Compiled by Adam Fornear
At the beginning of February, I found myself loading up the pack with two camping stoves, the big pot and a mountain of hot chocolate. Myself and four others (all members of the Duluth Climbers Coalition, the local climbing club) were taking out eight middle-schoolers from West Duluth to let them experience ice climbing for the very first time. Luckily, we have great ice right in the city limits and the DCC who are taking steps to close the adventure gap with youth from Duluth.
It was a beautiful day with temps topping out in the upper 20’s and no wind. The kids were nervous, Tik Tok videos were made, and perceived fear was overcome! With the help of the UMD Climbing program we were able to get everyone into some stout boots, crampons and ice axes that would keep them all sticking to the frozen waterfalls. There was nervous excitement and none gave up. Soon, one by one, we tied them into the system with figure eights, went through the climbing commands and they all got off the ground. Some went higher than others but that didn’t matter to any of us. We were just living for the moment before us. Whether its climbing on rock or ice it’s about challenging yourself and problem solving while off the ground. Sure, it’s nice to get to the top of the climb, but it’s not necessary. That’ll happen eventually…and when it does, you’re going to move onto another challenging climb thus starting the processing/problem solving all over again.
We climbed for three hours that afternoon. It was all smiles till the end…though brewing up some hot chocolate and a bottomless bag of cookies was an added bonus. The ice is starting to peel off the rocks in town. Soon though, we will be back at it with more kids from city climbing the local crags and taking another step toward closing the adventure gap in this sweet city.
The rest of the month cruised ahead and had a couple more memorable events outdoors. The first was the Book Across the Bay. The Book is a 10K ski “race” from Ashland, WI to Washburn, WI in the dark of night across Lake Superior. This year there was 3900 skiers, snowshoer’s and walkers and the weather was perfect. The wind sat down, the clouds pushed south and we were greeted with an amazing night sky. The skiing was smooth and the aid stations were spot on. Seriously though, these aid stations that were at every kilometer had it dialed in…I mean, at the 5K mark I had a hot dog with all the fixin’s, taco dip and chips and at least four or five cookies to boot. This is why I put quotes around RACE earlier…not really a race to our crew. So much fun and so many people out enjoying this one great lake (and supporting the library in Ashland)!
Seven days later it was a crisp morning out at the Boedecker Aid Station (the 20.5 K mark of the 55K race) for the Birkeibeiner Ski race in Hayward, WI. We were getting the flamingos out, hanging up parrots, cranking Jimmy Buffet, cutting oranges and making the foulest smelling Nuun energy drink (tasted great but man the smell was horrific!). This was my eighth year volunteering here with my folks. While we mixed energy drink, served up fruit and drank coffee, my brother Ben was chugging away for his 23rd Birkie. On top of that there were some Nebagamon alumni skiing this great event. I got to see Emily Prud’homme, Mitch Cohen, Chris Willett, and Elizabeth Becker pass by our station. It was a hoot of a weekend…the day before there is the Korte (29K) race and while spectating we got to cheer on Amy Mack, Steph Tomasky and Mitch Cohen. All in all, the Birkie weekend was a blast and enjoyed by our Nebagamon crew.
Michael (bottom left) first found his appreciation for renewable hydroelectricity in the Quetico, circa 2007
IT MAY INTEREST YOU TO KNOW in While in Denver, we learned that Alexander Zander Aronoff has been playing the Bohemian Rhapsody on the piano and also playing soccer. Zander also made his first turns down some double black diamonds this past weekend as well. Right on Zander! Billy Galpern has been put on the injured reserve list for baseball as he is nursing a herniated disc injury.
IN THE WHERE-ARE-THEY-NOW DEPARTMENT: Michael Berler (San Francisco ’12-’16,’18-‘19) is playing Division 3 baseball for the Carleton College Knights. Michael Blonsky (Denver ’05-’07,’09) works for the National Renewable Energy Lab, working on renewable energy integration. Michael Freeman (Denver ’98-’03,’05-‘09) is spending a semester teacher in Madrid on a Fulbright Scholarship. He is teaching a data visualization course.
IN THE BIBS AND DIAPERS DEPARTMENT: It’s a boy, Charles Farris Hopkins, for Kyle Hopkins (’02-’06,’08-’09,’12) and Emily Farris.