Stoke for 2018-2019 Ice Season
It’s been long awaited. The earth is getting closer to the sun as we speak. Snow flurries are in the air. Jackets are coming out of the closet and shorts are a thing of the past. Time to get stoked for ice season.
Last Season: One great way to bring back the stoke for this season is to drool about all the stuff you accomplished last season. Take a look back through those photos, call your climbing partner and talk about how awesome last season was. Here are some of my best moments from last season. Michigan Ice Climbing: Trip Report / Video. Peabody Ice Climbing
Websites: make sure to put neice.com into your favorites tab. Visit early and often. Next, you need to follow the ice stoke threads on mountain project. New England is here. Colorado is here
Videos: I could watch these all day, and if you talk to my girlfriend she will tell you I do. These are some of my favorites. Again, watch these early and often, with friends and without.
Matty Bowman posts new Stoke videos every year. They’re always on the must watch list. You should just go ahead and hit subscribe now. He keeps the quality up and the videos coming all season long. Click here for a link to his youtube channel:
Distilled - This is more of a pure climbers film. It talks about the guy’s trips and all the cool things he’s done with some amazing Scottish ice climbing taking up the fore ground. This is available for free if you have amazon prime. A link to that is here.
The Pursuit: A film about Aaron Mulkey, and his quest to find ice in Cody, Wyoming. Made in 2014 it’s an oldie but a goodie. They talk about “Mulkey Missions”, and why you should or should not pick up your phone when he calls.. (I’m still waiting for that call Aaron!) It’s really a great little film guaranteed to make anyone laugh. Highly worth the $6 cost to buy it. I said buy it because you’re going to want to watch it over and over again.
The Park - This high quality film dives into what makes mixed climbing so amazing in the Rocky Mountain National Park. It’s an enjoyable watch with appearances by the man himself Tommy Caldwell. It’s action packed and includes a whipper on a C3. Again, buy it, support these amateur film makers and get stoked for ice season.
All Roads Lead to Scotland - Can you tell I want to go to Scotland? This is a free film on youtube. It’s an intense flick by the boys across the pond, but it’ll leave you itching to get outside. You can find that link Here
The Michigan Ice Film - This film is one of my favorites for length, footage and storytelling. The film chronicles some history of the Michigan Ice fest and how ice climbing came to be in the Upper Peninsula. Never been to Munising? This film will make you want to take a trip and explore it for yourself. This one you also have to pay for. But again, highly worth buying it, because you’ll want to see it again and again.
Let me know what your favorite ice climbing flicks are! I hope your tools and crampons are ready to go! Early season ice has already taken off in the Northeast, Colorado and Wyoming!
Happy hunting!
Nolan