Picture above: The ropes I’m currently using.

Basic principles

Ideally you would like to select a rope that’s light, long, has low impact force, as well as excellent handling and is durable. Unfortunately these characteristics are, mildly put, somewhat opposing. So lets put these in order.

1. Weight is an issue, approaches are usually long and heavier ropes also adds up while climbing. The weight difference between light and heavy ropes might be several kilos. So in my opinion that’s the number one.
2. Low impact force makes the climbing safer and anchors less likely to fail. Again something that’s really, really important, that’s my number two criteria.
3. Handling is again something that makes a difference. However on ice it’s not that much about the friction or ease of paying out the rope in simple sense. Most ice climbers are already experienced and confident belayers. Dry treatment has lot bigger impact here, as icy ropes are really, really difficult to handle – you should get the best dry treatment available. In trips that last multiple days, you can’t dry the ropes and the ice adds up. It also adds up in terms of weight. In short dry treatment is well worth all the money put into it.
4. Far after these three criteria comes the durability. Yes, it’s important, but not nearly as much as in rock climbing. In winter conditions ropes tend to wear a lot less than on rock because there’s less dirt and mud as well as friction. In ice climbing lead falls are also very, very rare, at least they should be. They’re such a dangerous affair that people should avoid them at all cost; if you fall, the rope that needs to be discarded is least of your worries. I’ve taken one lead fall and I’m not planning to take another one. Furthermore if ice axe or crampon nicks the rope, even thicker sheath is unlikely to protect the rope. Besides you can always cut the meter or two (the area where ice axe / crampon is likely ti nick) off from the rope without serious losses. So the durability is the least important factor, at least for me.

So after these rope characteristics you’re down to two choices; The length and type, i.e. single vs. half ropes. While type question is somewhat complicated issue and I’ll dive into the topic shortly, the length is much more straight forward. For multi-pitch ice climbs that typically have several snow sections, 60 or 70 meters is in my opinion a good length. Longer rope makes the rappelling faster.

Single vs. half ropes

Generally speaking half ropes offer several advantages over single ropes. While climbing they allow lower rope drag because one can alternate clipping according to route so that ropes go straighter line. Half ropes also offer “naturally” longer rappelling distances due to two strands. In single rope system one needs to compensate that with a tag line. Further more half ropes offer redundancy in case of a fall or when rope gets damaged for some reason. Yet despite the two strands these two rope systems, i.e. half ropes vs. single with tag line, weigh about the same (single + tag = 75-100g/m vs. 2*half = 76-84g/m). In terms of weigh the only positive side with the single ropes is the fact that leader doesn’t have to carry the tag line. However in my opinion this advantage is diminished by higher rope drag, even on steep ice where you usually get to climb relatively straight lines. So based on above the only matter left to discuss is the impact force.

There’s been plenty of discussion about the impact forces. While on the surface half ropes seem to have lover impact forces, they’re actually measured with different standards. Tests with singles are being done by using 80kg weight, whereas half ropes are measured only with 55kg. For this reason some people claim that half ropes actually generate higher impact forces to the protection than single ropes. As there’s no comprehensive data on how half ropes perform as single ropes, one way to look into topic is to take a look at the ropes that conform both standards and then compare the results to ones that conform just one standard. Lets take a look at the specifications of multiple standards ropes first (the data is from www.tribevine.com, a climbing gear database that among other things has the specifications of several hundred ropes).

Table above: Multipe standards ropes that conform both UIAA single and half specifications

So while this is manufacturer’s advertized specifications and definitely involve some creative rounding etc. there’s at least a one conclusion that can be made. Lower single impact force leads to lower half impact force and other way around. Based on above one could expect that a half rope that has lower impact force than the ones above, would also have lower impact force when measured as a single. Also the impact force ratio of single to half seems to be somewhere between 0.7-0.8. So lets take a look at some light half ropes, low impact force single ropes and compare them to the above multiple standards ropes then. For half ropes, I’ve calculated the single impact force values using the ratio above and shown in parenthesis.

Table above: Light half ropes, low impact force single ropes and ropes that conform the both UIAA standard compared against each other.

So following the line of reasoning of the first table, it would seem that at least quite a few half ropes should offer comparable impact forces when tested as a single. Furthermore while most of the multiple standards ropes are light, their impact forces are left behind most light half ropes.

