Method one (+slightly faster, +slightly easier to undo, +can be used on short slings, -takes more carabiner space, -leaves the sling “twisted”, -needs carabiner to stay in order, -harder to unclip from carabiner if the sling is very long):

1. Fold up the sling so that it’s not too long.
2. Twist the sling a few times
3. Clip the twisted sling from both ends to the carabiner

Method two (+takes less carabiner space, +does not need a carabiner to stay in order, +leaves the sling more “straight”, +easier to unclip from carabiner if the sling is long, -slightly slower to do, -cannot be used on short slings):

1. Grab sewn end of the sling, leave a few centimeters of it above your hand
2. Roll the sling over your hand, until there’s 20-30 cm left
3. Wrap the remaining sling around the sling ball and stick the sling end through it
4. Clip both ends of sling to the carabiner

Very simple, very neat. It keeps the slings in order, they don’t tangle and they’re easy to unfold (no knots or anything like that). A few images about the procedure below, note the carabiner, it’s a new Stubai Atomy , that’s lightest 26kN rated carabiner. I’m not quite sure if one needs the extra strength, but the carabiner is still nice, the brass screw operation is exceptionally smooth.

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

Picture above: Belay station ready for the belay.

These instructions focus on the efficient and fluid progress of the climbers. This means efficient rope handling and changes between the lead and follow, as well as lean belay station build. The key elements in efficiency are the changes between the lead and follow as well as the build and removal of the belay station. Each climber follows first and changes almost immediately to lead at the belay station. Another key aspect is the design of the belay station. The balanced two screw design of the belay station as well as the minimum amount of carabiners and slings is the key towards efficiency. Balanced design is also safe, especially when combined with appropriate spot selection (i.e. good ice + easy start for the leader).

While I found that the practices below work well, I have to admit that I have plenty to learn. So, all the comments and recommendations are welcome.

You need

• 1-2 meters of the rope that’s attached to your harness left.
• At least two preferably >19cm sharp ice screws left, longer the better, length adds security though the ice conditions might limit the length you can use.
• One 120cm dyneema sling
• Four carabiners, at least one of which should be large diameter carabiner
• Belay device that has auto-locking mode (often called guide mode)
• Knowledge of tying clove hitch knot without having either one of the rope ends free
• Knowledge of using your belay device in auto locking mode

Preparation on before the climb

• Tie the rope appropriately to your harness.
• Tie a simple overhand knot to the dyneema sling, place the knot so that one third of the sling is left on the other side and two thirds on the other.
• Clip the two loops of the dyneema sling to the one of the carabiners and place the carabiner-dyneema loop over your head and one shoulder.
• Clip one of the remaining carabiners to the loop of your belay device that’s used for clipping the carabiner to the belay anchor. Then clip it to your harness somewhere handy.
• Make sure that you have at least one large diameter carabiner left.
• Place the two screws you’re going to use to the bottom of your screw rack and clip remaining two carabiners to your harness.

Picking the right spot

Try to plan ahead, read the ice and route ahead. Pick a spot that has good quality ice and is easy to leave. Don’t just think about yourself, you should also have a clear idea of where your colleague is going to go on his / her next pitch. A good stand has several characteristics:

• It allows you to move a bit so that you can dodge the possible ice blocks
• It’s not immediately below the next pitch, so that majority of falling ice goes elsewhere
• There’s at least few meters of easy climbing ahead, so that your partner can place his first screw with ease, thus causing less risk of fall factor 2 fall of your leader that causes high impact forces to your belay station.
• Additionally you might consider a spot that allows you to stand a bit as it allows movement and is more comfortable than hanging entirely on your harness.

