Last year, we went up to Michigan Ice Fest, and we had an incredible time.

And I think I did all right for an ice climbing novice.

This year, I hardly feel like an expert, but I definitely have a lot more confidence going into the experience than I did before.

And building that confidence has been so helpful for me, especially in winter sports and activities, because it helps me to find the joy in the winter season, rather than dreading it or just enduring it each year.

So now, when the snow falls, I start to get excited and look forward to all of the cool things that we get to do together in community.

In the winter.

During the colder, darker months of the year, That’s when I struggle with my depression the most.

But being able to build confidence in activities that get me outside in nature during the winter, finding ways to outfit myself for safety and comfort, and finding community to do it with, has made a world of difference for my mental and physical well being.

So I’m back in the UP with some old friends and some new ones, and while we’re definitely gonna be going back to Michigan Ice Fest so that we can build on our climbing skills, we’re also gonna be checking out some other winter activities so that we can find new ways to find joy and color out here in the winter.

Nothing beats heading back to the UP with a van full of friends and community members.

Our group is starting off our winter expedition strong by returning to Michigan Ice Fest.

Michigan Ice Fest is an annual ice climbing festival that draws over 1000 people from all over the world to ascend beautiful ice curtains and make the most of what Michigan winters have to offer.

We’re returning to the ice curtains around Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

A coastal park located on the ancestral homelands of the Anishinaabe.

The tribal nations of this land include Keweenaw Indian Bay community, the Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, the Bay Mills Indian community, the Hannaville Indian community, and the Sault Ste.

Marie tribe of Chippewa Indians.

The park runs along the shores of Lake Superior, or as the Ojibwa people call it, Gitchi-Gami, which means great sea.

We began our trek with some familiar faces.

Rodel and Phil, who you might remember from last year, are going to be our instructors for the day.

Since our track into the ice curtains was quite a bit longer than last year’s, Superstar.

Water!

Water!

Don’t let go, Jack.

Don’t let go, Jack.

We had plenty of time to play in the snow and connect to this beautiful land along the way.

So pretty out here.

No pressure.

So we’re back here for year two.

I’m excited.

I’m a little bit anxious.

I feel like I’m relearning a lot of things.

I feel more excited this year than I did last year.

So stay tuned, see how it goes.

Take a kick, banana.

Hey, hey, hey.

Whoo!

Let’s go, Alice.

You did great.

Hello, world, this is Justin.

I feel like I’m ready to tackle this thing, but I don’t think it’s going to turn out like that.

I feel like I’m going to fall or something like that, but I am super excited.

I’m ready to go.

So let’s get it.

Let’s get it.

That’s hard to get up.

I smell trophy wall.

My trophy wall, guys.

Michigan Ice Fest isn’t only about the climbing.

It’s about the community the festival brings together.

So after we turned in our ice axes and crampons, We headed over to visit our friends from Detroit outdoors for their annual gathering.

Detroit Outdoors is an organization doing incredible work.

But I’ll let their executive director, Garrett, tell you more about what they do.

Hey, I’m Garrett Dempsey with Detroit Outdoors.

We’re a program that exists to connect Detroit area young people.

With meaningful experiences in the outdoors.

But we’re up here in Michigan Ice Fest, because we love the idea of connecting these young people to broader horizons.

And the Michigan Ice Fest community has been nothing but incredibly welcoming to us.

We’re actually hosting a reception, where it’s our way of giving back to the Ice Fest community, saying, Thank you, and we’re raising some money to do some really, what we hope will be special trips with young people from Detroit, and young people from the Memphis community at Memphis Rox, to really just sort of keep this relationship going and keep this sense of welcome.

And community that we find here, just going.

and spreading out to more places than the outdoors.

Despite it being a long day, there is still one more part of Ice Fest that we wanted to take advantage of while we were here the after parties.

That bacon looks a little burnt.

I’d rather have crispy over any pull, like any gumminess to it.

So ice climbing yesterday was absolutely magical.

We ended up having an hour and change hike out to the ice curtains.

For me, though, it was such a beautiful walk, just it was sunny, but still snowing a little.

And so we got to.

Twin Falls.

