It’s an amazing experience your worn-out body and mind will appreciate.Ī couple other notable ice parks exist in Lake City, CO and Sandstone, MN, as well as an indoor ice climbing wall over near Glasgow, Scotland, if you’re ever in that part of the world. Gearhead Tip: After your smile is permanently frozen on your face from a day at the Ouray Ice Park, head to Wiesbaden Hot Springs Spa to lounge in the vapor cave and soak in the pool. There, you can enlist the services of a guiding outfit such as San Juan Mountain Guides and experience ice climbing at the legendary Ouray Ice Park, where the annual Ice Fest is held in late January. One of the best places to start in the west is the magical town of Ouray, CO. Other outfitters who teach classes and guide trips in Wisconsin include Eau Claire-based Chicago Rock and Ice Guides, and Vertical Illusions.Perhaps even more so than rock climbing, ice climbing is not a great sport to learn alone, and the transition from rock to ice is best made in the safe and (relatively) controlled environment of the ice park. And as long as you wear the right clothing, you don't get too cold, either." "Unlike rock climbing, you kick your own footholds in the ice with the pointed crampons on your boots and you make your own hand holds with your tools – the ice axe. "But with ice climbing, you actually don't fall as much," Taylor added. It still amazes me how you can climb it without falling off." Gear and outfitters to give it a tryĬlimbers wear harnesses and are protected from slipping more than a few feet by ropes anchored from above if they do lose their grip. "And watching it change from day to day is fascinating, too. "I love just being out there and looking at the formations on the ice," he said. Taylor, who is also 52, said he was attracted to ice climbing because it "seemed cool, no pun intended." It's about being out there in the winter and gaining confidence." And it's not always about getting to the top, especially in the beginning. "He's a super patient person who's willing to take the time to instruct people who want to take a stab at the sport. "I've seen him work with teenage girls so they get it," Everson said. Since then, he's climbed extensively with him and watched him teach plenty of novices. It's all about saving energy, not having that death grip on your ice axe, staying balanced and using your legs more than your upper body." 'Not always about getting to the top'Įverson first climbed with Taylor on a grain silo covered with ice. Not necessarily easy, but they could go right up those frozen waterfalls. But I was determined to learn, in part because the people who are good at it made it look graceful.
"And before you get the technique down, it feels like it strains every muscle in your anatomy. "It just appeared to be so wrong to even try to go up a slippery surface like that," he said. Now, moving up a 70-foot frozen waterfall at Wyalusing is a breeze for him. In the beginning, Everson said ice climbing seemed counterintuitive.
Now I climb a lot with Joel Taylor, who runs Vertical Adventure Guides."
From that first class, I fell in love with it because it was so cool being out there on the ice. "I like it because it is incredibly challenging," said the 52-year-old Everson. From clumsy beginner to graceful alpinist Since then, Everson – the creative director for an ad agency – has climbed extensively in Wisconsin at Wyalusing State Park south of Prairie du Chien, Governor Dodge State Park north of Dodgeville, along the Wisconsin River near Lone Rock and at other sites around the Upper Midwest. And the idea of climbing straight up frozen waterfalls was something that intrigued him from the start.
#Climbing frozen waterfall breaks how to#
When Dave Everson read an ice climbing article a while back that described this winter activity as "a masochistic pastime for oddballs," the suburban Chicago resident knew he'd have to give the sport a try.Īlready a mountaineer and rock climber, he'd been in situations where knowing how to safely navigate ice on glaciers would have saved him time and energy.
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