Ice Fest. Will Gadd, our featured presenter/clinic leader, was great to work with and very generous with his time and knowledge.

We ended up with a full house in all of Saturday's clinics with 64 participants registered. 24 indicated no previous ice climbing experience. 47 of those registered for clinics indicated they were from Canada. Thanks to all our instructors; Adam Daily, Aric Fishman, Corey McBride, Matt Giambrone, Nick Rorem, Will Gadd, Zach Moore, Stone Harbor, UMD, and Lakehead U for teaching, setting up, and gear sharing.

You may have noticed the parking lot at Cascade, which we tend to have a high volume of vehicles going to and from, was plowed out for us this year by Best Towing. Show your thanks by liking them on Facebook!

74 people signed in for Saturday night's Slideshow's presented at the Legion. Will Gadd http://willgadd.com/ presented a humorous and thoughtful look into his adventure sports. Hitting some key points about inspiration and tempering it with safety. Aric Fishman presented on ice climbing in Agawa Canyon. Here's the video if you missed it! Agawa Ice

Greg Stroud presented on Kama Bay and the recent legislation to make this area a National Marine Conservatory http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/progs/amnc-nmca/index.aspx.

Thanks to The Nipigon Cafe for providing sandwiches and veggies for a nightime snack durinng the presentations.

The Township Of Nipigon also did a great job taking over the designing and printing of this year's t-shirts and new lapel pins with the Natural Edge design by Charmine, Nipigon's Economic Development Officer. Levina Collins, Nipigon Township Council, and myself like to pass the puck back and forth on who really pulls this together every year. I am so impressed that in the midst of everything else she has going on she is always right on top of things. Her energy and friendship are essential to Nipigon Ice Fest.

The local gear shops and guides showed up their support by sending great prizes for the gear raffle and smiling instructors for some of our clinics. Thanks to Scott from Stone Harbor for being a huge presence this year. Michael from Epic Adventures helped with transportation for Will Gadd and getting some more promotional videos done for the town's winter activities. Gear up, Superior Exploration, and Wilderness Supply of Thunder Bay sent raffle items and offered discounts to particpants.

There were a lot if inquiries this year about how to get involved and help out. If you would like to be included in next year's planning committee send an email to us at nipigonicefest@hotmail.com.

—Kyra Bremer