IT’S THAT TIME OF YEAR. A white cloak blankets the forest floor, feathery pillows adorn the pine boughs, and the snow dampens all sound, transforming the wilderness into a winter wonderland. It’s terrible. All the rock is either too wet or too cold to climb, and this shit goes on for, like, three months. That’s right—now is the season when you might as well go ice climbing. What else are you going to do? Weave through kids on leashes at the ski resort? Suffocate in a sauna? Snuggle with your significant other under a warm blanket, next to a crackling fire, eating Nutella with a spoon while binge-watching that new HBO series? Those all sound really nice, but you should still go ice climbing, I guess.
You are a “climber,” aren’t you? That’s enough to feel obligated to like ice climbing. Sure, when you climb ice, there’s no direct connection with the medium, problem-solving with differentiated movement, or reliable protection, but both ice and rock involve going up and include the word “climbing.” What are you going to do, climb in the gym all winter? As the pundits on climbing forums agree: Nothing rad happens indoors. The gym is for mutant children and people on first dates who bought Groupons. If you want to be rad, you must​ go outside, and in winter that means ice. I’m sorry; you don’t have a lot of options.
Think of it this way: If you were locked in a room for three months and all you had to eat were Milk-Bones, you’d eat the Milk- Bones. In this metaphor, winter is the room, Milk-Bones are ice climbing, and rock climbing is real food—which is locked in a much nicer room down the hall.
Denne historien er fra Issue 159-utgaven av Climbing.
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Denne historien er fra Issue 159-utgaven av Climbing.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
"Cliff Camping": The Latest Bucket-List Tick
WHILE WE CLIMBERS only camp hanging on a wall when we have to, for many in the non-climbing public, portaledge camping ticks a box on their bucket list.
The Freerider
What it took to free solo El Capitan
Welcome To Sendhaus TM: America's Hippest New Climbing Gym
HELLO AND THANK YOU SO MUCH for visiting our newest Sendhaus™ Fitness, Lifestyle, and Climbing Center.
Climbing For Mental Health
WE OFTEN TALK ABOUT the mental side of climbing, like how to overcome fear, visualize success, and be a better overall climber.
Kodak Courage
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OH. MY. GOD. Stop worrying! You and mom are such babies. I’m not going to “kill myself climbing without a rope” because that doesn’t even make sense. I’m a boulderer. You can’t boulder with a rope because then it wouldn’t be bouldering. Roped climbing is for losers: Do I look like I’d hangdog for an hour wearing orange pants and doing jazz hands so I can climb five more feet to the next bolt and then do it again? I know you saw Alex Honnold on 60 Minutes and suddenly you think you know everything about climbing. But, uh, actually? You don’t know anything. What I do is called HIGHBALL BOULDERING, not FREE SOLOING, and it’s completely different.
Next-Gen Visualization
IMAGINE ADAM ONDRA lying on his back, eyes squeezed shut in concentration, while a physiotherapist holds his heel in space, helping him visualize and strengthen his body specifically for a move.
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Southern Super Nova
Thirty-plus Years Ago, Driven First Ascensionist Rob Robinson Discovered the Tennessee Wall. In His Career, He’s Authored Hundreds of New Routes and Dramatically Expanded Chattanooga Climbing.
Green Ice
The Comprehensive Ice and Mixed Climbing of Vermont.