Ice climbing

Ice climbing is a climbing discipline which involves ascending routes that consist only 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 organized and 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.
Description
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.
In contrast to rock climbing, the type of protective equipment used when leading ice climbing routes, is mainly specialized steel ice screws. 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), the seriousness of leading an ice climbing route is considered to be far greater than that of a traditional rock climbing route. 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. In contrast to rock climbing, "the leader must not fall" is part of ice climbing. Ice climbing can also be done as free solo climbing, which is an even risker undertaking.
Ice climbing was developed as part of alpine climbing, where it is still a key component of the alpinist's skill set. 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. Because mixed climbing and dry-tooling routes can be fully bolted, like sport climbing routes, they have become popular as safer alternatives.
Types of routes
Ice climbing can take on a broad range of routes. A common type of ice route is a frozen waterfall, particularly one that cascaded down a mountain face or a 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.
Ice climbing routes normally don't move beyond the vertical for sustained distances due to the nature of ice. This meant that ice-climbing grades broadly peaked at WI6-7 (i.e. WI7 being completely vertical ice and with additional risk issues), while mixed climbing routes developed beyond the equivalent M8-grade (i.e. crossing bare rock roofs to get to the vertical hanging icicle, such as Jeff Lowe's groundbreaking Octopussy WI6 M8 in Vail, Colorado).
In Helmcken Falls in Canada, an unusual situation arises where a perenially 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.
History
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").
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".
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. 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.
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.
Competition ice climbing
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.
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).
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). In contrast, the IWC speed-climbing routes are on a standardized wall of ice that takes seconds for top roped ice climbers to complete (as per speed rock climbing).
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).
Equipment
Climbing
Ice axes or the more modern ice tools: Modern ice climbing requires double ice axes (or ergo ice tools); a key decision is whether it uses a leash or not. Competition ice climbing has prohibited leashes (as they can be used for aid), and most extreme mixed climbing tends not to use leashes. However, the lack of a leash means that the shock of any sudden "blowout" of the feet, can lead to an immediate fall.
Crampons: Ice climbers often use mono-point crampons instead of the more typical dual-point crampons used by alpine climbers, to maintain greater control and cutting accuracy. Some favor the front points to be "vertical" (i.e. like a mini-ice tool), which increases cutting power but is less table and can "blowout" without warning; others use the traditional "horizontal" (ie. flat like an adze) front points.
Ice boots. Ice climbers can use the "shell" or "plastic" rigid mountaineering boots used by alpine climbers, to which crampons are attached. Advanced mixed climbers, and competition ice climbers, use "fruit boots", which are light boots with crampons integrated into the sole. In addition, fruit boots can add "heel spurs", which are used in mixed climbing for overhangs.
Protection
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. 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.
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.
Grading
WI-grades
Ice climbing uses a WI (for "water ice") grading system. 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. 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.
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). 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.
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)
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:": Additional comment is from Will Gadd.
WI1: "Low angle, no ice tools are required". Like scrambling with 10-point crampons up a frozen river, does not require double ice axes or front-pointing skills.
WI2: "Consistent 60º ice with possible bulges; good protection". Beginner routes can, if needed, be climbed with one ice axe; Will Gadd notes that WI2 has "more accidents than any other grade".
WI3: "Sustained 70º with possible long bulges of 80º–90º; reasonable rests and good stances for placing screws". Will Gadd calls it "proper technical ice climbing needing a rope and double ice axes".
WI4: "Continuous 80º ice fairly long sections of 90º ice broken up by occasional rests". According to Gadd, "Strong novices can top rope WI4, but leading WI4 is serious".
WI5: "Long and strenuous, with a rope length of 85º–90º ice offering few good rests; or a shorter pitch of thin or bad ice with protection that’s difficult to place".
WI6: "A full rope length of near-90º ice with no rests, or a shorter pitch more tenuous than WI5. Highly technical". According to Gadd, "the best climbers will find an occasional reason to retreat at WI6".
WI7: "As per [WI6] above, but on thin poorly bonded ice or long, overhanging poorly adhered columns. Protection is impossible or very difficult to place and of dubious quality". Gadd calls WI7, "Semi-mythical", and "with a high publicity co-efficient, that often becomes a WI6 on repeat".