Building the belay station

• Place the first screw, as you’re going to place the second screw at least 20-40 cm lower or higher and at least 20-40 cm apart from the first, try to figure the likely place of the second screw already at this stage.
• Clip the large diameter carabiner to the screw, make sure that you clip it so that the gate faces towards the planned location of the second screw.
• Tie yourself to the carabiner using the clove hitch. Be careful, as the clove hitch may slip slightly, but it’s good for this purpose because it allows adjustment of your distance to the stand easily and can be tied without untying the rope from your harness.´
• At this point, you can tell the other climber that he / she can stop belaying and start preparing for a climb and removing his / hers belay station.
• Place the second screw. Try to place it on solid ice at least 20-40 cm below or above the first screw and preferably at least 20-40 cm away from the first. The distance, both vertical and horizontal, between the screws makes the station more secure. The idea is to avoid a situation where cracked ice around one of the screws could also crack the ice around the other. You should make sure though that the dyneema sling that has the knot is long enough and there’s some slack left so that you can equalize the belay station properly.
• Free one of the ends of the dyneema sling that has the knot and clip carabiner that’s still attached to the other end of the dyneema sling to the second screw. If the second screw you’ve placed is the one that’s higher, the shorter loop should stay in the carabiner and vice versa. Clip the free end of the sling to the large diameter carabiner and secure the carabiner gates.
• Clip the carabiner that has the belay device to the sling. Make sure that you clip inside the sling (i.e. not over both strands of the sling). Turn the carabiner 180 degrees and clip the other strand of the sling. Clipping it this way allows at the same time the equalization of the force to both of the screws and either one of the screws to fail without the possibility of carabiner slipping from the sling. It’s called a sliding X. The knot in the sling is designed to minimize the length of fall in case one of the screws would fail, thus limiting the force applied to the remaining screw.
• Drag in the remaining of the slack rope. You shouldn’t have too much though. :-) You should place the rope either both sides on top of the rope that holds you or over your legs, in a few meters long loops. This keeps the rope organized and minimizes the risk of rope loop getting stuck on different features of ice.
• Once all the slack rope is draged in, put the rope or ropes through the belay device and clip the remaining carabiner through the rope loops so that the belay device is now on auto locking mode.
• Tell the other climber that you’re ready to belay and he / she can start climbing.
• TIP: If the ice is bad, is likely to crack, or you feel for some other reason that you need extra strength, you can use one long screw and two medium ones (or short ones), or four screws and fully balance the belay station across all of them in similar fashion.

Belaying and handling the rope

• When belaying the follower, form a few meter loops laying them either on top of the rope that holds you on the belay station or on top of your legs. This keeps the rope in order and minimizes the risk of rope getting stuck on different features of ice.
• When the follower arrives at the station, he clips to either one of the screws using appropriate length sling and carabiner or the rope and clove hitch knot for the while you change the belay device to the lead belay mode and clip it to your harness.
• Then it’s just a normal belay of leader. You feed the rope from the pile you created as the leader goes.
• TIP: You can make use of the time at the belay, either while belaying or while waiting the second to start climbing, by building an Abalakov for later use or by taking a sip of tea + some energizing food.

Leaving the belay station for lead

• The follower takes the lead from the station. It’s much easier and more straightforward that way for instance from the rope handling point of view.
• Leader should climb until the first protection is placed very carefully, as a direct fall to the belay station generates high impact forces and means higher risk. In other words, place the first screw well before you have to. A good distance depending on difficulty is 2-4 meters above the belay station.
• Once first screw is placed, lead normally.

Leaving the belay station for follow

• After your leader confirms that you can stop belaying, you can start removing the belay station. Remove all the gear and place them as you did on the ground preparation, except the screw you’re attached to with your rope.
• Once leader confirms that he’s ready to belay, detach the rope from the remaining screw and remove the last screw. You’re ready to follow.

Possible dangers and mistakes

• Incorrect selection of ice (not solid enough)
• Improperly tied clove hitch knot
• Slipping clove hitch, pay attention to what you do and be careful
• Incorrect placement of screws (too close)
• Incorrect clipping of carabiner (i.e. not clipped inside the sling + remember to turn the carabiner)
• Difficult climbing right from the belay, i.e. the danger of leader following directly against belay station
• Placing the first protection when leading too far away from the belay station

Finally, as I’ve found Will Gadd’s blog as an excellent source of information, I thought to include few pointers to blog articles where he writes about matters that relate to multi-pitch belay stations:

• Equalization/Extension in anchors post #2
• Maybe better to limit anchor extension after all…
• Simple Tricks for Speed on Multi-Pitch Ice Routes
• Auto-Block Belay Devices and Other Winter Thoughts
• Equalizing belays

Few images about creating belay station:

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

Carabiner gate facing right

Picture above: Carabiner facing right.

• Clip the rope into carabiner normally, note that the side of the rope that’s going to your harness comes out from front of the carabiner.
• Grab the rope end that’s going to other climber using your right hand thumb down.
• Turn the hand so that thumb is up again similarily twisting the rope inwards.
• Clip the loop formed this way to the carabiner.
• Adjust the length if nesesary and tighten.
• You’re done.

