Hello friends!
Snow is forecast for Montana so we are not far behind our friends in Utah and Colorado that got blasted recently. This is incredible news as we are putting the full-court press on organizing the 16th Annual Arc’teryx Bozeman Ice Climbing Festival, Dec 5-9, 2012. This is leaving us jonesing for some thin ice and chossy rock! After our incredible historical retrospective at last year’s festival, we are planted in the now looking fully ahead toward the future. Building on the legends of the sport we were all introduced to last year, we are focusing in 2012 on the theme of mentorship. Who inspired you to climb ice? To help answer that question we are bringing some of the most influential climbers on the planet to Bozeman.

We are proud to announce our Friday night keynote presentation by Hayden Kennedy. Not only that, Hayden will be introduced by his father Michael. Few climbers can match the incredible resume of Michael Kennedy. Yet despite decades pioneering first ascents in Alaska and the Himalaya; creating the modern climbing culture through publishing Climbing Magazine and more recently Editor-in-Chief of Alpinist; MK will likely go down in history as “Hayden’s Dad.” You won’t wan to miss this once-in-a-lifetime show that MK and HK are putting together specially for us at the Arc’teryx Bozeman Ice Climbing Festival.

In the coming weeks, stay tuned to the web site or our Facebook page as we launch more and more innovative events for the ice climbing event of the year. Kick off the season in style at the 16th Annual Arc’teryx Bozeman Ice Climbing Festival.

Think cold,
Joe Josephson
Mike Cooperstein

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With over 150 pitches of naturally forming and easily accessible ice Hyalite Canyon is recognized as a premier ice climbing destination on par with anywhere in the U.S. With a reliable access via a unique collaboration between the public, Forest Service and County government, Hyalite is now the only venue in America where you can simply show up and know for certain there will be safe, accessible ice climbing anytime from Thanksgiving to March 31st (this is when they close the road for spring break up).

As a birth place of new techniques by Pat Callis in the early 1970s; through the 1980s explorations of Jack Tackle; followed by the ground-breaking, legendary ascents of Alex Lowe in the 1990s; to some of the hardest mixed routes of the 21st Century by Sam Elias and others; to the enduring memory and legacy of Guy Lacelle; Hyalite offers one of the richest and most important climbing heritages in the world.

The time is now.

As the Bozeman Ice Festival matures into our 15th year, we are continually pushing ourselves to improve the event and the participant experience.

In addition to our highly-regarded on-ice clinics, the BIF is in a unique position to reflect back at the heritage of ice climbing with an eye toward the future. With this in mind, for our 15th Anniversary, we are planning a once-in-a-lifetime event.

In a nutshell, our vision is to gather 12-15 of the most influential ice climbers in North America, all one stage, with a professional moderator, and a few bottles of scotch. We all know what can happen when climbers with stories to tell get together over a few drinks.

Of course no event of this type would be complete without special guest, Jeff Lowe. Jeff has committed and is excited to attend. Other pioneers already on board include: Barry Blanchard, Will Gadd, Henry Barber, John Bragg and more.

The tentative broad strokes are: overviews of each pioneer’s career, routes and influential accomplishments, a tribute to those that should be on the stage but can not; video taped private or smaller group discussions; followed by a live, collective gathering in front of a sold-out crowd in the beautiful 710 seat Emerson Crawford Theater.

So save the date and stay posted on upcoming additions to the playbill, for on-line clinic registrations and other exciting news from the Bozeman Ice Climbing Festival.

See you on the ice,

Joe Josephson

Festival Organizer

Make sure to catch Emily’s Slide Show: “Women at Work” on Thursday Night at 8:00 at the Emerson.  You’ll have a chance to meet all these amazing women there as well as their talented male counterparts who will be guiding clinics all weekend.  To sign up or for more information click here!