Photo by Greg Rakozy
Ice Climbing is to climb an upward surface made of ice like glaciers or frozen waterfalls with crampon and ice axe. There are many kinds of ice climbing from a mild incline to a vertical slope and each one have to be done by its proper gears. Ice Climbing is a very dangerous activity and there is no room for mistakes. Skills, good body condition, training, proper gears and experience are very important for a safe climb.
Ice climbers usually use rappelling to get down. Rappel or Abseiling is to descend a vertical surface like a cliff by using a rope and wrapping it around the body or use a technical device like a rack.
Ice climbing can be on the artificial indoor surface or on natural mountain environment like icefalls. It has many grades from WI2 to WI7 and use of “+” indicates a higher level than its typical.
Ice Climbing in Vancouver, British Columbia (BC), Canada has various kinds of choices from easy climbs or first ascents like Tumbler Ridge to technical ice climbing like Whistler, Marble Canyon or Golden on the Rocky Mountains.
The necessary things you need to have for ice climbing depends on the difficulty, grades, weather and route length but for instance some of them are Climbing Boots, Base Layer, Pants, Waterproof Pants, Mid Layer, Jacket, Fleece, Waterproof Jacket with Hood, extra Socks, Bandana, Waterproof Gloves, Sun Hat, Warm Hat, Gaiters, extra Boot Lace, Backpack, Climbing Guide, Compass, GPS, Head Lamp or Flash Light, Multi-Function Watch, Cell Phone, extra Batteries, backup Battery, First Aid Kit, Sun Glasses, Knife or Multi Tools , Lighter and Matches, Sunscreen, Lip Balm, Duct Tape, Water, Energy Bar, Rope, Poles, Ice Axe, Crampons, Carabiners, Ice Screws, Quick Draws, Screwgate Carabiner, Daisy Chain, Belay-Rappel Device, Sling, Cash…
Most popular companies to supply ice climbing gears are: LA Sportiva, Arc’teryx, Black Diamond, Patagonia, Hyperlight Mountain Gear, The North Face, Millet, Lowa, Mountain Hardwear, Petzl, Mammut, Scarpa, Garmont, Rab, Stubai, Singing Rock, Kong, Ice Rock, Grivel, Furnace Industries, Eliteclimb, Edelrid, E-Climb, Climbing Technology, DMM, Austri Alpin, …
Photo by Greg Rakozy
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