Tag Archives: frozen

Chasing Winter: The Last, Grand Hurrah

By the time we reached Munising, on Lake Superior's south shore, seven inches of fresh powder blanketed the land. The forecast called for seven more inches in the next twelve hours. A local gas station attendant thought we were crazy for driving north in an April blizzard. (She also said, “We only have two seasons here: shovelin' and swattin'.”) For us, coming to Munising was rational: this was our final chance to climb the best ice the Midwest has seen in decades...… Read More »

Late Season Ice at Lone Rock

Here she is Ms Alt text.

For the first time this year, I went ice climbing near Lone Rock, WI. Next to highway 133 was a nicely formed column of ice, ending at the frozen Wisconsin River. Because of this year's lengthy winter, the ice was in better condition than last March. Not for long, though: this week's high temperatures probably mark the end of the ice climbing season, at least in southern Wisconsin. But there still should be climbable ice north of here....… Read More »

Ice Climbing in Southern Wisconsin

Recently I got to go ice climbing for the first time near Madison. Tying in and belaying were basically same as rock climbing, but there were tons of differences. Here's some of the stuff I liked and disliked versus rock climbing:

Good
– Huge reaches. You're allowed to – no, encouraged… Read More »