A great deal of mountain climbing takes place in higher altitudes and colder temperatures. These are hardly unrelated, after all. But the peak of that activity, pun intended, is ice climbing.
Ice climbing is just what it sounds like: climbing up frozen water. From places as accessible as the Canadian Rockies to as remote as the far reaches of the Himalayas, ice climbing represents some of the toughest challenges possible.
Many of the same techniques used in other styles of climbing are used. Top roping is still top roping, even when the anchor is placed in a sheet of thick ice. But the actual climb takes on a whole new dimension.
Boots, just to name one example, are different. Alpine climbing requires good leather or composite boots, often with an insulating layer. But ice climbing will usually require more than that for any extended climb. Outer wraps help keep ice and snow from leeching inside the boot. Crampons, spiked add-ons that clamp to the sole, are often essential.
Using the boots and feet takes on a different style, as well. One common technique involves chopping ice steps into low grades. But for the more common steeper climb a combination of actions is required.
Climbers kick the ice to stab a crampon into it for support at the lower point. At the upper point of the body an ice pick is used. A vigorous swing over the head builds up enough momentum to allow the pick to penetrate into the ice a half-inch or more. If the ice is solid (always a question with ice), it will provide a good toe and hand hold to allow the climber to ascend.
At the same time, pro is frequently put in place. But the protective devices used in ordinary climbing take on a very different aspect in ice climbing.
While single rope, double rope and twin rope ascents are still used, the pro used differs sharply. Ice screws are common. These hollow tubes have sharp teeth on one end and a hook at the back for attaching onto. They’re placed into the ice much as one would a bolt into a rock. Usable pre-existing cracks in ice are pretty rare.
Some pro is formed from the ice itself. Two common methods are the V-thread and the Bollard.
In the first case, a pair of holes are bored into the ice, their ends touching at a point inside. The structure thus makes a ‘V’. A sling is then threaded into the ‘V’ and attached to rope and harness. The ice used is often thick and strong enough to support the weight of a large man with little risk of cracking and letting go.
In the second technique, a kind of saddle horn is carved in the ice and the sling is slung or a rope wrapped over the resulting horseshoe-shaped ice. Here again the ice may well be strong enough to support a climber and his partner.
The possible downside of this, or any technique used in ice climbing is the very unpredictable nature of the medium. Heated by sunrays, shifted invisibly by molecular forces or simply under the weight of a climber, ice can give way.
Judging the odds of it doing so at the wrong moment is part and parcel of what makes ice climbers truly the hardy adventurers their reputations suggest. But when done successfully, there are few climbing experiences more thrilling.
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