About

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 and Tim Farr 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 number of years. Since 2012 the festival has rapidly grown to offering more clinics, bigger raffles, harder drytool comps, big name presenters and much much more every year. Our 10th year is no different. This years festival is going to blow all previous years out of the water. It’s one you don;t want to miss!

Registration and Cancellation Policy

Clinic Registrations can be made online or by calling Petra Cliffs Climbing Center.

Clinic space is confirmed upon receipt of payment. Cancellations require 10 days written notice to receive a full refund of the total clinic cost. Do to the complexity if this event, cancellations with less than 10 days written notice or no shows will result in forfeit of full payment of clinic.

If you must cancel, please email [email protected] as soon as possible so that space in the clinic can be offered to other interested parties.

If you are unsure if you would be a good fit in a clinic, please do not hesitate to call and speak with one of our staff. We can be reached at (802) 657-3872

Payment Policy

100% of payment is required at time of reservation.

Reach us at:

Petra Cliffs Climbing Center and Mountaineering School
105 Briggs Street, Burlington, VT 05401

ph: (802) 657-3872
email: [email protected]