Smugglers’ Notch Ice Bash
The 18th Annual Smuggs Ice Bash
Thank you to everyone for an awesome 17th Smuggs Ice Bash in 2024. We look forward to bringing you the 2025 Smuggs Ice Bash from January 24-26, 2025!
Please visit the Smuggs Ice Bash website www.smuggsicebash.com or the Facebook page for the most recent updates on the event.
Friday Night Drytooling Competition
On Friday, January 26, the 13th annual Drytooling Competition took place at Petra Cliffs Climbing Center in Burlington, VT. It was a friendly but fierce indoor competition getting its energy from DJ Kanganade, and spectators cheering on the competitors.
Thank you to our competitors for their courage, strength and skill, and endurance!
Results
| Place | Women's | Time | High Point |
| 1 | Lindsay Hastings | 4:16 | metal ring on blue volume |
| 2 | Rebecca Lewis | 3:59 | well established on orange double jug on roof |
| 3 | Alexis Robarge | 2:55 | one tool briefly on orange double jug |
| 4 | Casey Ogden | 4:26 | purple volume |
| 5 | Demery Coppola | 3:18 | metal pearls |
| Place | Men's | Time | High Point |
| 1 | Brian O'Leary | 3:59 | 2nd green volume on boards |
| 2 | Greg Love | 4:15 | 1st green volume on boards |
| 3 | JC Dubeau | 5:59 | last hold on roof (clipped last quickdraw on roof) |
| 4 | Zac St. Jules | 5:56 | last hold on roof (didn't clip) |
| 5 | Josh Worley | 3:11 | 2nd wood icicle |
| 6 | Summit Sularz | 4:38 | 1st wood icicle |
| 6 | Marty Theriault | 4:38 | 1st wood icicle |
| 7 | Christian DuBois | 4:06 | 1st clip on roof |
| 8 | Ethan Edwards | 3:17 | stein on roof (no clip) |
| 9 | Jacob Matos | 2:27 | last hold before roof |
| 10 | Patrick Cooke | 2:54 | last hold before roof |
| 11 | Justin Chuang | 2:58 | Stein |
| 12 | Ethan Edwards | 3:17 | Stein |
| 13 | Zack Cleary | 3:33 | Placing tool on stein |
| 14 | Dan Levitch | 2:09 | Hold after PVC icicle |
| 15 | Justin Tremblay | 3:25 | PVC icicle |
| 16 | Nathan Fry | 3:41 | PVC icicle |
Register for a Smuggs Ice Bash Clinic
2025 Ice Bash clinics will open in October, 2024.
Saturday Evening Presentations
SO many thanks to:
Our local presenter, Dr. Elizabeth Burakowski, who presented the "Freeze/Thaw" film and her research and narrative about climate change, how it will affect the climbing and guiding community, and things we can do to slow the impact.
Our keynote speaker, Aaron Mulkey, presenting "Balance," who provided a deep, raw look into his own life and how we can all strive to prioritize our passions, family and work. Thanks to Aaron for joining up with clinics and sprinkling a little of his wisdom and stoke to everyone!
Thank you to the Cambridge Community Center for providing us with a place to gather!
Weekend Venue
The Cambridge Community Center (Cambridge, VT)
Gear demos, presentations, clinics, and more, Saturday & Sunday January 26-28.
Vendors & Sponsors
It is all of the vendors who bring their fleet of gear & expertise and the sponsors who make this event possible. Check out smuggsicebash.com for the lineup of sponsors and supporters.
Smuggs Ice Bash History
A brief history: The Smuggs Ice Bash was born in 2005 thanks to local climber Alden Pellett, who collaborated with Doug Millen of Northeast Ice to try and rally a festival in Smuggler's Notch, Vermont-- an area rich with rock and ice climbing history. As Pellett writes, "The Notch has been climbed heavily since the 70's with many unrecorded routes having been done... Bouchard…Zajchowski… It is also good to note that Fritz Weissner resided in Stowe during the later years of his life. Many unrecorded aid lines exist. Climbers exploring "new" ground should not find it surprising to come across an old soft ring piton or moss-filled pin scars. Despite the hardmen that have explored the area, however, Smuggler's Notch remains an untapped resource for futuristic climbing that will yield numerous first ascents over the next few years as tools and styles evolve further."
Over the first few years of the Ice Bash, Bert Severin of Sunrise Adventure Sports became more involved, and eventually supervised the management of the Ice Bash. With the number of attendees, vendors, and clinic offerings multiplying, the Ice Bash outgrew its original venue. In the spirit of friendly and fun competition, the festival added an indoor drytooling competition at the local climbing gym, Petra Cliffs, drawing a crowd of 200+ people from the Burlington area that otherwise may not have been part of the ice climbing festival. A busy personal life led Bert to seek out new management of the Ice Bash, and he approached Steve and Andrea Charest, owners of Petra Cliffs, in October 2012. Petra Cliffs excitedly took over management of the Ice Bash, with help from many of the regulars who have made the Ice Bash successful over the past years.
The Ice Bash has a Facebook page to interact with participants, keeping them informed and inspired, a website, an Instagram account, more clinics, and other fresh ideas-- we hope to continue to grow the participation in the greatest winter festival in Vermont, and we could not do it without our vendors, local venues, participants, guides and volunteers!