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Ice climbing is a climbing discipline that involves ascending routes consisting of frozen water. To ascend the route, the ice climber uses specialist equipment, particularly double ice axes (or the more modern ice tools) and rigid crampons. To protect the route, the ice climber uses steel ice screws that require skill to employ safely and rely on the ice holding firm in any fall. Ice climbing routes can vary significantly by type, and include seasonally frozen waterfalls, high permanently frozen alpine couloirs, and large hanging icicles (or ice-daggers).
From the 1970s, ice climbing developed as a standalone skill from alpine climbing (where ice climbing skills are used on ice and snow). Ice climbing grades peak at WI6 to WI7 as ice tends to hang vertically at its most severe. WI7 is very rare and usually attributed to long routes of sheer vertical ice with serious risk issues (i.e. unstable ice, little protection, and a risk of death). Mixed climbing has pushed the technical difficulty of ice climbing routes by crossing bare rock overhangs and roofs (using ice tools on bare rock is called dry-tooling).
Since 2002, the UIAA have regulated competition ice climbing, which is offered in a lead climbing format on an artificial bolted wall that employs dry-tooling techniques (e.g. stein pulls and figure-four moves), and in a speed climbing format that uses a standardized wall of real ice. Since 2010, ice climbers at Helmcken Falls in Canada have been able to use the unique characteristics of the waterfall to create new severely overhanging bolted ice climbing routes, that are graded up to WI13, and are possibly the hardest ice climbs in the world.
Ice climbing involves using specific pieces of specialized equipment, namely ice tools and crampons, to ascend routes consisting of frozen water ice. As with rock climbing, ice climbing can be done as free climbing (i.e. no additional artificial or mechanical device to aid progression outside of the ice tools and crampons), and performed in pairs, where the lead climber places protection into the route as they ascend. The second climber (or belayer), removes this temporary climbing protection as they climb the route after the lead climber has reached the top.[1][2]
In contrast to rock climbing, the type of protective equipment used when leading ice climbing routes, is mainly specialized steel ice screws.[1][2] Ice screws are complex pieces of equipment to use properly, and given that the condition of the ice can change materially over time (including constantly breaking off),[3] the seriousness of leading an ice climbing route is considered to be far greater than that of a traditional rock climbing route.[1][2] For example, while an intermediate ice climber could top rope a WI4-graded ice climb, leading WI4-graded route is a far more serious undertaking.[2] In contrast to rock climbing, "the leader must not fall" is part of ice climbing.[2][4] Ice climbing can also be done as free solo climbing, which is an even risker undertaking.[5]
Ice climbing was developed as part of alpine climbing, where it is still a key component of the alpinist's skill set.[6] Where the ice climbing route does not fully consist of ice, and has elements of bare rock, it is known as mixed climbing. Where there is no ice whatsoever, it is known as dry-tooling.[1][2] Because mixed climbing and dry-tooling routes can be fully bolted, like sport climbing routes, they have become popular as safer alternatives.[5]
Ice climbing can take on a broad range of routes. A common type of ice route is a frozen waterfall, particularly one that cascades down a mountain face or a down-mountain gully. Ice climbing routes can also take the form of high alpine couloirs that are permanently frozen year-round. Giant icicles (also known as ice-daggers) have also been climbed as ice routes, and also as part of mixed routes; although such icicles can often dangerously break off and have been a source of several ice climber fatalities.[5]
Ice climbing routes normally don't move beyond the sheer vertical for sustained distances due to the nature of ice (i.e. it does not hang in an overhanging fashion).[7] This means that standard ice-climbing grades broadly peak at WI6-7 (i.e. WI7 being completely sheer vertical ice and with additional risk issues).[7] In contrast, extreme mixed-climbing routes have been developed beyond the equivalent M8-grade (i.e. crossing bare overhanging rock roofs to get to the vertical hanging icicle, such as Jeff Lowe's groundbreaking Octopussy WI6 M8 in Vail, Colorado).[5]