Picture above: Clip the rope normally.

Picture above: Grab the rope end that’s going to other climber using your right hand thumb down.

Picture above: Turn the hand so that thumb is up again.

Picture above: Twist the rope inwards so that loop is formed.

Picture above: Clip the loop to the carabiner.

Picture above: Adjust the rope as necessary and tighten.

Picture above: You’re done.

Carabiner gate facing left

Picture above: Carabiner facing left.

• Clip the rope into carabiner normally, note that the side of the rope that’s going to your harness comes out from front of the carabiner.
• Grab the rope end that’s going to other climber using your left hand thumb down
• Turn the hand so that thumb is up again similarily twisting the rope inwards
• Clip the loop formed this way to the carabiner
• Adjust the length if nesesary and tighten
• You’re done

Picture above: Clip the rope into carabiner normally.

Picture above: See how the end that’s comming from the front side of the carabiner is attached to your harness.

Picture above: Grab the rope end that’s going to other climber using your right hand thumb down.

Picture above: Turn the hand so that thumb is up again and twist the rope inwards so that loop is formed.

Picture above: Clip the loop to the carabiner.

Picture above: Adjust the rope as necessary and tighten.

Picture above: You’re done.

Few practical images + all the “dry trial” images:

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

12►

Oh, and one more thing before the images; If you’re interested in more detailed description of how to create a standard V-thread see my other blog article here.

Update 4.1.2011: As there was already some feedback about of being a good example or not at rockclimbing.com, I want to clarify that overall this is not a guide book example of a good V-thread, it is an equalization test case. There are several shortcomings, some of them have been pointed out in the image descriptions. Most importantly the spot was selected due to the ease of photography, not because we thought it as a good spot for V thread. In anycase, personally I wouldn’t had any problems of using the equalized V-thread here. This being said I wouldn’t had used only the V-thread that’s closer to the photographer. The second V-thread felt solid enough that it might have been used after proper testing and screw backup for the first climber (the one who’s heavier and who gives the good test bang for the V-thread).

All the test session images:

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

12►

Meanwhile I thought to drop you a few tips for climbing at Korouoma. Or actually there’s two.

1. Early season you could approach the falls from the other side, i.e. from the side of those falls and end up immediately on top of them. As the road there takes roughly 30 minutes to drive from other side it might not save much time at the approach, depending on where you come, but it’s definitely saving plenty of sweat. There’s a fairly short walk and it’s pretty level compared with the other way around.

Picture above: The “other-side-parking”.

2. Another no sweat hint is to use the ice of the river, at the bottom of Korouoma. If it’s cold before it snows too much (snow acts as insulation), there’s strong enough ice up till Northern Lights fall. Though the river takes plenty of turns, one should consider it as a viable alternative, as it is lot easier to walk than the river banks. You should be careful though; it’s slippery and you can’t use the crampons (too much pressure on ice). And it might break at the times. The river though at that time of the year is not deep, but still it’s not nice to have wet feet before starting to climb. Actually most people use part of the river ice every year, but the thing is that during certain years one gets to use it a lot more. The river trail usually starts a few hundred meters upstream from the bridge and ends well before Mammoth. During those good years, you get to walk all the way up if you like.

The images of this article are taken November 2009. Hopefully it gets like it soon this year as well.

Location details:

View www.climbingextreme.com in a larger map

Few images from the Korouoma (November 2009):

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

Picture above: Broken Wild Country Helium.

1. Berghaus Extrem gloves
Seams seem to tear apart in heavy use, especially with ropes. They would be great gloves, I love their dexterity and warmth but as their seams may tear apart during a single day, they just aren’t an option for ice climbing. Even while ski touring one needs to be careful when ever handling ropes.

2. Grivel Rambo 4 crampons
The yellow plastic of the active antibots breaks apart easily from its attachment; harder black plastic. I’ve seen this happen practically in every pair of Rambo’s I’ve seen. Despite the problem they’re best ice climbing crampons I know, and with a bit of patience one can fix the problem temporarily by pushing the plastic part back in place.

