That's a Wrap!

What a weekend! Wild weather, a slew of stoked climbers, and high energy celebration! Thanks for everyone who came out and for supporting the festival, you're the best!

1. Festival Recap

2. Supporters & Sponsors

3. Outland Photo Contest Winners

4. Survey & Other Bits

1. Festival Recap

Friday evening kicked off with some pretty wild weather - lightning in February! Despite how ominous it was, climbers showed up, stoked for brews and good company. Additionally, we were all surprised by the wild ice photobooth from Brush With the North!

Along with brews and fun, we were also treated with a special presentation and viewing from Hobnails & Hemp Rope - thanks for coming friends!

Saturday, we were up bright and early... mostly early, since the weather was gnar! Guides and volunteers held fast and made sure things ran smoothly, and climbers kept stoke high with their ability to find humor in the weather. We can't thank everyone enough for keeping spirits high and having a good laugh! You're tough folk!

In an act of mercy, mother nature decided we had enough rain, and cleared the weather in the afternoon, providing us with sticky ice and comfortable temps!

The evening went as smoothly as it could have possibly gone, with some killer drinks from Churchkey, an inspiring slideshow from Jen Olson, and a stacked raffle! Once again, The Arlington is the place to be in Maynooth for Saturday evenings!

Sunday was gave us splitter weather, with a deep freeze that froze the lake overnight, and just below zero temps throughout the day - the sun made an appearance too!

The cold temps overnight laminated all the climbs again, and even added several inches to others! Overall, the weather was perfect - fun was had and axes were swung :).

Photo: Ariel Estulin (www.arielestulin.com)

2. Festival Sponsors & Supporters

SOIceFest would not be possible without our generous sponsors and supporters! We rely on sponsors to help with raffle prizes, cover event costs, provide equipment and accommodation, and add little details to the event that make it special. We'd like to take a moment again to recognize them - they're doing this for you guys and gals, and the community!

Sponsors:

Title Sponsors:

Local Partners:

3. Outland Photo Contest Winners!

Thanks for everyone who participated in our photo contest this year! We received over 100 entries - we're super stoked you were out there having fun taking photos!

As with any photo contest, it's almost impossible to objectively rank one photo to be "better" than the other. We did our best to pick the ones we thought fit these guidelines the best though!:

technical value (how well it's composed, exposed, and edited - relative to the equipment available)
how well it represents the vibe of the festival this year
the relative effort put into taking the shot
the story/thought behind the photo

Without further adieu, here's our winners!

1st: @tony.clemenza9

2nd: @dustin.jj

3rd: @ariel.estulin

"Getting wet and wild at the southern Ontario ice festival.

"Matty leading his way up Tammy Baker at Diamond Lake.A perfect day of ice climbing with great friends." — "Matty leading his way up Tammy Baker at Diamond Lake.
A perfect day of ice climbing with great friends."

"Heading back to camp after an awesome afternoon ice climbing on Diamond lake.

Thanks to everyone who participated! If you're still itching for some ice gear, make sure to head over to Outland Adventure Gear and use the promo code "getice" for 25% off ice and winter gear!

4. Survey & Other Bits

We want to make the festival as great as it can possibly be - so we'd love to hear from you! Your feedback will help us plan for future events and.... well, make them more fun!

Oh - and there's prizes of course! Two (2) random people who complete the survey will also receive a year membership to Gripped Climbing Magazine!