DexterIce Climbing
June 9th 2008 06:11
The Scaling Falls of Crystal Glaciers.
Going up a waterfall
Mountaineering in any of its forms instantly qualifies as an extreme activity, of the varied disciplines within the sport ice climbing appears to be the most radical. The physical demands placed on the climber are as strenuous as any past-time.
How's the view upside there
There are two separate pursuits within the sport Alpine Ice and Water Ice Tackling cliff faces, frozen waterfalls/icefalls and any other formerly flowing liquid is Water Ice. Alpine Ice is Glaciers and any object of size shrouded in the deadly freeze.
Long way to the top
To scale these slippery monuments participants use a variety of equipment from the atypical, ropes, pulleys and harnesses to specially designed ice axes and other tools of assistance.
Searching for the Monolith
Watching the keen few who brave the environment to ascend the sub zero towers is exciting and suspenseful with the obvious dangers never far from mind.
Climber X
Here is the graded categories of Ice Climbing locations in the Canadian Rockies where the best examples of the sport can be found. (From Wikepedia)
WI2 - low-angled (60 degree consistent ice), with good technique can be easily climbed with one ice axe
WI3 - generally sustained in the 60-70 degree range with occasional near-vertical steps up to 4 metres (Cascade Waterfall, Banff; This House of Sky, Ghost River)
WI4 - near-vertical steps of up to 10 metres, generally sustained climbing requiring placing protection screws from strenuous stances (Professor's Falls, Banff; Weeping Wall Left, Icefields Parkway, Banff; Silk Tassle, Yoho; Moonlight & Snowline, Kananskis)
WI4 - highly technical WI4, notoriously as "hard" as WI5 or even WI6! (Wicked Wanda, Ghost River)
WI5 - near-vertical or vertical steps of up to 20 metres, sustained climbing requiring placing multiple protection screws from strenuous stances with few good rests (Carlsberg Column, Field; The Sorcerer, Ghost River; Bourgeau Left Hand, Banff)
WI5 - highly technical WI5, often "harder" than WI6 (Oh le Tabernac, Icefield Parkway; Hydrophobia, Ghost River; Sacre Bleu, Banff)
WI6 - vertical climbing for the entire pitch (e.g. 30-60 metres) with no rests. Requires excellent technique and/or a high level of fitness (The Terminator, Banff; Nemesis, Kootenay Park; Whiteman Falls, Kananaskis Country; Riptide, Banff)
WI6 - vertical or overhanging with no rests, and highly technical WI6 (French Maid, Yoho; French Reality, Kootenay Park)
WI7 - sustained and overhanging with no rests. Extremely rare, near-mythical, and widely accepted testpiece examples of this grade don't exist in the Canadian Rockies. Note that many routes (e.g. Sea of Vapours, Banff; Riptide, Icefield Parkway, Banff) have been assigned WI7- to WI7 but have been subsequently downgraded in fatter years as they don't meet the strict criteria of steepness. In fact some local ice climbers have argued for Sea of Vapours (WI7 originally) to be downgraded to WI5 or even WI4 simply because it's not steep enough.
See Alpinist's Climbing Grades section for a variation on this discussion: Really Long Link
Mixed ice grading
Roughly follows the WI rating system with respect to its physical and technical demands. Typically starts at M4. Subgrades of "-" and " " are commonly used, although the distinctions are typically very subjective. The following table makes a comparison with the WI system and the Yosemite Decimal System. Comparing these is rough, and only gives an idea of the relative difficulty; the reason different systems exist in the first place is because it's difficult to compare grades between climbing media.
From Wikipedia here is the graded categorising of Ice Climbing
M4 - 5.8 - WI4 - slabby to vertical, some technical drytooling
M5 - 5.9 - WI5 - some sections of sustained drytooling
M6 - 5.10 - WI6 - vertical to overhanging with some difficult drytooling
M7 - 5.11 - WI7 - overhanging, powerful and technical drytooling, <10 m of "hard" climbing
M8 - 5.11 - bouldery or longer cruxes than M7, some horizontal overhangs
M9 - 5.12- - vertical or steeper with sustained marginal or highly technical drytooling; or horizontal and juggy for up to a few body lengths.
M10 - 5.12
M11 - 5.12
M12 - 5.13-
Trailer for the ice climbing movie Beyond Gravity
Professionals talk about the importance of the right gear
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