The final thing to consider is how the lead fall differs from each other between the two systems. While a fall with a single rope is rather straight forward process, i.e. you always fall to the single strand, the issue is at least in theory somewhat complicated with the half ropes. With half ropes the number of strands that actively work while stopping the fall depends on distance to last piece of protection and rope stretch. In most cases half ropes act just like single ropes, i.e. one strand takes the wast majority of the force. In case of half ropes the rope stretch typically falls between 25% and 40%. If the average screw distance is about 6 meters, this means that you have to have at least two screws and 15 meters of rope out until second strand can even theoretically come into play. In other words you’re already well above the UIAA test case fall factors, i.e. the impact forces are a lot smaller. For this reason the way two strands interact doesn’t have relevance in normal climbing. However when leaving from the stance, where both strands are actually clipped through the anchor the issue is a bit different. There both strands work together and impact forces are a lot higher, worse still the fall factor is the worst possible. It seems that half ropes demonstrate impact forces in the range of 8-10kN in twin configuration.

Based on this, together with the other half ropes related benefits, at least my opinion is clear, half ropes is the way to go. However with half ropes it’s even more important to make sure you don’t fall against your stance. There’s a serious worst case scenario involved. This leaves also a difficult choice, weather to go with the lowest impact force half (Beal Ice Line) or the lightest one (Tendon Master 7.8 / Metolius Monster Ropes 7.8, basically a same rope manufactured by Lanex)? While 1kN difference in impact forces doesn’t feel dramatic it is probably larger in worst case twin configuration. On the other hand 500g / 10% difference (two strands, 70m long, 38g/m vs. 42g/m) doesn’t feel huge, but still considerable. Also the Tendon’s nano dry treatment is said to be great (though I don’t have much first hand experience, climbed just once with such rope)… …Right now Beal Ice Line feels a better bet. Funny enough I’ve been contemplating between these two ropes for some time now.

Oh, one final note; famous Will Gadd has an interesting article about the impact forces and comparing single ropes against halfs. They also actually did some real world tests, so a bit more scientific than my approximation approach. I have noted the ropes in the table that Will talked about with asterisk (*), with one exception for which I couldn’t find the specifications. From Will’s article it comes loud and clear that there’s plenty of variation as some difference compared to published figures. Despite these uncertainties, I’m still for half ropes for multi-pitch waterfall ice climbing.

My current ropes

Finally a few words of my current ropes and their uses.

Picture above: Rope endings with markings, I had to cut Joker due some nicks.

1. Edelweiss Sharp 8.5 – They’ve served me well for quite a few years. They’re still the ones I use when climbing multiple pitches. They’re a bit heavy and bulky, but the quality, especially from the durability perspective has been great. They provide fairly good handling characteristics, and dry treatment worked well; There’s still some left.
2. Beal Joker – It was originally my “soft landing” plan to half ropes. I haven’t used Joker too much, mostly while top roping either indoors or while ice climbing on short falls. Still Joker is a good quality rope and even though some people consider it slipery, especially when new, I like the “slippery feeling” of it – it’s easy to feed and rappel with. Also the dry treatment is good.
3. Beal Rando – My short and light twin rope for glacier travels and mountaineering routes that do not require serious climbing with belay. It again a good quality, but most importantly in a very light, only 36g/m package.

The web-stores that sell these things:

