July 15th, 2010: Today I headed out to do some ice climbing on a glacier. It didn’t start off well hiking for about an hour in my uncomfortable yellow plastic boots which were extremely similar to ski boots. But, when tied into the ropes and the crampons (metal spikes) where attached to my boots...it all made sense. I sort of liked this method of climbing more than rock climbing – except for the unexpected rocks and sheets of ice that would rain on me from above…taking on some self repairable damage. During my climbs, I am happy to report that my body didn’t perform the sewing machine, the Elvis (Definitely a love/not so love relationship Blog Post) or even the mash potato.
I felt extremely powerful with my two ice axes as I would swing them into the vertical wall of ice spraying me with bits of debris as I would slowly move my way north. When holding the axes, I thought that maybe this power I was feeling, is how the characters from the movies Edward Sissorhands or Freddy Krueger felt as they reshaped bushes or bodies. I made it to the top of my first climb but the second one was extremely challenging as I would break free falling from the ice as I tried to get up an overhang. Not succeeding after several attempts and at times I would see myself hanging by one or two axes with my feel dangling, trying to pull myself back to the wall – still, I finished the climb extremely satisfied.
July 15th, 2010: Today I headed out to do some ice climbing on a glacier. It didn’t start off well hiking for about an hour in my uncomfortable yellow plastic boots which were extremely similar to ski boots. But, when tied into the ropes and the crampons (metal spikes) where attached to my boots...it all made sense. I sort of liked this method of climbing more than rock climbing – except for the unexpected rocks and sheets of ice that would rain on me from above…taking on some self repairable damage. During my climbs, I am happy to report that my body didn’t perform the sewing machine, the Elvis (Definitely a love/not so love relationship Blog Post) or even the mash potato.
I felt extremely powerful with my two ice axes as I would swing them into the vertical wall of ice spraying me with bits of debris as I would slowly move my way north. When holding the axes, I thought that maybe this power I was feeling, is how the characters from the movies Edward Sissorhands or Freddy Krueger felt as they reshaped bushes or bodies. I made it to the top of my first climb but the second one was extremely challenging as I would break free falling from the ice as I tried to get up an overhang. Not succeeding after several attempts and at times I would see myself hanging by one or two axes with my feel dangling, trying to pull myself back to the wall – still, I finished the climb extremely satisfied.
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