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X-treme:
Climbing Curtains of Ice
Some
of my friends think I'm crazy. Some of my other
friends think I'm a lot of fun. On the day after
Thanksgiving, I was with this second group of friends.
There are two "awkward" seasons here in Colorado, late
spring and late fall, when recreational fun is limited
by the weather and the terrain. Of course, you can
slum around in caves any time of year, but there are
only so many caves I want to visit.
But
word had gotten out: "The ice is in!" This meant
the awkward season had ended ... and ice climbing
season had begun! But of course, my two friends and I
weren't the only ones to have come to this
realization. There were already two cars at the
trailhead to the icefall ahead of us.
The
hike to this icefall near Leadville, Colorado is
rather short. You just walk up the frozen stream a
few hundred yards. It's easy if it's really frozen
solid. But the stream hadn't quite gotten with the
program yet and was still in the awkward season. So
we had to step carefully to keep from falling through
the ice.
The
guys who had gotten there before us had already strung
a rope from the base of the frozen waterfall to a tree
above the top, about 60 feet up. The rope is used to
arrest the fall of a climber. One end is secured to
the climber. The rope loops up and around by the tree
and then back down to the climber's partner. The
partner's job is to make sure there's just enough
slack in the rope so the ice climber doesn't fall very
far should he or she "peel away" from the ice.
Why
climb curtains of ice? It's spectacular. It's fun.
It's great whole body exercise. It requires balance,
skill and stamina. And if anybody accuses you of
being a little crazy, you can just smile and know it's
worth it.
After awhile, the group that had gotten there before
us realized there was room for two ropes next to each
other. They offered to let me climb up using their
rope so I could secure our rope. This was what I'd
been waiting for! I tightened up my boots and grabbed
a pair of ice axes.
The
first steps were easy because the ice wasn't quite
vertical at the bottom. I threw one ice axe into the
ice above my head. I also kicked my crampons securely
into the ice. Then I threw the other ice axe above
the first. Done properly, the ice axes are used for
balance above, and all the heavy work is done by your
legs by taking steps one at a time up the ice.
About two thirds of the way up, I discovered that the
icefall itself was still in the awkward season. My
ice axe went right through the curtain of ice and into
the running water inside the not-quite-frozen falls.
I had a brief vision of a Disney cartoon sequence in
which the whole icefall would crack and crumble around
me and come crashing down on my buddies below. But
the ice axe held, and I reached the top of the falls.
I
rappelled back down and helped my friends take their
turns climbing up the falls. Before we knew it, the
day was over and we had the kinds of exuberant grins
on our faces that you only get from a day of playing
hard outside in the sun, snow and ice. Once again, I
had survived the awkward season and the winter fun
season was upon us.
?©
2004 Hershel M. Fassbinger
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About the author,
Hershel M Fassbinder is often on avalanche patrol.
Since staying out of trouble is a full time job for
Hershel, he doesn't have much time left over to report
on the fun he is having. You can read Hershel More
http://www.atozclimbing.com |
