Last weekend in a series of comedic twists worthy of Shakespeare, although minus the gender mix-ups, Chris, Gerald and John ended up climbing on Saturday in Smugglers Notch, VT while Crystal, Tanya and I climbed on Sunday somewhere near Kingston, NY.
Ice Climbing is great way to spend a winter day outdoors. You get to hike into the quiet winter woods to what is inevitably a beautiful place where ice has formed high enough to make a scalable wall, and then you get to play there for as long as your calves and arms will allow. Personally I liked repelling the most, but climbing was nice too. Trying to read the ice and learn which spots would hold the axe, and how to get your toes into the wall was challenging, and 'standing' on the wall when you found a good spot was exhilarating.
Our guide, Bill, was perfect. You could tell that he knew what he was doing and he was such a good instructor that I learned a lot without realizing it, and I got a good 2/3 of the way up the highest wall. Much further than expected.
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f you ever consider going Ice Climbing, here's a few recommendations:- Do pick up the recommended gaiters - they really don't cost much, and work much better than duct tape.
- Bring a small pad or other foamish thing to sit on during lunch - ideally it would both keep your butt from getting wet and insulate same from the ice.
- Make sure you are in reasonably good shape and good health. I'd say I was borderline.
- Starting a few weeks beforehand do calf raises, and pull ups - you'd probably be okay without this but I suspect your experience would be better if you had as much strength as possible.
- Dress for a day sitting outside at the forecasted temperature. You'll be much warmer when climbing, but you're not always climbing.
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