1. Metolius Monster Ropes 9.2 - Backcountry, Moosejaw
2. Beal Ice Line - Backcountry, Barrabes, Telemark-Pyrenees
3. Tendon Master 9.4 – Justropes.com
4. DMM Climbing Prodigy -  ?
5. DMM Climbing Statement – Needle Sports
6. Petzl Dragonfly - Backcountry, Moosejaw
7. Tendon Ambition 10.0 – Justropes.com
8. Petzl Zephyr - US Outdoor Store
9. Beal Booster III - Backcountry, Barrabes, Telemark-Pyrenees, Varuste.net, Moosejaw
10. Beal Tiger - Barrabes, Telemark-Pyrenees, Moosejaw
11. Roca Migú 8 – ?
12. Edelweiss Oxygen - Backcountry
13. C.A.M.P. Plekton -  ?
14. Tendon Ambition 7.9 – Justropes.com
15. Sterling Rope Fusion Photon – Moosejaw
16. Tendon Master 7.8 – Justropes.com
17. Metolius Monster Ropes 7.8 - Moosejaw
18. Singing Rock Gemini – Barrabes
19. Millet Alpin Lite - Backcountry, Telemark-Pyrenees
20. Millet Absolute Pro- Backcountry, Telemark-Pyrenees
21. Mammut Phoenix – Backcountry, Needle Sports, Varuste.net, Moosejaw
22. Beal Joker – Backcountry, Telemark-Pyrenees, Varuste.net, Moosejaw
23. Edelweiss Performance – Varuste.net
24. Bluewater Ropes Dominator – Justropes.com
25. Bluewater Ropes Hyalite - ?
26. Edelrid Ropes Apus - Shelby
27. Edelrid Ropes Swift - Barrabes, Telemark-Pyrenees
28. Mammut Serenity – REI, Needle Sports, Telemark-Pyrenees, Varuste.net, US Outdoor Store
29. Beal Rando - Backcountry, Barrabes, Telemark-Pyrenees, Varuste.net, Shelby

A few more images of my ropes:

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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:

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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:

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Picture above: Searching for some champagne at Kebnekaise South Peak

Though Kebnekaise is not perhaps best place for pure ice climbing, it’s a great spot for winter sports holiday; you’ve got great mountaineering, ski touring and decent ice climbing in a one package. There’s huge variety of ski touring routes. Many easy ones such, Hembacke and everything up till the most frightening runs there is. For instance the one coming down from Laddjuvaggi was simply too much for me.

The biggest problem from ice climbing point of view is the fact that there isn’t too many easily accessible multi-pitch routes nearby. You either need to stick with easy routes such as Skarttacohkka, do the harder single pitch one in Tarfala multiple times or travel a bit further where there should be couple of multi-pitch routes as well (though I haven’t climbed those yet). One should also try out snow climbing there, there’s a good route going for instance on a ridge to the Kebnekaise North Peak.

Location details:

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Few images from the trip below:

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Picture above: Henrikafossen, it’s steep and it’s long.

We climbed in three different spots in the valley. First one was the famous Henrikafossen. Henrikafossen is probably the largest, both in terms of height and amount of ice. The difficulty seemed to be between WI4 and WI5. Route was roughly 5-6 pitches long, though due to weather and time constraints we didn’t go all the way up. We climbed roughly four pitches and according to friend of mine, who were climbing there next day and saw our abalakovs, we were one pitch away from the top. He also said that there was less ice than usual this year. First pitch at the Henrikafossen was pretty steep. After the first pitch there’s fairly short snow section and some easier ice, which gradually gets steeper and more difficult. When we climbed there it was formed of packs of small icicles. After this first snow section the profile of the fall stays pretty steep at least to the point we climbed to.

The good thing with Henrika is the fact that it offers plenty of choices. In case you’d like to climb something a bit difficult and steeper just choose the line accordingly. The falls both sides of Henrika offer even wider selection; On the right there’s a one which seems, and is said, to be pretty steep and difficult mixed climbing, on the left there’s a one that’s slightly shorter and perhaps easier but with similar profile than Henrika.

Picture above: It’s snowing and it’s getting dark, there’s still one pitch to go.

Next day we chose an easy route right across the valley. As we were able to climb the entire fall without belay it proved to be almost too easy. Well, I insisted on having a belay on one section first, but going down I got the ropes stuck and as a result I climbed the section without belay as well. It really wasn’t a big deal. I think that snow conditions might have affected to it somewhat, there might be conditions when there’s more visible ice and in it might get steeper depending on the conditions.

We spent the third day on a cluster of two pitch falls with easy approach on the north side of the valley. There were at least three to four different routes, from which we climbed two. Each of them was two pitches. All of the climbs were fairly straight forward, though the rain (water) affected to the climbing attitude a bit. It also turned the snow into a lot heavier stuff; slush. Jari actually got hit by a small slide of slush. Fortunately it wasn’t serious and did no real harm; it merely boosted the excitement. Anyways, after the day we were wet like sunken rats. It was a good time to head up to Branvoll, have some pizza and head home.

Location details:

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Few images from Spansdalen climbing trip:

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Picture above: The second ice fall we climbed during our trip.