3. Wild Country Helium Quickdraws
The anti-slip rubber of Helium Quickdraws is too “hard” and therefore breaks in below zero temperatures from the stitching seam. I have a set of five of these and it has happened on everyone except one. Different type of rubber, for instance such that’s been used in Black Diamon’s Positrons would probably fix the problem. Though I like Heliums, they’re not currently the first choice for an ice climber.

4. Sigg Bottle cap
Threads of the cap get eaten by the bottle. To prevent this bottle should not be filled too full, the cap should not be tightened too tight and one should not allow the bottle to freeze.

5. North Face Summit Series Gore-Tex XCR jacket
The watertight zippers of the jacket wear down quite fast in below zero temperatures, especially if there’s plenty of use for the zippers.

6. Black Diamond Ice Clippers and their Xenos ice climbing harness
Ice Clippers slip through the clipper holders of Xenos after a while. In order to avoid that one should avoid too heavy loads (>five screws) and bending the clippers while packing it up. Still if the lip of the Ice Clipper would be just a bit longer or the clipper holder in the harness just a bit stiffer, it would work perfectly.

7. Grivel Manu backpack
The Manu concept, detachable gear loops, is great and I’m using it frequently. The problem though is that with the gear loops only (i.e. backpack removed) the velcro on the back of the gear loops sticks to everything and cause for instance slings to wear faster than I would hope. An extra sheet of something to put on top of the velcro will fix the problem, but perhaps that could integrated to the Manu somehow too.

Few images about the products mentioned:

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

Any comments and experiences of similar weak spots are greatly appreciated. I’m sure there are plenty of such around. It’s a great help for fellow climbers to be aware of them.

Here’s a short introduction to Abalakov thread in a way I’m used to do it. I’m doing it just a bit differently than it’s usually been though; in particularly I’m using pre-cut-pre-tied prusik loops, which, in my opinion, makes it faster and easier to create Abalakov threads. This is actually something, which I would hope that some of the more experienced climbers would comment on. Unfortunately I don’t have images of the procedure yet, but they will be added later on.

You need:

• 1-2 meters of >7mm prusik cord or something else with similar strength. The length depends on how you use it. If you use it traditional way, you need about 1 meter. I’m using mostly pre-cut readymade prusik loops, which require longer cord, but on the other hand provide easier and faster creation of Abalakov thread. A narrow dyneema sling will do also, but is far more expensive.
• At least one long, >19cm, sharp ice screw. If you have longer screws, use the longer one. Length of screw adds security.
• Abalakov threading device, either improvised or commercial. You can improvise one from any stiff enough wire. I’ve been very happy user of Grivel Candela, which is great for cleaning screws and cutting rope as well.
• Knowledge to create double fisherman’s knot (see images at the bottom), or other dependable knot according to material you’re using.

Step-by-step instructions:

• Select location with solid ice and remove all excess ice from area of 20-40cm in diameter.
• Use your ice screw to drill horizontal hole at roughly 45 -50 degrees compared to the surface of the ice.
• Measure a suitable distance for the second hole (15-20cm), you can use your ice screw as a guide. Note that wider the gap between holes, stronger Abalakov you’ve got. Roughly spoken 10cm gap, will result strength of 6-7Kn, 15cm gap 10-11Kn and 20cm gap 11-12Kn.
• Drill second hole to the ice with similar angle, so that the two holes meet as deep inside the ice as possible. If you put second ice screw or the Abalakov threading device in to the hole, it’s easier to aim in to right spot.
• Put the cord (or in my case prusik loop) in to one of the holes as deep as it goes.
• Use Abalakov threading device to pull the cord trough from other hole. In case of candela and prusik loop, it’s very easy to do, just move the wire part below the cord, twist your candela a bit and voila, it’s trough.
• In case of prusik loop or sling, you’re ready to put your abseiling rope trough, in case of untied cord; you need to do a double fisherman’s knot to be ready.
• Place the screw in to ice about 50-70 cm away from Abalakov you’ve just did and use a runner to create a backup for first one to abseil (last one will remove it and abseil with out backup).
• Run half of your rope trough the cord loop you have. Now the first one to abseil can prepare him/herself to go down. First one should carry most of the heavy gear.
• Watch carefully while going down to observe behavior of the ice for fractures and prusik loop for possible slippage (it won’t slip though, if you did the knot right).
• Once first one is down, he/she can start creating the Abalakov for next pitch, while the second one removes the backup and abseils.

