Ice Beginners

Unfortunately I can offer no help with the ice climbing questions. I've only done it once, and I promptly decided it wasn't for me. A friend made a funny little video about it, though, that I'll post on the site. It might provide a good chuckle. Let's just say that swinging around sharp tools in the cold wasn't my gig.

Dear Whitney and Katie,
I hearby sentence yee both to one day's hard labor lugging rucksacks up into the Vail amphitheater wherein yee shall both toast marshmallows by the fire, drink single malt scotch and get pumped silly dry-tooling steep limestone on a brilliant winters day followed by pints (and burgers) all around. Prithee recant then thy vile testimony (forsooth! swinging around sharp tools in the cold wasn't my gig") which is an abomination in the eyes of the Ice Goddess lest thee be sentenced to further deprivations in the Canyon of Ouray nay you find yourselves without a stitch on thereafter submerged in the Hot Springs of Orvis, the red wine of Lord Bacchus tilting from silliness in thy glass. Come into the fold sisters! Embrace unto thy bosoms the Fusion, the Nomic, the Monster, adorn thyselves with the latest in four season apparel, gird thy loins with thine Petzl sport rigs and set forth with a strong helm and Fruit Boots tipped with bits of pointy metal! Hark! The Goddess of ice and snow crawls to us on all fours to envelop our puny beings, her skin pale blue, her breath like an arctic dawn...

Let us welcome her!

Signed,

Rob a.k.a. Sid the Sloth

Okay now that I have that out of my system...

You are right, ice climbing gear is expensive so don't buy any. Most people have good winter clothes from snowboarding or skiing so other than those and your harness which you already have from rock climbing you are set. You will need boots, so buy or rent these and they must fit or you will not enjoy life. Most shops get stuck with smaller women's sizes and blow them out cheap so you are likely to be in luck there. You also need a helmet but this and tools plus crampons you can borrow from whoever takes you out. And you will need somemone to take you out. Rockclimbing? Buy shoes, maybe a chalk bag, go to bouldering area, go climbing. Not so with ice. A little sound instruction goes a long way.

So, is it scary? Yup. But so is driving on I-25.

Just dropping in on the new ice thread. If you are just starting out buddy up with an experenced ice climber. Lots more fun when you start with a little knowledge on conditions ect. Helmets are a must and warm boots make the day! Shades are a great idea to keep the ice out. Just make sure the harness you are using will adjust to the extra layers you will be using. Focus on using the features for your foot placements and remember, you wont have the same "feel" when using tools and crampons. Try learning to hook with the tools early on to save your strength. Lots of great gear out there so just try everything you can get your hands on before starting to spend the cash. Good luck!

Whitney, Go to the Ouray Ice Festival (or other local ice event). If you are on the ball, you can try every tool, crampon, and clothing system out there before investing in what must be the most dollar intensive outdoor sport behind resort skiing... Happy swinging!

Ice Climbing = the most dollar intensive outdoor sport!?!

Not so. I recently priced out randonee ski gear, whoa! Don't even get me started on how much it costs to put a decent rock rack together. From what I've seen many climbers in Colorado spend on weed each month what I drop on climbing gear for a whole year.

Like I said you will already have your rig and you should be wearing a helmet anyway for rock if you are a beginner. That leaves tools, boots and crampons. With a pair of used or sale boots you could get a set of new tools for $300 or less (Grivel Monsters, Trango Scorpions, BD Reactors) crampons $150 or hunt for good used. This is expensive? How much was it last time you filled up your SUV? What's you monthly cell phone bill?

After that the ice is free other than the ride.

Ouray is a good Festival, that is a good suggestion. The vendors are usually set up by Friday morning so if you show up bright eyed and bushy tailed you get first crack at all the toys.

I'll be there, qualifying for the mixed final on January 10 or 11.

Anyway, climbing in winter isn't about gear, it's about a passion for being out in the mountains in winter, it's about sending with your good mates, it's about the freedom to move through the mountains, the beauty of a truly magnificent line. Dig it...

Think about it. Willo Welzenbach guided the great ice faces of the Lauterbrunnen wall in the 1930s cutting thousands of steps with HIS ONE GOOD ARM, the other having been weakened by tuberculosis (or polio). No ice screws, no nylon ropes, just a simple axe.

So it ain't about gear, passion rather.

Is the Ouray Ice Festival a good place to try out gear? I was afraid the area might be too crowded during the festival and it would be tough for total beginners to get toprope time on the easy routes? I did one easy alpine ice/mixed route this season (Dream Weaver Couloir) with borrowed tools and had a blast! I hope to get my own gear and get out a lot more this winter and spring.

Crowds are relative I suppose, Shawangunks = crowded; Ouray = not as crowded as you might think. The vendors have a limited volume of gear to let so it is first come first serve which means an early start is advised. Last year the Petzl tent looked pretty mobbed probably because of the new Nomic tools, I did notice that most people arrived Friday afternoon so Friday or even Thursday will be a good time to show up and try gear. There is an immense amount of farmed ice in the Ice Park, I was pretty surprised at just how much terrain there is so you should be able to let some tools and crampons, hike down into the canyon and if you are friendly sort of bloke wander around and catch rides on other people's top-ropes. (For Christ's sake wear your helmet!) Plus the mixed competitions will interest you to watch as you can observe the state of ice climbing. Finally there are clinics you can sign up for, there was a charge for these last year and reports I got from folks staying at the inn I was at were a bit mixed on how useful these are/were. They are run by the vendors and use their staff, one gal who signed up to do a course topic with a certain famous lady climber ended up taking a class with another individual that presented an entirely different climbing topic, she wasn't to happy about this last-minute switcharoo so be advised.

Thanks you guys! Hopefully I will be able to try things out this winter. The Ouray Ice Festival sounds like a lot of fun! I will look into that for sure.

Prego.

Very interesting. Thanks!

Right, wife-swapping aside (now there's a thought) things here in Colorado are shaping up very nicely. The storms of several weeks back dumped a fair amount of snow and the mountains particularly in the San Juans at the moment. On my recon'hike up into the Park last week I saw a fair amount of ice up high although the warm temperatures since then have pounded the lower elevation stuff. Lots of drip, drip though so when things turn colder (Sunday, so I hear)things should snap right into place. This is a good time to get the kit out of the closet and replace worn picks, disassemble and clean/oil ice tools and crampons and so on. If you haven't been doing much conditioning-wise I would also suggest hitting the fingerboard, the first time I used the rack this Fall I was sore for three days. Now I hardly notice it.