Sat, Jan 23 2010 - Learn to Ice Climb (View Original Event Details)
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It was an early start. It was a bright, warm winter’s day.
It was a long drive to Lake Rosseau, near Huntsville and it was filled with eager anticipation for something different....
It was really difficult to find anywhere private to P!
We were all on time and met the outfitter that had already set up the site and had all the various pieces of climbing equipment ready for us.
We all geared up with climbing boots, harnesses, helmets, jackets, backpacks, gloves, shades and camera. Help and advise from the outfitter was expeditious and made us feel at ease.
A short walk to the climbing site was followed by an interesting ice scramble up a rocky ridge to our location.Six lines of safety ropes had been set up along the rocky cliff facade and we could clearly see the beautiful ice we were to try and climb.Again, the three instructors were very knowledgeable and provided a visual and verbal analysis and introduction to the techniques that we wold employ.
Having a few top notch climbers like Pia, Lisa and Dave and Gary was a comfort to the group. With a great mix of guys and girls, we divided into various groups and began to test out skills.
Essentially we learnt:
The day was absolutely perfect - bright, warmish and everyone looked pretty comfortable. Various turns were taken to belay and climb as our confidence grew. Alright, so a few of us actually struggled at the beginning to get the hang of the darn thing.
Did I say HANG...Speaking of which - our biggest wipe out/accident nearly came with Margaret when it seemed the grip of the axe gave way and she came - litterly - flying across the ice facade and almost slammed right into a guide. I am sure this was a very nasty shock to Margaret - as she looked pretty distressed and hurt.
Thankfully, all was okay and she came down fine and took a rest. Actually most of us did slip and slide around a bit. Abdul had a few bruise as well.
Josephine’s confidence was slightly shaken when I said it’s really difficult and she picked the hardest part to climb. But I said she looked pretty in all the gear.
The sun came out for most of the day and we climbed until 3:00pm
I was impressed with Pia and her “advanced” group. With Gary and Kim making it pretty high up. Abdul, Li, Lisa, Dave and Josephine for reaching a fairly high ridge on the facade.And Claire for her determined effort on that last climb.
While the guys were good - I thought the ladies were pretty fantastic on these climbs.
A big well done to Margaret for persevering, being focused and doing so well after the initial shock of falling.
The screaming swinging axe technique - oops, I mean - visual and vocal entertainment was provided by Dave.
We ended our day at a cosy restaurant nearby with lots of conversation and good food.
Thank you all for your excellent enthusiastic company and you were all great. And Thank You Gary Ataman for your help with the maps and carpooling.
Ghanesh
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