In Helmcken Falls in Canada, an unusual situation arises where a perennially active waterfall keeps severely overhanging rock faces covered in thick ice. Ice climbers have therefore begun to establish bolted routes (there is enough rock for bolts) that are graded well above WI7 (currently at WI13) in Helmcken.[8]
For decades, ice climbing (and mixed climbing), had been part of the broader alpine climbing skill set. During the 1960s, ambitious early ice climbers began to use pitons to climb harder ice routes but this was dangerous and very unstable. The breakthrough came in the 1960s when Yvon Chouinard designed a new wooden-handled ice axe with a curved serrated pick called the "Climax". This was followed in 1970, when Hamish MacInnes designed the all-metal aluminum alloy ice axe that had a radically dropped pick called the "Terrordactyl" (or Terror). These two ice axes revolutionized ice climbing and eventually became merged into the modern all-metal ice axe (later the ice tool) with its dropped pick but curved and serrated tip (the now familiar "banana shape").[9]
Chouinard and McInnes' ice axes would lead to an explosion of interest in climbing on frozen waterfalls in the North American Rockies and in the European Alps. Ice climber and climbing author Raphael Slawinski wrote in the American Alpine Journal: "By the early 1980s ice climbing, from being merely one of the techniques in the alpinist's arsenal, had evolved into a full-blown technical art. The skills gained on waterfalls also gave rise to a whole new generation of alpine climbs. Slipstream (WI4+, 1979) in the Canadian Rockies blurred the distinction between waterfall ice and alpine climbing; the Moonflower Buttress (WI6 M7 A2, 1983) in the Alaska Range applied the highest levels of ice climbing skill to a major alpine first ascent; and the list goes on. Waterfall ice climbing, though initially pursued for its own sake, ended up revolutionizing alpine climbing".[6]
By the end of the 1980s, ice climbers had effectively reached the limits of what could be climbed at grade WI6-7; ultimately, the inherent tendency of the medium to hang in a vertical fashion limited the possibilities for development.[7] It was mixed climbing that began to drive development in ice climbing as pioneers like Jeff Lowe dry-tooled bare rock overhangs and roofs to get to more radical ice features, such as hanging icicles; the culmination of which was Lowe's historic ascent of Octopussy (WI6, M8) in Vail in 1994, which lead to the birth of modern mixed climbing.[6]
It would not be until 2010 when Tim Emmett and Will Gadd began to put up ice routes at Helmcken Falls in Canada that ice climbing development would take a leap forward in technical development. Helmcken Fall's unique characteristics provided severely overhanging iced-routes, and in the next decade, grades jumped to WI13 with Mission to Mars in 2020. Emmett and Gadd consider Helmcken to be a potential Yosemite of ice climbing.[8]
The International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA) has organized and regulated the sport of competition ice climbing since 2002 when the very first "Ice World Cup" (IWC) competition took place under the new UIAA rules and codes.[11]
Amongst others, the UIAA runs two main competition ice climbing events, the annual Ice Climbing World Cup (which is run as a series of events in the year) and the bi-annual Ice Climbing World Championships (a single, once-off, competition).[11][12]
Most of the IWC lead climbing routes are held on bolted dry artificial surfaces and thus employ dry-tooling techniques (e.g. stein pulls and figure-four moves).[12] In contrast, the IWC speed-climbing routes are on a standardized 40–50 ft (12–15 m) wall of ice that takes seconds for top roped ice climbers to complete (as per speed rock climbing).[12][13]
Over the years, the UIAA has increased the regulation and use around competition ice climbing equipment, including the prohibition of leashes on ice tools (so they cannot be used as aid), and increased controls on the use of "heel spurs" while climbing (to counter their use for resting).[14]
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See also: Rock-climbing equipment |
Where ice climbing is done as lead climbing (i.e. not top roping), the key tool for protection is the ice screw, a hollow metal threaded steel tube with cutting teeth on its base and a hanger eye on the opposite end. It is screwed into the ice and its stability is dependent both on the angle and quality of its placement and the soundness of the ice.[1][2] Some ice climbs, such as in Helmcken Falls (see below), and also mixed and dry-tooling routes, have enough rock that enables them to be bolted like sport climbs, avoiding the need for screws.[2]
