Ice Climbing

Bob climbing during the Novice Ice clinic.

My ice climbing experience started by attending the Ouray Ice Festival at the Ouray Ice Park. It is a bit like rock climbing in an indoor gym with farmed ice and fixed anchors for top roping. It is incredibly fun and is an easy way to get introduced to the sport without spending much money. You can demo all the gear you need almost for free. There are multiple clinics for people of all levels of experience from never-ever-climbed to very advanced. The price is about $60.00 for a half-day clinic. This is an incredible bargain for instruction from the world class athletes that lead the clinics.

I have very minimal mixed climbing experience. I hope to do more and get some wild ice experience in a place like Hyalite Canyon, Montana . My current gear setup is two Petzl Nomic ice tools, Scarpa Phantom 6000 boots with La Sportiva Baruntse liners, and the new 2020 Petzl Dart crampons.

Click any of these links to see the photo albums from my visits to the Ouray Ice Festival: