Michigan's Upper Peninsula Travel Blog

It’s been a pretty calm week here in Munising. We haven’t had any new snowfall in the past few days until today. The temperatures have been on a roller coaster for the week with extreme cold for a few days and then a couple warmer days. We’re back to cold and blowing snow today, but this weekend is supposed to be really nice with the temp. in the mid-20s. It was very deceiving, earlier in the week, seeing the sunshine and blue skies but the temperatures were in the single digits and well below zero at night. On Wednesday, it felt like a heat wave with the temperature in the teens and sunny.

This weekend is the Michigan Ice Fest, which I blogged about last week. There should be plenty of ice for the climbers and decent weather. Come on out and see what ice climbing is all about!

Speaking of ice climbing, this year’s Munising Winterfest, Feb.20-22, will have an ice-climbing tower. Instructors will be on hand for demonstrations and it’s a great way to try this winter sport. The 24′ tower is currently under construction in the Moose Lodge parking lot and I’ve posted a picture below. If you’re in the area and see this unusual structure now you know!

With Wednesday’s warmer weather, I took a short stroll around town and posted some pictures below. The snow banks are big and we’re only a couple inches from meeting our yearly average. The snow gods have been good to us!

SNOW REPORT (city of Munising)
 Total snowfall 2008-2009: 145.4″
Snow depth: 30″ 
*outside of the city… over 4 feet of snow on the ground!

Bayshore Park in the winter and the fall

Looking north over Munising Bay. Lots of ice shacks and ice as far as you can see.

The snow banks have been cleared in downtown Munising.Corner of Elm Ave and E. Superior St.

Ice climbing tower under construction and will be completed by Winterfest Feb. 20-22nd.

The 2009 Michigan Ice Fest is a very unique event that will take place next weekend, Jan. 30th through Feb. 1st, in Munising. The Ice Fest is all about ice climbing and is open to everyone! Climbers from around the Midwest and of all skill level will be in the area to climb the many beautiful ice formations in the Munising area. With Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore’s huge rocky cliffs, water runs down the walls and creates an ice climber’s paradise. The Ice Fest will be featuring skill demonstrations, slideshows, product testing and much more all set in the beautiful Upper Peninsula. If you’ve always wanted to try ice climbing, this is the perfect way! There will be free shuttle service to designated spots as well as equipment available for checkout, if you don’t already have your own. In Munising, Sydney’s Restaurant is considered the “base camp” and many events will be happening there, too. So pack your bags and travel up for Ice Fest!

Visit the rest of Explore Munising to learn about area amenities and things to do. Check out the Down Wind Sports website for the Ice Fest schedule of events and a downloaded program.

Enjoy your weekend!

Ice Climber

Group of ice climbers and last year's Ice Fest.

With Munising being known as a winter paradise, it’s definitely the place to be in the coming weeks. Many unique and fun events are on the horizon and now is the time to mark your calendars to make a trip to the U.P.!

A new event for Munising is happening February 20-22th and it’s called “Winterfest.” The main highlight of Winterfest is the finish of the Midnight Run dog sled race on Saturday morning. In previous years, this 91-mile race finished outside of town but many area folks rallied hard to get the finish moved to downtown Munising. If you’ve never seen dogsledding it’s truly a unique experience. Besides the dogsledding, there will be a variety of other events. More information on this fun weekend will be posted later as the date approaches.

Another unique event, only a few weeks away, is the Michigan Ice Fest. The ice fest is all about ice climbing! With Munising’s splendid waterfalls and rock cliffs, the freezing temperatures create huge ice formations to be scaled ice climbers. The ice fest includes demos, presentations and workshops. Stay tuned for more info!

Other events for February include a chili fest, 2 fishing derbies, snowmobile racing and the annual outhouse races in Trenary (that’s right… outhouses). Visit the events page to see all of Munising’s events.

If you’re wondering about the weather….it…is…COLD! It’s currently 9 degrees with a wind chill of -7 degrees. Last night we received around 6 inches of new snow which is being whipped around today. Visibility, even in town, is really poor. On the ground, there’s close to 3 feet of snow with even more in the outlying areas. This winter has been more like a typical U.P. winter than the last few but it’s why I live here.

Jan 13, 2009 - Blowing snow and wind sums up today's weather

First off. Happy New Year! May the new year be good to you. Not much has changed in the last two weeks around Munising. It still looks and feels like winter around here with almost 2 feet of snow on the ground. We haven’t had any big snow storms lately. Just a few inches of new snow every couple days. The area snowmobile trails and cross-country ski trails are being groomed regularly and conditions are prime. Munising Bay was frozen a week ago but a strong north and then south wind, over the last couple days, has broken up much of the ice on the bay. It is not safe!

This Saturday, January 10th, is the 3rd annual ski bash at Valley Spur (just a few short miles from Munising). This fun event offers a variety of cross-country ski events for everyone! Choose between the 24K Big Foot’s Revenge or the 12 K Locomotive Chase / Huff-n-Puff.

Valley Spur Ski Bash 2009 – January 10, 2009 details:

Choose your event:  12K or 24K Classic events, or the 24K Freestyle event. Awards will be presented to the 1st, 2nd & 3rd place finishers in each of the three events.

Start Time /Location: – All participants in each of the events need to be ready for a 10:00 a.m. shotgun start at the Valley Spur Ski Lodge.

Finish Location: All events finish back at the Valley Spur Ski Lodge.

Awards: Award ceremony will follow the event at approximately 1:30 p.m. and will be held at the Falling Rock Café in Munising.

Packet Pickup: Packets will be available for pickup on the day of race beginning at 8:00 a.m. till 9:30 a.m. in the Valley Spur Ski Lodge.

Registration: Registrations will be taken up to 9:30 a.m. on day of race in the Valley Spur Ski Lodge. Pre-registration is appreciated. Visit the Valley Spur website for registration.

So come to Munising this weekend for some outdoor winter fun! Take a minute to visit the rest of our website to see all of what Munising has to offer.