And that was like eye opening for me as far as like how nature self created that and just to see like the frozen water.

And you can still hear the water running behind the ice curtain and I thought that was pretty dope.

It was challenging and I really appreciate it.

Phil’s kind of like pushing me to keep going.

I didn’t think I could do it, so I stopped halfway and rested.

And then I ended up completing the whole thing I felt really like accomplished and happy, proud of myself.

We were cheering each other on, working in concert, helping each other.

You know, laughing, joking.

And it was just really great to kind of have that adventure with this amazing group of people that we’re with.

Since we’re exploring different ways to enjoy Michigan winter, it seemed only fitting to check out some dog sled races.

So the color out here squad made it up to Marquette, Michigan.

For the annual UP200 Dog Sled Race.

The UP 200 is one of America’s premier 12 dog, mid-distance sled dog races that draws racers from across the United States and Canada.

Starting in downtown Marquette, racers make the 230 mile journey to Grand Marais, with a return to Marquette along the same trail.

So Jessa, this is... Not only your 1st time ice climbing or an ice fest, but also your 1st time coming to the upper peninsula in the wintertime.

How has your experience been?

Just let’s just start with the winter aspect.

It’s been sort of a dream because I never, in a million years thought I would come to the UP in the wintertime.

A lot of these things have been my first time doing it.

Like, even wearing a GoPro, I’ve never even touched a GoPro before, right?

Now you’re kind of a storyteller, too.

But I never thought I would be able to do those things, especially in the UP, because I didn’t have access to the gear and to... The equipment needed to stay warm and comfortable in that environment.

How has our community space influenced your time up here?

Being with this group, color out here has made A huge difference, because I know I’ve had experiences Traveling, studying abroad.

Doing different activities where I’m the only person of color, and Not being able to, like, connect with the entire group in the way that I’ve been able to connect with the entire group, this trip, everyone became very fast friends.

I wouldn’t have chosen a better, a different group to be here with.

So Sergio... How are you feeling about just getting outside in the winter overall moving forward?

Do you, you know, it sounds like you want to maybe come back up here, at least for the community experience, for the winter experience?

It definitely makes me want to venture into other things like what else is there?

Like, I saw people ice fishing?

I saw the snowmobile tracks and even the cross country, skiing tracks, and I, and I want to check it out more.

I think that I see a lot of people kind of like being indoors a lot.

during the winter because, like, there’s nothing to do.

But I think this gives me a good perspective that there’s always something to do in the winter.

I’ve been kind of sleeping on these things, these activities that we can do.

And so definitely, this, this gives me a lot more confidence and, and not just like in the, in the, the gear, this, but the skills, but also like the fact that like, people are willing and interested in doing it and what it takes.

Living in Grand Rapids, I can always find an ice curtain to climb or a dog sled race to cheer on.

But getting outside to enjoy the winter is still so important to my physical and mental health.

About 10 years ago, I decided to purchase a secondhand pair of snowshoes for about 50 bucks.

And since then, snowshoeing has become one of my favorite ways to get outside and enjoy the snow.

The Grand Rapids Gear Library hooked our group up with snowshoes, and we decided to spend a little time practicing with them before heading out on a trail.

What’s up, y’all?

This is so-so, you know, me, I’m gonna bring the heat out here.

Okay?

See this?

No competition.

Yeah, yeah.

My name is Sergio, I’ve been racing since I was a kid.

This race is going to be no different.

I’m still going to win, just like I have.

Every other race All right, this is Justin, Lightning McQueen I don’t even know why they came out today.

You know, I’m about to burn these losers.

I’m just saying, I’m just saying.

What’s up, everybody?

I’m Alice Lyn, and I am probably not gonna smoke these guys in this race.

Thank all my fans for coming to cheer for me.

Um, I think everyone did a great job.

Everyone gave it their best.

I respect them all.

But most of all, I want to thank myself.

for believing in me.

I wanna thank... Now that we’ve gotten used to our snowshoes, we’re taking them out to Blueberry Ridge, one of the many trail networks around the state that are maintained especially for cross- country skis and snowshoes.