As said, I’ve noticed that it’s much easier to use prusik loops instead of untied cord. First of all, it’s easier to hook out with Abalakov threading device and perhaps even more importantly since you don’t need to tie anything you don’t need to remove your gloves (yes I know one should be able to do it with gloves too, but that’s soooo slow). I have a feeling that a loop is easier to stuff in to first hole, since the rope doesn’t make as many curves inside the holes.

In case you don’t have good enough ice available, you could use two Abalakovs instead of one and create a sort of a balanced abseiling point. This being said, I would heavily consider a possibility for other route down in this type of circumstances.

Possible mistakes:

• Incorect selection of ice (not solid enough)
• Incorrect placement of holes (too close to each other or too early interconnection)
• use of improper cord (not strong enough)
• improper knots (either selection of wrong knot, or inproper tying).

Update 5.1.2011: As I wrote another article that concerns testing of a sliding x -type of configuration with V-threads I decided to give a short update on our current V-thread / Abalakov procedures. First of all we’re now using over hand knot while tying the prusik cord. It should be almost as secure in this context as double fisherman’s, but is much simpler to tie and can be tied gloves on. The second change is that we’ve abandoned the use of ready made prusik loops; mainly because the overhand knot is so much simpler to tie – i.e. the reasons for using the loops have disapeared.

Few images about creating Abalakov thread:

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

Double fisherman’s knot in images:

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

During the trip we climbed three ice falls at Tamok valley, Norway. It was surprising how easily the first two climbs went. We did both of those in a single day, each required three pitches with 60 meter rope. As we found few old Ablakov threads and attached prusik ropes while climbing it was kind of evident that these three were pretty popular falls for ice climbing. Only difficulty with the first fall was the top, where the stream had carved out most of the ice especially under the snow.

On the second day we had the longer and more difficult climb. It required four pitches and included some seriously thin ice plus a bit of planning while creating decent Abalakovs. After first pitch there was also a long snow section, where it was impossible to place any ice protection. This led us in to running belay situation. To avoid such next time, we will carry some pitons and hexes in future. I have to say that I was well above my comfort range there.

I was really enjoying the climbs. Those were our first climbs, which really required multiple pitches. In addition to those three real climbs, we did a probing climb, which almost turned in to accident, at the ice fall called “Hourglass”, which is located in the Skibotn valley.

Picture above: The third climb, this was four pitches.

During the trip weather was surprisingly nice. The sky was clear (in Norway that’s not that common) and temperature was between -5 (day time) and -15 (night time) in Celsius. Simply put, it was perfect from climbing stand point. We were able to find a camping location right by the road directly in front of three nice falls with easy and fairly short approach. Though we had to dig a small pocket for our car there was a small widening at the road, which made safe parking a bit easier. The location also had a good access to clear water from the small river between our camp and ice falls.

Picture above: Our camping ground and Jari.

Lessons learned and few tricks you should try, in case you already haven’t:

• If you don’t know all the details about the fall you’re climbing, you should cary some rock protection as well. There are situations where one might need to place piton or two to avoid running belay situation. Since pitons are fairly cheap, they come handy also while rappelling in places where you can’t create an Abalakov thread.
• We burned small candles inside the tent, which greatly reduced the amount of condensation (and resulting snow). Though we used improvised lantern hooked to the loop at the highest point of tent, there are some commercial alternatives as well. For instance you could try UCO Candle Lanterns.
• You can store your food by digging them in to snow in a plastic bag. Being below the snow prevents the food and drink from freezing quite effectively.
• If you’re having expedition-type climbing boots, you can wear the inner boot inside sleeping bag. This dries the boot and you can climb the next day with warm and dry feet.

In regards of camping the only problem was the Jari’s HUGE Exped Downmat 9DLX, which filled our Haglöfs Genius tent almost entirely. I didn’t have a chance while competing over sleeping space with my tiny Therm-a-Rest Prolite. I’ve prepared for this year’s expedition with my own Downmat (though smaller version), so that I’ve got an equal chance in the competition.

