Ice Climbing Tips – Stay Warm & Happy

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from climbing ice, it’s that equipment matters. It’s not like rock climbing, where you can throw on any stick rubber, some tattered clothes, and just go. It really can, and does, make a huge difference to have the right stuff, and use it properly. With that being said, I’ve compiled a list of some of the things that I’ve found helpful over the years for getting the most enjoyment out of climbing on frozen waterfalls.

Warm Hands
With the popularity of leashless climbing, warm hands have become even more important than they used to be. When we ran around with our hands tethered to our tools, it didn’t matter as much if they became useless blocks of wood, because you simply didn’t fall out of your leashes. Not so with leashless, where you have to be able to hold on, or you’ll end up taking a ride. I’ve got a system that works reasonably well, though some might think this a bit overkill. First I have my approach gloves. These are waterproof, and not too warm. They will get me to the climb, and keep my hands dry even if I end up postholing or munging up some steep gullies. Once to the base, I slip into my climbing gloves. If its warm, I wear a thin softshell, if not, something beefier. When the pitch is over, I’ll tuck my climbing gloves inside my jacket, and go for my belay mitts. Something like the Black Diamond Mercury Mitts, which are so warm you’ll think you’ve just put ovens on your hands. If you know it’s going to be a wet day, you might want to pack extras.

Equipment
Something every leashless tool should have is a good coating of friction tape. This black, sticky tape is used most often by hockey players, but it works well on ice tools. Even if you leave the main grip bare, be sure to wrap the upper part of the tool that you grab when using your upper grip. This will help insulate your hands from the cold metal, and give you better purchase. Keeping your picks sharp should go without saying, but also think about your screws. I’ve got a friend I love climbing with because I know his screws are going to sink in easy. Nothing worse than fighting the pump trying to get some damn metal in the ice. Even just putting the screws back in the plastic wrap that keeps the threads sharp and covering the teeth will help. Also, be sure that every zipper on whatever you are wearing has a long pull tie on it, so that you can open and close things easily with gloves or mittens on. The ones that often come standard are sometimes laughable, I usually just use 2mm accessory cord.

Hot Food
This should go without saying, but bring a thermos full of coffee, tea, soup or anything warm and it’ll probably be much more enjoyable. Nothing like a shot of warmth going straight to the core to keep things on the positive side.

Any other tricks you use to stay as comfy as possible out on the ice?