Registration Opens for 20th-Annual Cody Ice Festival
CODY, Wyo., Nov. 15, 2017 – Registration has opened for the 20th-annual Cody Ice Festival scheduled for Feb. 8-11, 2018 in Cody/Yellowstone Country. With a line-up of affordable clinics for beginners, experienced climbers and women only, the festival promises the biggest ice of any festival in North America.
The popular festival promotes safety, stewardship, education and camaraderie and includes ice climbing clinics by day and nightly speakers and presentations developed to inspire and encourage festival participants. In the evenings, there are nightly raffles for ice climbing gear and bottomless beer pours with the purchase of a pint glass.
“Whether you are an experienced ice climber or new to the sport, the Cody Ice Fest will help you take your climbing to the next level, and you’ll have fun in the process,” said Ari Novak, director of the Cody Ice Festival for the second year. “With climbing routes that are five and six pitches long, this is some of the biggest ice some climbers ever get to climb, and our instructors will help ensure that the experience is fun and memorable.”
Established in 1998, the festival offers world-class instruction through on-ice clinics in one of the most exciting ice climbing venues in the world. Nightly speakers include some of the most accomplished and inspiriting alpinists and ice climbers in the world.
Clinics
Each clinic is led by a top professional mountain guide and a professional athlete. Clinics range in price from $150 to $200, and there is also a free ice climbing day on Sunday priced at $25. Active members of the military and veterans receive a 10 percent discount off the price of the clinics.
The festival will include clinics for advanced climbers and beginners as well as all-female clinics taught by female athletes.
The festival promotes safety, stewardship and more.
World-Class Ice Climbing Region
Ice routes can be found in the North and South Forks of the Shoshone, the region to the west of the town of Cody, Wyo. The South Fork of the Shoshone is home to the highest concentration of frozen waterfalls in the United States, with more than 200 climbable pitches within a 10-mile radius. Creatively named routes include “Broken Hearts,” a classic route that can be as long as seven pitches of ice climbing. Another route, “Mean Green,” offers 300 meters (approximately 3/16 of a mile) of climbable ice. “Miami Ice,” is a route made famous by world-renowned alpinist Alex Lowe, who lost his life climbing in Tibet. The single-pitch route is one of the most popular climbs in the region. Cody is home to plenty of long moderate and advanced ice routes offering a memorable experience for climbers of all abilities.
Commercially guided ice climbing made its debut in 2011 in Shoshone National Forest outside of Cody, Wyo. as the National Forest Service issued the first permits to outfitters to lead ice-climbing trips.
The region is comprised of porous volcanic soil that allows for easy water seepage. The mountains receive large amounts of snow that melts into a high number of drainages. These factors result in spring-fed waterfalls that are constantly regenerating themselves and freezing into high-quality ice climbs. Climbers are still discovering new waterfalls in the region, and some have made dozens of “first ascents” over the past few years.
More About the Festival
The Cody Ice Festival will offer participants discounted rates at Cody-area hotels and transportation to the climbs.
Yellowstone Country is comprised of the towns of Cody, Powell and Meeteetse as well as the valley east of Yellowstone National Park.
The area of Park County called “Cody/Yellowstone Country” was the playground of Buffalo Bill Cody himself. Buffalo Bill founded the town of Cody in 1896, and the entire region was driven and is still heavily influenced by the vision of the Colonel. Today its broad streets, world-class museum Buffalo Bill Center of the West and thriving western culture host nearly 1 million visitors annually.
Related hashtags: #YellowstoneCountry #CodyWyoming #CenteroftheWest #BuffaloBill #Yellowstone #Wyoming
Media contact:
Mesereau Travel Public Relations
(970) 286-2751