WI8: "Under discussion". According to Gadd, "only claimed a few times", and "either bad gear and bad ice", or "an overhanging glacial serac that is like an M8 in physicality".
Helmcken routes
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.
As the routes were all bolted like M-grade climbs (a metal detector is used to find the bolts), 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.
There has been debate in the ice climbing world around whether Helmcken-WI routes are really M-grade climbs. 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.
Emmett has described Helmcken as the ice climbing equivalent of Yosemite, and it has attracted some of the world's best ice climbers.
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.
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.
Evolution of grade milestones
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:
1979. Slipstream WI4+ Canadian Rockies. First ascent was in 1979 by Jim Elzinga and John Lauchlan; considered an important early example of the blurring between alpine climbing and pure ice climbing and the first major alpine, serac waterfall route in the Rockies.
1983. Gimme Shelter WI6 Canadian Rockies. First ascent was in 1983 by Kevin Doyle and Tim Friesen; considered an early WI7 contender in ice climbing, and the hardest ice route at the time; grade since softened to WI6.
1987. Riptide WI6-7 Canadian Rockies. First ascent was in 1987 by Larry Ostrander and Jeff Marshall; considered an early WI7 contender in ice climbing, and the hardest ice route at the time; grade since softened to WI6+.
1988. Reality Bath WI7 X Canadian Rockies. First ascent was in 1988 by Mark Twight and Randy Rackliff; never been repeated and described by Albi Sole in the Canadian Rockies guide book as "so dangerous as to be of little value except to those suicidally inclined"; possibly first-ever WI7.
1989. Repentance Super WI5-6 Val di Cogne, Italy. First ascent was in 1989 by a non-local team of and Fulvio Conta; considered the hardest ice climb in Europe at the time and a breakthrough in standards; mostly bolted now and grade softened.
2002. Rites of Passage WI7+ Mount Kitchener, Canadian Rockies. First ascent was in 2002 by Eric Dumerac and Philippe Pellet; initially graded WI8, but considered one of the few routes that are truly above WI7 (pre-Helmcken Falls), and the hardest route in the world at the time.
2010. Centrecourt WI7+ Gasteinertal, Austria. First ascent was in 2010 by Albert Leichtfried and Benedikt Purner; considered one of the hardest routes in the world at the time and another of the few ice climbing routes at WI7+.
The grade milestones at Helmcken Falls are as follows:
2010. Spray On WI10. First ascent by Tim Emmett and Will Gadd at Helmcken Falls; first-ever WI10 in ice climbing; bolted.
2011. Wolverine W11. First ascent by Tim Emmett and Klemen Premrl at Helmcken Falls; first-ever WI11 in ice climbing; bolted.
2016. Interstellar Spice W12. First ascent by Tim Emmett and Klemen Premrl at Helmcken Falls; first-ever WI12 in ice climbing; bolted.
2020. Mission to Mars W13. First ascent by Tim Emmett and Klemen Premrl at Helmcken Falls; first-ever WI13 in ice climbing; bolted.
Free solo
A number of ice climbers have set new grade milestones in a free solo climbing style (i.e. no protection such as ice screws):
1997. Sea of Vapours WI6+ Canadian Rockies. Free solo in 1997 by . Sea of Vapours was considered WI7+ at the time.
2017. Beta Block Super WI7 Breitwangfluh, Switzerland. Free solo in 2017 by Dani Arnold.
In film
A number of notable climbing films have been made that feature ice climbing, including:
The Alpinist, a 2021 documentary film about the late Canadian alpinist Marc-André Leclerc, featuring his free solo ascent of several ice routes
Touching the Void, a 2003 docudrama about a famous alpine climbing rescue in the Peruvian Andes
See also
Alpine climbing
Mixed climbing
Dry-tooling
References
Further reading
External links
UIAA Ice Climbing Word Tours, UIAA (2023)
VIDEO: Helmcken Falls Ice Routes, Gripped Magazine (2023)
Grading of Ice and Mixed Climbs, Ari Paulin Base Camp Database (2023)
Types of climbing
Mountaineering techniques
Articles containing video clips
Ice sports