Location details:

View Larger Map

Few images from the trip below:

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

Though, ice climbing is being placed in to extreme end of extreme sports, in some circles, even more so than rock climbing, it doesn’t have to be so extreme. It’s very much like in any other climbing activity. Extremeness depends on how do you do it and what kind of risks you’re willing to accept. If you use just top rope, use eye protection (large portion of serious ice climbing injuries are eye injuries), be very careful while selecting, approaching and building belay anchors, ice climbing is very safe. This being said, again like any outdoor climbing sport, ice climbing certainly poses a risk of death or serious injury.

So, how to get started then? First of all, you need to get basic knowledge about climbing. In essence this includes belaying and figure-eight-loop-type of knots. Once you know the basics, you should either take ice climbing class or find someone who has some ice climbing experience and can teach you the basics of ice. If you haven’t been climbing directly with training qualified ice climber, I would recommend taking few classes anyways. It’s just so much easier and safer after you have. Here in Finland for instance some climbing associations, like mine (OKS91) arranges very affordable classes (about 50-70€ / head, including equipment). I would imagine that the situation isn’t so different in other parts of the world.

Another frequent comment about ice climbing is the cost of the ice climbing equipment. It’s true that equipment is fairly expensive, especially if you’re buying full, lead climb, capable set alone. Some climbing associations, like mine (OKS91), rent equipment, which is very easy and cost-effective way to start with. In our case rental price is just about 10-20€/day. From this perspective ice climbing is actually cheaper than for instance say skiing, where lift tickets are fairly expensive.

If you’re getting in to sport deeper, you’ll probably end up buying set of equipment. Below is my suggestion of what to buy in each phase of your ice climbing career and rough estimate about price of each piece listed. In addition to listed items you need normal winter sports clothing + hiking / backpacking gear. Please note also that this is not necessarily complete list and reflects heavily my preferences. There are plenty of other good products and brands out there as well as plenty of unnecessary stuff. Many climbers also create their own accessories.

Phase 1 – absolutely needed (i.e. typically not available for rental):

• 50-70m of try treated single rope, for instance Beal, Joker 9,1 mm x 60 m, Golden DRY is a good choice –> 100-150€
• 2 long slings, Black Diamond Runner, Dynex, 10 mm, 120 cm is a good choice –> 10-15€/each
• 2 medium slings, Black Diamond Runner, Dynex, 10 mm, 60 cm is a good choice –> 7-12€/each
• 60cm of 7mm prusik rope –> 2-5€
• 1 Backpack, anything will do, if you’d like to get a really good try for instance Grivel Alpine 55 + 15 (smaller ones are good as well, but if you’ll buy larger, it will accommodate ropes and other gear you will need at multi pitch routes later on) –> 120-150€

Total: 256-359€

Phase 2 – climbing basics:

• 1 harness, Petzl Corax is a good choice –> 50-70€
• 1 Helmet with visor, Petzl Elios Vizion is a good choice, some times the helmet and visor is being sold separately –> 70-110€
• 1 Belay device, Petzl Reverso3 is a good multipurpose choice –> 30-35€
• 1 large locking carabiner, I’ve used Petzl Williams (though you should select screw gate instead of ball-lock since ball-locks tend to freeze, I don’t have experience on their triact version) –> 8-15€
• 2 regular or small locking carabiners, I’ve used Black Diamond Positron screwgates, though if you’d like light, you should turn in to Wild Country Neon keylock screwgate –> 8-12€/each

Total: 174-254€

Phase 3 – ice climbing basics:

• Mountaineering boots, I’ve used Boreal G1′s, but if you’re not going on high mountains, you might consider something lighter –> 270-370€
• Crampons, Girvel Rambo 4 is a very good choice, which incorporates double point stability in to benefits of monopoint –> 120-170€
• Crampon pouch, Grivel crampon bag has served me just fine –> 10-15€
• Ice axes, I would choose now Grivel Xmonster axes, though beginers might consider also axes with leashes –> 160-240€/pair
• A good headlamp, Petzl Tikka XP is a good choice –> 40-60€
• Gaiters, I’ve used Black Diamond GTX front point gaiters –>60-80€

Total: 660-935€

Phase 4 – practicing lead climbs and anchors:

