Ice Climbing

1
Ice Climbing

• MITOC Winter School 2002
• jae H. Roh
• Jhroh_at_alum.mit.edu

2
Ice Climbing

• Why you should not ice climb
• Basic techniques
• Common mistakes
• Safety
• Efficiency
• Taking Care of Gear
• Taking Care of Yourself
• Gear and Clothing
• Where and when to climb

3
Hazards of Winter Climbing

• Winter, snow, cold, etc.
• Ice fall, rock fall, ice dams
• Crappy protection, long runouts
• Crampon catches during fall
• Bludgeon or impale by ice tools
• Avalanche

4
Basic Climbing Technique - Pick

• Aim Look for a pick placement
• Indentations or seams
• Not bulges they break off
• Reach high to maximize efficiency
• Fire Swing from shoulder, elbow, then finish
  with wrist snap
• Or simply Hook on features
• Listen!

5
Basic Climbing Technique Crampon

• Look for foot placement
• Balanced position
• Smaller steps than rock climbing
• Look for stems, ledges, other features
• Front pointing
• Heel down, to place all 4 front points
• Place foot, then dont move lifting shears out
  points
• Flat foot, aka French technique
• Stomp down
• Listen

6
Basic Climbing Technique sequence

• SWING
• Kick
• Kick
• Kick
• Kick
• SWING
• Kick
• Kick
• Kick
• Kick

7
Common Mistakes

• Moving on sketchy placements the tools and
  crampons are your self belay
• Pushing instead of swinging the tools let the
  tool do the work
• Heels too high drop heels for solid crampon
  placements
• Moving feet after setting crampons
• Butt in too close to ice hang off tools, butt
  out to kick
• Over gripping tools hang, rather than hold

8
Climbing Safely

• Wear a helmet at all times near the ice
• Keep your face away from the tools
• Where will the tool go if it pops out?
• Dont stack your feet
• Where will your crampon go if it slips?
• Dont glissade with crampons on
• Practice snow climbing and self arrest

9
Climbing efficiently

• Minimize tool placements
• Reach high to place tool, climb up until its
  below your head
• Stagger tool placements also avoids dinner
  plating and cold hands
• Exercises
• Climb with 1 tool
• Climb with no tools

10
Taking care of your gear tools screws

• Remove a stuck pick by working up and down only
• After removing an ice screw
• Clear the ice core immediately so it doesnt
  freeze in
• Tap the head of the screw or blow in
• Dont hit the threads or sharp end

11
Taking care of your gear rope

• Watch the rope when you swing a tool or kick
• The rope may also be behind you (top roping)
• Belayers dont pull in just as the climber is
  swinging
• Keep the rope off the snow
• Wet rope frozen rope
• (figure 8 works best for rapping on a frozen
  rope)
• Keep gear clipped things fall quietly on snow

12
Taking care of yourself Staying Warm

• Two climbers can share one parka
• Hands
• Experiment w/ handling gear with gloves
• Try windstopper gloves w/ light liners
• Practice! w/ mittens in living room
• Knots, tying in, belaying, clipping gear
• Keep hands below heart, relax grip
• Feet
• Dont bury your feet in snow
• Too many socks too tight poor circulation
  cold feet

13
Gear Ice tools

• Technical - Bent for clearance on vertical ice
• Alpine straight for snow climbing
• Length 50cm /- 10cm
• Picks
• Reverse curve (stinger, cobra)
• Normal curve (classic)
• Hammer v. Adze

14
Gear Crampons

• Most important to check fit with YOUR boots.
• Multiple sizes, different shapes
• Technical rigid, vertical front point better
  for hard waterfall ice
• Alpine flexible or semi-rigid, horizontal front
  point better for glaciers or snow
• Double front points more stable Mono points for
  thin or mixed
• Avoid extra attachment points (e.g. Mako
  lacerator)
• Anti-balling plates are good

15
Gear - Ice Screws

• Black Diamond, Express
• Grivel 360

16
Gear - Clothing

• Leave your fancy Gore-Tex at home
• Bring extra gloves
• Fit your harness over all your layers
• Hat should fit under helmet

17
Where to Climb

• Guidebook Rick Wilcox, An Ice Climbers Guide to
  Northern New England 2 ed. (3 ed. Due next
  season)
• Conditions
• http//www.neice.com
• http//www.chauvinguides.com

18
Me

• Jae H. Roh
• jhroh_at_alum.mit.edu