‘Ice Climbers of Starved Rock’ ‘shines a light’ on state park in Ottawa premiere

Starved Rock State Park was the star of Saturday’s show at Roxy Cinemas in Ottawa.

“Ice Climbers of Starved Rock,” a 29-minute documentary that taps into the world of climbing frozen waterfalls at the park following Dave Everson, Wes Black and Bruce Turner, debuted to residents and community leaders Saturday.

Daniel Thomas, deputy director of the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, Office of Tourism, said he was thrilled with how the documentary highlights aspects of Starved Rock tourists and residents may not know.

“I think it shines a light on Starved Rock,” he said. “I think it tells a compelling story. I think people know Illinois for its plentiful outdoor experiences, but I’m not sure they understand entirely some of the activities they can do.”

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The stars of "Ice Climbers of Starved Rock" Wes Black (right), Dave Everson (middle) and Bruce Turner (left) autograph movie posters Saturday, Feb. 3, 2024, at the end of the first showing at Roxy Cinemas in Ottawa. (Kyle Russell)

Thomas said while not everyone is an ice climber, the documentary invites visitors to the park seasonally, not just in the summer.

Producer Matthew Klein and Kyle Petersen, the director and lead editor, are from Peru, are childhood friends and have filmed various projects together.

Petersen said they came up with the idea for the documentary in 2017, but didn’t begin filming until later.

“We’ve been filming for the past three years,” he said.

Petersen said the project began over the phone while he was lying in bed and Klein was in the McDonalds drive-thru. He said he thought they were talking about drones at the time.

“I called him and I was, like, ‘you know there are those guys that go out to Starved Rock and they climb the ice,’” he said. “What if we shot some photos or some video of it?”

He said it was nothing more than an idea until they went to the park and saw it firsthand. They both wanted to know more about the community and understand what went into ice climbing.

The film features interviews with Everson, Black and Turner, and dives into their backgrounds as they climb the park’s frozen falls. They explain the complexity of the sport and safety concerns for them and observers who stand too close to falling ice.

Turner, of Chicago, said as someone who enjoyed adventurous sports ice climbing it seemed like a natural progression. He is an avid rock climber and he enjoys skydiving.

“I had heard Starved Rock had waterfalls,” he said. “And it’s pretty much an extension of rock climbing.”

Everson, of Homer Glen, said he enjoys the challenge of the climb and the feeling of accomplishment. He began ice climbing after mountaineering and rock climbing. He even built his own gym to practice ice and rock climbing at home.

“I knew in mountaineering that being able to climb vertical ice would help tremendously,” he said. “The times I got very much off-route and had to climb into, like, [vertically] … it was very scary, but ice climbing helped make me a better mountaineer.”

Everson and Turner agree Wildcat Canyon is their favorite climb at the park.

“It’s the tallest,” Turner said, “and probably the most difficult. So, most climbers tend to gravitate towards that one.”

“It’s the fun one,” Everson said. “It’s big and it’s close to the lodge, so you have a lot of people coming in with questions. A lot of people just walk in amazed. It’s a lot of fun talking to people.”

Robert Navarro, president and CEO of Heritage Corridor Destinations, said the agency has been working to promote Starved Rock for all four seasons, and the documentary’s focus in the winter season is special.

“This documentary highlights a very unique, endurance-type sport,” he said. “And whether you’re a licensed climber or not, you can still come out and hear the sounds of the pick hitting the ice and the ice chunks falling.”

“It’s just an amazing experience to watch these climbers climb,” he added.

For information on the documentary or the park, visit www.starvedrockhikers.com.