There are a few basic techniques to ice climbing. One thing to note is that you are not going to learn how to ice climb by reading books or articles. You probably should take a class or go on an outdoor trip to learn how to climb. However, these are four techniques that you should be familiar with even before you take an outdoor class.

Tying in: Tying in is what it sounds like it is. When you tie-in, this means that you are attaching your rope to the climbing harness. The typical knot that is used is a figure 8 knot that is extremely easy to do but effective. After attaching yourself to the harness, you then have to create a belay loop. Speaking of belaying…

Belaying: If you know what belaying is in terms of rock climbing, you pretty much know what belaying on ice is. In ice climbing, there are a few methods of belaying. In a fixed belay, there is a belayer, points of protection, and a belay anchor that is attached to the cliff. In a running belay, there is a leader who is in charge of putting in the protection and who takes the safety precautions. The person behind the leader is then in charge of picking up the equipment as the two progress through the climb. There should be a least two points of protection between the two climbers.

Leading: Leading is a technique that was described above. Leading is done in sections, and during each section, the leader is the one who places the protection points. The sections are divided by “pitches” in the sense that the leader places protection points until he/she reaches the next pitch. Once the leader is at the top, he belays the second climber by building a belay anchor. As the second climber climbs, he removes the protection points.

Abseiling: Abseiling deals with going down. It uses a fixed rope to descend down a cliff. Going down can be extremely dangerous, so it is important to be very careful when abseiling.

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