Park Point ice ridges call out to climbers

If you build it, they will come. When Lake Superior builds up 15-foot high ice ridges on Park Point, adventurous people will climb those ridges. Our neighborhood here has become a minor tourist destination for the adrenaline addicts and photographers. 

As a father of boys, I was pretty nervous about the young men in the photo above. I just assumed they were young men. The wind was still howling off of the lake and these supposed dudes looked like they were at the edge of wild icy oblivion. 

 
I made it up to that crest this morning, and was relieved to see that it dropped down to more ice and some smaller ridges below. You'll have to accept the above highly-cropped photo as proof of my own dudeliness.
 
It felt totally safe up on top, except for the slope of ice crystals, both slippery and rough. The possibility of road rash from sliding down the very rough slope was sobering. 

Maybe it was to amp up the adrenaline factor, but somebody rode along the ridges on their mountain bike this morning. Dude.

Do it yourself, dude

Easiest way to reach these ridges is from the public access at Lake Avenue and 12th Street, aka "The S-Curve." It's about six blocks past Duluth's Aerial Lift Bridge, on the left.