As well as ice screws, the ice itself can be used for protection, with the most common technique being the Abalakov thread (or V-thread/A-thread). This consists of two intersecting tunnels bored into the ice using ice screws that form a V-shaped tunnel. A sling is threaded through this tunnel and tied into a loop. The climbing rope is passed through this sling, which remains left behind after use. Because of the difficulty in construction, the common use of V-threads is as anchor points for abseiling or belaying, and not for lead climbing.[2]
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Ice climbing uses a WI (for "water ice") grading system.[5] WI-grades broadly equate to the mixed climbing M-grades from WI1 up to WI6, but after M6, mixed climbs become overhanging, which ice does not.[5] WI-grades try to take some account of the difficulty of placing protection on the route but, as with M-grades, are more focused on the technical and physical challenge of the route, and are thus more akin to the French and US sport climbing grades, although as with the US system, the "R/X" suffix is used for danger.[5]
The WI-grade is for "hard ice"; steep snow slopes, which are encountered frequently on alpine climbing routes, are not explicitly graded but instead, their steepest angle (approximate figure or a range) is quoted (e.g. 60–70 degree slope).[17][18] WI-grade is for "seasonal" hard ice; an AI prefix is used instead for "alpine ice", which is year-round and usually firmer, more stable, making AI-grade routes slightly easier than WI routes.[17][18]
In Canada, the WI prefix is sometimes dropped from the grade, and for longer multi-pitch ice routes, a "commitment grade" (a Roman numeral from I to VII) is also added to reflect the seriousness of the overall undertaking (e.g. the grade of a Canadian ice route can appear as III-5)[5]
The following WI-grades and descriptions are provided by the American Alpine Club (republished in 2013) who note: "Ice climbing ratings are highly variable by region and are still evolving. ... The following descriptions approximate the average systems:":[17][18] Additional comment is from Will Gadd.[5]
In 2010, ice climbers Tim Emmett and Will Gadd began to put up ice routes at Helmcken Falls in Canada that had unique characteristics. Unlike WI7 ice routes that rarely overhang, these routes were significantly overhanging like extreme M-graded routes. This was due to the intense spray from the active waterfall, which covered the overhanging routes in ice so that there was little dry-tooling, with all the movements on hard ice.[8]
As the routes were all bolted like M-grade climbs (a metal detector is used to find the bolts),[20] Emmett and Gadd re-established the link with M-grades to guide on the WI-grade. The result was a series of new WI-graded routes that laid claim to being the new "world's hardest ice climbing routes", starting with Spray On at WI10 in 2010, Wolverine at WI11 in 2011, Interstellar Spice at WI12 in 2016, and by 2020 reached WI13 with Mission to Mars.[8]
There has been debate in the ice climbing world around whether Helmcken-WI routes are really M-grade climbs.[8] In 2023, British ice climber Neil Gresham said that Helmcken routes are definitely harder than WI7 routes and that a confident M-climber will take time to adjust to the Helmcken WI-equivalent.[21]
Emmett has described Helmcken as the ice climbing equivalent of Yosemite,[8] and it has attracted some of the world's best ice climbers.[20]
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Main article: Mixed climbing § M-grades |
When ice climbing is done as mixed climbing, a separate M-grading grading system is used, which goes from M1, M2, M3, ..... , M13, M14, etc.[5][17][18]
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Main article: Dry-tooling § D-grades |
When ice climbing is done as dry-tooling, which is ice climbing on bare rock, the M-grade is replaced by a "D" prefix.[5][22]
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See also: Mixed climbing § Evolution of grade milestones, and List of grade milestones in rock climbing |
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The following ice climbs are particularly notable in the evolution of ice climbing grade milestones and ice climbing standards from being a skill used by alpine climbing to a standalone sport in its own right:[6]
The grade milestones at Helmcken Falls are as follows:[32]
A number of ice climbers have set new grade milestones in a free solo climbing style (i.e. no protection such as ice screws):
A number of notable climbing films have been made that feature ice climbing, including:[38]
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