Ice Climbing

Ice climbing is not a leisurely pursuit. You can’t slip on a pair of climbing shoes and head out to your local ice climb. You have to take into account many factors that are unique to this type of climbing such as protective clothing, boots, crampons, ice ax, and ice screws to name a few. Ice is inherently slippery so you can’t rely on friction as in other forms of climbing. Instead of hand holds you must use an ice ax and instead of smearing or edging your shoe you have to kick into the ice with your crampons. Ice climbing is unique, challenging, and a required skill for alpine climbing. Just remember that climbing is an inherently dangerous hobbie so always check and double check all of your gear and anchor points.