How to start ice climbing?

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Cragcloud

Trad climber
Denmark
Topic Author's Original Post - Jan 24, 2019 - 01:30am PT
Hi all

Being a rather experienced ice climber I often get the question, how and where should I start?

For that reason I have made a short video explaining five things I believe a beginner should know before they start ice climbing.

Watch https://youtu.be/6jQRf7MYRww if you are interested :)

And what would be your biggest questions if you were to start ice climbing?
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Jan 24, 2019 - 03:33am PT
Go to Ouray, Co. during the Ice Festival. You’ll be able to take clinics from real pros and demo gear from nearly thirty vendors. There are over 180 climbs within walking distance of good expresso and micro brewery beer.
sween345

climber
back east
Jan 24, 2019 - 04:06am PT

How do they get the rope up there?
fear

Ice climber
hartford, ct
Jan 24, 2019 - 04:30am PT
A lot of ice is very remote, if yer new start on stuff close to a road/vehicle or rescue.... Ouray is just about the perfect setup.
Stewart Johnson

Mountain climber
lake forest
Jan 24, 2019 - 06:36am PT
Learning to climb hacked ice with holes and steps is not a good start
Unclimbed ice is the prize


AP

Trad climber
Calgary
Jan 24, 2019 - 07:31am PT
Tami Knight made some good cartoons about ice climbers.
She would suggest starting with a lobotomy
donini

Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
Jan 24, 2019 - 08:36am PT
Yeah, it’s expensive to get started but the gear lasts a long time. You need to learn to ice climb if you want to venture into the alpine and not squander a lifetime being just a rock climber.
When I say “alpine” I’m not referring to Dana, Conness, the Incredible Hulk etc.

Although a life squandered climbing just rock isn't a half bad idea and can increase your longevity.
tradmanclimbs

Ice climber
Pomfert VT
Jan 24, 2019 - 08:48am PT
any of the ice fests are a way to get started or you could just Solo Widows Tears like Vitaly!. The kit is pretty steep but it's better than gym climbing all winter ;)
Gunkie

Trad climber
Valles Marineris
Jan 24, 2019 - 08:54am PT
To paraphrase a saying in surfing,

"If you don't ice climb, don't start"

And not for the same reasons...
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 24, 2019 - 09:00am PT
I thought one started at the bottom?
briham89

Big Wall climber
santa cruz, ca
Jan 24, 2019 - 09:19am PT
^^beat me to it as well
hamie

Social climber
Thekoots
Jan 24, 2019 - 11:26am PT
^^^^^^$5K???

The cost of ice climbing seems to have kept up with the rising cost of university tuition!!

We started out with a combo of summer gear, and some new ice stuff. Soft boots and an MSR axe from the summer, and some new items from Lowe.

....Lowe Footfangs $75-?
....Lowe Bigbird $75-?
....Lowe's book on how to climb ice $20-?
....4 or 5 screws $100-?


The MSR is the orange axe, the Bigbird is the blue blur.
Somehow it all worked.

Hi to Mal Al :)
AP

Trad climber
Calgary
Jan 24, 2019 - 12:49pm PT
It may have worked just not very well.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 24, 2019 - 12:52pm PT
Anybody that used an MSR on real ice gets my respect,
and sympathy.
ecdh

climber
the east
Jan 24, 2019 - 01:06pm PT
i advise people to not get into ice climbing. if they happily accept my reasoning they were never going to get far with it anyway.
climbing ice is so absurd that applied logic is only a hindrance.
fear

Ice climber
hartford, ct
Jan 24, 2019 - 01:06pm PT
FWIW, you can get a set of great used Quarks for $300 or less... Buy new boots and rigid pons figure ~$700.

Done.

Don't buy any screws until you've followed someone... a lot...
Bethesda

Trad climber
Bethesda
Jan 24, 2019 - 01:19pm PT
Wiley's Slide!! And you can do it with one axe --probably could get rental boots in North Conway although still have to buy crampons (could possibly find used ones)

And if you don't like the sport, you can go back to rock or plastic -- e.g., my significant other, who didn't care for the frozen fingers or for being hit in the face by shards of falling ice.

tradmanclimbs

Ice climber
Pomfert VT
Jan 24, 2019 - 01:27pm PT
it was crazy expensive when I got into it in the early 80s. Probobly paied pretty close to $100.00 for my chiounard ax but I made 7 bucks an hour...
the Fet

climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
Jan 24, 2019 - 01:39pm PT
I've only been ice climbing a couple times. I rented gear (boots, axes, crampons) and top roped with my rock climbing gear.

I live in California where there's great skiing but limited ice climbing, and I prefer skiing to ice climbing, so I learned that it was really fun, but something I didn't want to dedicate the time to pursue.
Mungeclimber

Trad climber
Nothing creative to say
Jan 24, 2019 - 02:02pm PT
SQUANDER SQUANDER!!! Lol
Messages 1 - 20 of total 57 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
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