Some trails like this one are even lit at night during the winter when daylight hours are limited.

I invited my friend Tayla to join us.

Tayla is a biculturally black somatic educator and coach who has authored several resources on somatics and personal social transformation.

And since they live in the UP year round, I thought they may have some pointers when it comes to self- care practices during the winter.

What are the benefits of getting outside in nature?

during the winter months.

How can that help with mental health for folks who, like me, are, you know, find it difficult to really?

get out and and just kind of feel okay and feel good and not even just... survive, but to thrive and find joy as well.

Yeah, thanks for presenting the challenge of it.

Being able to actually get our bodies in motion is really important.

And when we’re able to actually come out and be in relationship to the cold.

Not just the snow, not just the ice, but the actual experience of cold, there is something that we’re learning to adapt to.

We’re learning to be in relationship to, we’re learning new edges of our capacity.

For myself, personally, like, getting outside, letting the cold air touch my eyes, I don’t know if you have... a lot of screen time in your life.

I have way more than I would like to admit, right?

So my focus gets really tight.

My eyes get really tired.

And one of the best remedies I’ve found is actually getting my eyes outside, letting them move around, orienting to the environment.

letting the cold air touch them.

And even if I’m just outside for five minutes, that resets my entire system, it helps everything reduce some of the... of stress response that is happening from the kind of hyper focus that happens when we’re inside.

I actually love catching the sunrise in the winter.

It’s one of my favorite moments, ’cause it’s so it’s always so spectacular.

Yeah, yeah.

The pinks and all of the, yeah, like, the soft, but still, like, very vibrant kind of, like, light is beautiful.

Yeah.

And here’s a fun fact, actually, about catching the sunrise.

So most of our melatonin that we need for sleep is initiated in our brain by taking in the red light of a sunrise.

And so when we catch sunrise, especially in winter, it’s gonna help us get the most of our sleep at night.

So, fun fact... If you have sleep trouble, catch the sunrise.

I know it feels like what, but it helps.

Good to know.

It’s no.

I’m not always an early riser.

So maybe this will help motivate me to start my days a little bit sooner.

Yeah, something worth trying.

Yeah, thank you.

Yeah.

You wanna go for a little trek in this beautiful forest here?

It’s a perfect day for it.

All right, cool.

Do you have any other recommendations or suggestions for folks who can, you know, to help them lean into the winter, um, in ways that might support their mental health and well being during this time?

The biggest lesson I’ve learned is that the cold is its own element, the cold is something to come into relationship to.

And there is a learning curve, right?

How do I dress?

How many layers do I need?

So, that is kind of the first thing is, like, getting some getting some support and s getting your base layers, you know, finding those layers that are gonna help you stay comfortable.

and then, how do you like to move?

Do you like to walk?

Do you like to go fast?

There is snow biking, there is skiing, there is people running snowshoes.

Right?

There’s ice fishing, yeah.

There’s ice climbing.

Right?

And so, there’s ways that you can find to move your body in a way that your body really enjoys.

And then also, you know, the day is short, and so listen to the intelligence, get rest, stay hydrated, like, the really basic things that we take for granted, and often then don’t do.

And so finding those ways and finding people to go out with.

People to be in companionship with.

It’s all just really important.

And yeah, trusting your instincts and trusting your your body.

Appreciate it.

Thank you, Tayla, for coming out and sharing, and yeah.

Should we race in these now?

Listen, I, we raced yesterday.

We did.

I’ll show you pictures are great.

They’re so good.

It’s gotta be silly.

Yeah, exactly.

It’s gotta be silly.

Cause you’re walking with strapped plastic to your feet.

Talking to Tayla helped me realize it’s not just enough to endure the winter, but that it’s important to savor it.

To find ways to enjoy the outdoors and to find the people you can enjoy the outdoors with.

Between the holidays and seasonal effective disorder, finding ways to care for myself and get outside in the winter.

is a journey that’s been years in the making.

But the more I push myself, the more excited I get for the season each year.

New skills to learn, old skills to hone.

New friends to make and old friends to reunite with on these adventures.

Makes each winter feel less like something I need to get through.

and feel a little more like something to look forward to.