Ice climbing

Ice climbing is a climbing discipline that involves ascending routes consisting entirely of frozen water. To ascend, the ice climber uses specialist equipment, particularly double ice axes (or the more modern ice tools) and rigid crampons. To protect the route, the ice climber uses steel ice screws that require skill to employ safely and rely on the ice holding firm in any fall. Ice climbing routes can vary significantly by type, and include seasonally frozen waterfalls, high permanently frozen alpine couloirs, and large hanging icicles.

From the 1970s, ice climbing developed as a standalone skill from alpine climbing (where ice climbing skills are used on ice and snow). Ice climbing grades peak at WI6 to WI7 as ice tends to hang vertically at its most severe. WI7 is very rare and usually attributed to overhanging ice with serious risk issues (i.e. unstable ice, little protection, and a risk of death). Mixed climbing has pushed the technical difficulty of ice climbing routes by crossing bare rock overhangs and roofs (using ice tools on bare rock is called dry-tooling).

Since 2002, the UIAA have regulated competition ice climbing, which is offered in a lead climbing format on an artificial bolted wall that employs dry-tooling techniques (e.g. stein pulls and figure-four moves), and in a speed climbing format that uses a standardized wall of real ice. Since 2010, ice climbers at Helmcken Falls in Canada have used the unique characteristics of the waterfall to create severely overhanging bolted ice climbing routes that are graded up to WI13, and are the hardest technical ice climbs in the world.

Ice climbing uses specific pieces of specialized equipment, namely ice tools and crampons, to ascend routes consisting of frozen water ice, and/or frozen snow fields. As with rock climbing, ice climbing can be done as free climbing and performed in climbing-pairs where the lead-climber inserts protection into the route as they ascend. After the lead-climber has reached the top, the second-climber (or belayer) then removes this protection as they ascend the route.

In contrast to free-climbing in rock-climbing, the protection used when leading ice routes are specialized steel ice screws. Ice screws require considerable experience to use properly and safely, and given that the underlying condition of the ice can change materially over time (including constantly breaking off), the seriousness of leading an ice climbing route is considered to be greater than that of a traditional rock climbing route. For example, while an intermediate ice climber could 'top rope' a WI4-graded ice climbing route, 'lead-climbing' WI4-graded route is a far more serious undertaking. In contrast to rock climbing, "the leader must not fall" ethos is core part of ice climbing.

Ice climbing can also be performed as free solo climbing, which is an even riskier undertaking (the climber uses their ice tools and crampons but has no climbing protection such as ice screws); or performed as top roping which is the safest form of ice climbing and the format used for novices being introduced to the sport.

Ice climbing was developed as part of the broader climbing discipline of alpine climbing, where it is still a key component of the alpinist's skill set. Where the ice climbing route does not fully consist of ice and has elements of bare rock, it is known as mixed climbing. Where the route has no ice whatsoever, but the climber still uses the ice tools and crampons, it is known as dry-tooling. Because mixed climbing and dry-tooling routes can be fully bolted — just like sport climbing routes are in rock climbing (i.e because there is bare rock into which bolts can be drilled) — they have become popular as safer alternatives to traditional ice routes.

Ice climbing can take on a broad range of climbing routes. A common type of ice route is a frozen waterfall, particularly one that cascades down a mountain face or a down-mountain gully. Ice climbing routes can also take the form of high alpine snow-covered couloirs that are permanently frozen year-round. Giant icicles (also known as ice-daggers) have also been climbed as ice routes, and also as part of mixed routes; although such icicles can often dangerously break off and have been a source of several ice climber fatalities.