• 5 standard length (19cm) ice screws, I’ve used Black Diamond Turbo Express screws –> 50-60€/each
• 2 short slings, Black Diamond Runner, Dynex, 10 mm, 120 cm is a good choice –> 5-7€/each
• 1 long sling, Black Diamond Runner, Dynex, 10 mm, 30 cm is a good choice –> 10-15€/each
• 5 quick draws, Wild Country Helium quickdraws are most likely the best at the moment –> 70-100€/set of 5
• 1 large locking carabiner, I’ve used Petzl Williams (though you should select screw gate instead of ball-lock since ball-locks tend to freeze, I don’t have experience on their triact version) –> 8-15€
• 2 small or medium sized carabiners, I’ve used Black Diamond Positron screwgates, though if you’d like light, you should turn in to Wild Country Neon keylock screwgate –> 8-12€/each
• 2 screw clippers, I’ve used Petzl Caritools –> 5-7€/each
• 1 climbing gloves, Black Diamond Enforcers should be a good choice –> 120-180€
• 1 Fifi hook, use for instance Black Diamond fifi hook –> 8-15€
• 1m of 7mm prusik rope –> 3-6€

Total: 505€-683€

Phase 5 – lead climbs:

• 3 standard length (19cm) ice screws, I’ve used Black Diamond Turbo Express screws –> 50-60€/each
• 2 short (13cm) ice screws, I’ve used Black Diamond Turbo Express screws –> 50-60€/each
• 5 quick draws, Wild Country Helium quickdraws are most likely the best at the moment –> 70-100€/set of 5
• Set of half ropes, preferably in different colours so that you can distinguish left from right, Beal Ice Line half ropes are just fine –> 130-160€/each
• 1 First aid kit –> 20-60€
• A large down jacket, Millet Expert down jacket is a good choice, select a large size, so that you can wear it on top of everything else while belaying –> 230-300€

Total: 830-1080€

Phase 6 – multi-pitch routes:

• Few pitons –> 5-15€/each
• Few nuts / hexes –> 8-15€/each
• Set of walky-talkies –> 50-150€
• Small climbing backpack, Grivel Manu is my favourite –> 40-60€
• 10m of 7mm prusik rope, cut and tied in to long prusik loops –> 7-15€

Total: 162-375€

Few equpment images below:

[Show as slideshow]

[View with PicLens]

12►

Saturday was modest, just about -25, but on Sunday it got colder. The lowest figure we had was -29.5 (measured on our car’s thermometer few kilometers away from the spot), it were most likely even colder down on the bottom of Korouoma canyon.

As many of you may know cold makes climbing difficult in several ways. First of all ice is very hard and it carks really easily. As a result screws tend to fracture ice while screwing, screwing requires more strength, large chunks of ice will detach frequently due to use of ice tools, which posses danger not only climber himself, but anyone below as well, and it requires more skill to build secure belay anchors on the wall etc. Second, cold means freezing, freezing fingers and feats, fingers feeling numb and all the pain related having frozen limbs. In other words one better stay warm.

Few tips for climbing in cold:

• Use only sharp screws. The ones that have seen some stone may bite reasonably well on warmer ice, but will just fracture the cold ice making the placement of ice protection almost impossible.
• An extra large down jacket is a absolute must, even though I had one (+one layer of fleece, two layers of merino wool +extra warm climbing boots) I were having hard time to keep myself warm.
• I would think that a soft shell would do much better than Gore-Tex as an out most layer. Unfortunately I don’t have one and can’t give you a real firsthand experience about it. In theory besides being warmer, soft shell doesn’t have the freezing problem related to Gore-Tex. In other words if temperature is below -20 to -25 Gore-Tex pores freeze and doesn’t let vaporized water out as they should, thus resulting a small internal snow rain inside your jacket.
• Use eye protection, cold ice results plenty of small razor sharp ice bits that poses serious danger to your eye sight.
• Chemical heat pads were a real life saver in a glove while climbing the first 20 meters until you’ve really warmed up.
• Make a good warm up before starting to climb. Swing your hands; take a short walk to uphill etc.
• Have a good thermos filled with extra hot (and sweet – plenty of energy) drink and remember to eat enough to ensure that your body has the energy not just for climbing but to keep you warm – heating takes more energy in cold conditions.
• Where possible and in case you don’t absolutely want to lead climb, you might consider setting a permanent belay position on higher ground and do belaying at the top of the fall, as it is much warmer there than at the bottom of the canyon.

The positive side on cold conditions is the fact that you don’t usually need to worry about staying dry. Water floats less and tends to freeze directly on top of your clothes. As an extra plus you don’t sweat that much either, which again means drier feel.

Location details:

View Larger Map