There are times when I think that my friend is crazy. She is a rock climber–an avid one at that–who also has parents who are very much into climbing. Her parents are so into climbing that they once left her alone in her house for 9 weeks during her senior year of high school to go ice climbing in Russia. There was a point in time when my friend was so incredibly distraught for an entire week because she had lost all sources of communication that she had with her parents. She thought that she had lost them forever, but then she finally received word via someone else that they were okay.

My friend has experienced what it feels like to think that you have lost someone in a freak accident, in this case, ice climbing, but for some reason, she still continues to ice climb. What is it about this sport that makes it so addicting to some people?

Ice climbing is exactly what it sounds like. It is your, or the people you are with, responsibility to drill spikes into the ice, frozen waterfalls, ice covered cliffs, and icy rock slab to make your way up the side of the mountain. Ice climbing requires certain conditions as well. The best time to go is after the the ice has a chance to melt and then re-freeze. That is the safest time to go.

Going ice climbing requires a lot of training and knowledge of the sport. One also has to be a good rock climber first before one attempts ice climbing. Some of the techniques are similar, but overall, ice climbing is its own sport. Some of the skills and knowledge one would need for ice climbing include knowledge of the rope systems and how they work and how to tie in, belay, lead, abseil (using a fixed rope to come down), and lower.

Please do not attempt to ice climb by yourself!

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