Slideshow

Itinerary

Equipment List

Dispatches

A climber follows a pitch in the Ouray Ice Park.

Ice climbing is one of those "fringe" types of climbing that most climbers tend to develop a love-hate relationship with. Ice climbing is a fickle pursuit. The medium is constantly changing and reading the ice can be difficult. Protection methods can be tricky and require a great deal of practice. The gear is strange and looks as if it were transported straight out of the medieval era.

Once you get past all of the weirdness, ice climbing is a serious kick in the pants. Nearly all that give it a try wind-up hooked on it. They become ice junkies.

This intro level course is structured to be a comprehensive overview of the tools, techniques, and skills required for ice climbing. The course is designed to to develop the groundwork for both a safe and exciting experience as well as to prepare you for a future in waterfall ice climbing.

Water ice provides the medium for what is probably the most exciting form of winter climbing. Because it is formed from frozen waterfalls and seeps, it is a sport that may be pursued in many venues throughout the country. Indeed, it may even be practiced in a number of places where there is no major mountain range. The keys to good ice climbing climbing conditions are a consistent flow of water and consistently cold conditions.

This Waterfall Ice Climbing program may be combined with our winter mountaineering program and our backcountry skiing programs in Colorado. When taken together, or pieced together over a season or two, these programs combined make up our "winter comprehensive curriculum." Here are the links to the other other two program in this progression:

1. Winter Mountaineering Colorado Rockies
2. Backcountry Skiing (Ouray, CO)

This waterfall ice program is taught at three levels, Intro, Intermediate, and Advanced. The first climbers to enroll on a given date determine the level that the program. Outside of our scheduled dates, course and climbs may be scheduled by private arrangement as well.

Following a pitch in the Ouray backcountry. David Kesonie

Ouray, Colorado is a mecca for winter activities in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The small town of Ouray nestled at the foot of Red Mountain Pass provides climbers and skiers access to some of the best routes and terrain in the Rockies. The backcountry skiing in the area is top notch and Ouray is home to the first, only, and best man-made ice park in the country.

The Ice Park is home to hundreds of routes from very easy beginner climbs to modern test pieces. One of the cruxes for most beginning level ice climbers is a lack of access to a variety of routes at all levels. One weekend in the ice park allows for more mileage on ice than most beginning ice climbers are able to obtain in a few years of climbing.

AAI climbers Jim and Jessica Easter with the Ice Park in the background.

• design concept & selection of ice axes & second hand tools; reverse, classic, steeply drooped, & tubular picks; & crampons;
• design concepts, selection & placement of ice screws & other ice anchors for protection and belays;
• ice axe & second hand tool placement techniques; third tool technique;
• French, German & American cramponing styles & combinations;
• tool and foot progression sequence, staggered versus parallel;
• arrangement & placement of intermediate protection & belay anchors in different types of waterfall ice;
• leading sequence & belay changeover;
• practice leading for those qualified;
• extensive climbing, including continuous pitch ascents;
• Leave No Trace climbing & travel skills.

The goal in each level of curriculum, beginner, intermediate, and advanced, is to help climbers progress from one level to the next, to imrove efficiency and safety margins, and to open doors for future climbing possibilities.

For Intro level climbers, we want to introduce the basics of ice climbing and anchors to you so that you feel comfortable in a top rope setting or belaying a more experienced leader.