To be sure, the Midwest offers little opportunity to train with rope, crampons and ice ax. That is, until winter turns certain riverside cliffs into towering sheets of ice. On January or February days off from his job in the emergency room at Mercy Iowa City, Chuck Huss might well be found working his way up one of these vertical pitches of ice in northeast Iowa, southwest Wisconsin or western Illinois. Certain bluffs along the Mississippi River are prime terrain for ice climbing.
Water trickling down the face of the rock sometimes freezes into huge formations.
Climbers seek these out. It thrills me every time I do it. November days when winter and ice still seem far away that Chuck and I first talked about going ice climbing. At the first mention of ice climbing, a grin flashed across Chuck's face. His voice got louder.