We arrived at Thursday evening. Since it was dark, it was a bit hassle to find the right fjord, I mean they all look alike and often fjords have kind of sub fjords, that fool you to believe that you’ve already arrived to the end even though you haven’t. A bit of help from Nokia maps, circling around local small roads (and some fields, which were marked as roads in the map) we eventually found the right spot. All though we couldn’t really verify it until morning we actually ended up just few hundred meters away from the first fall. Exactly on the spot we had planned to camp (which was surprising given the fact that I had forgotten to take GPS coordinates with me). We put our tent, were too tired to eat all we did we just basically went to sleep.

The first day and first 340 meters
We got up quite early, the morning was beautiful and few degrees below Celsius and a clear sky, our target right behind us just few hundred meters away, waiting for climbing. We ate, did lunch packages, prepared some hot tea and drinking water for the day and grabbed our backpacks. Since there were just few centimeters of snow, there were no use for snowshoes (again a large plus). Approach was easy, just followed the stream bank to the magnificent canyon, short uphill sprint and we were right below the fall (“Kåfjord fall 1″ in the map below).

Picture above: Tea time, I’m getting some refreshing tea while on our first climb.

While we geared up, couple French mountain guides came by as well. They were there checking out for possible spots for their clients. They were spending several weeks there (I wish I could do the same) and we were the first ice climbers they bumped in to. This gives a good picture about the arctic Norway from ice climbing perspective. The country is full of magnificent ice to climb, plenty of which within easy approach, with varying difficulty and length, the season lasts relatively long and you’ll be able to have your privacy with the nature if you wish. No wonder why Norway is referred as heaven of ice climbing.

Anyways, we were ready first and able to pick our line first, this wasn’t problem though; fall was wide enough to accommodate us all comfortably. It was great to see how the pros did the thing. The French guys needed 3 screws where we needed 5, they climbed with admirably systematically, one swing, two steps, and it just seemed so effortless. As it later on turned out they were able to climb two falls in a time we did one.

Fall was fairly straight forward to climb. Ice was good and relatively easy to secure, the snow bits weren’t too long and most of the fall was just straight forward climbing, grade varying between WI3/WI4. Only the last portion required a bit planning in order to get to trees (yes there were large enough ones for descent) a bit of snow and few meters of rock / mixed (though rock could have been avoided). The climbing went fairly effortlessly. The only real mistake we did was the fact that we didn’t take our water bottle up, only the thermos with tea. As a result we were pretty thirsty, though there were few “positive” surprises like the water tap which emerged trough one of our screws.

Picture above: Improvised water tap, wonder if that would hold?

For the evening we made fire, there were plenty of scrap food available nearby, and had a dinner. It was pretty fancy dinner actually on camping standards, some green asparagus soup, fire-roasted pork file and South-African red wine. We were even able to temper the wine by the fire.

Day two, onionskins
The second morning was clear again. We were lucky, since we had a plan to a bit of scouting. So I thought at least. So we drove back to direction of Skiboten a bit and spotted several suitable climbs, actually pretty close to our camping place. The two we selected (one for each remaining days) were both on the south side of Kåfjord. Both were flowing over the tunnel right next to Birtavarre, a village at the bottom of the Kåfjord.

For me the climb felt rather difficult. Approach wasn’t too bad, tough much heavier than the first one (and we actually made a mistake while choosing our approach route), but I didn’t feel secure at all with the ice. Axes didn’t feel like holding, my swings were detaching large onionskin blocks of ice and my feet felt like slipping. Perhaps the mixture of snow, water flow and the moist from the sea right below us provided ideal mixture for onion skin to form. This being said, my colleague Jari said that he didn’t experience it as difficult. Wonder if the mixed-blades (though sharp ones) in my axes made it crack, whereas Jari’s ice blades were just thin enough to keep the ice together. As a result of these difficulties of mine, Jari did by far most of the leading and we decided to skip the highest section of the fall. I kind of regret it though.

AAccording to French mountain guides we met day before this one was harder than the one we climbed first. I would agree, both in terms of approach, climbing as well as ice conditions. I guess grade for this fall would fall between WI3 and WI4+ depending on the section in question. There were also pretty impressive icicles and some rock roofs on the right side of the fall, so I guess even very experienced climbers would be able to face decent challenges, if they would like to.

Day three, easy climb
On third day we got up really early, I guess it was already around five a clock. We packed our base camp ate a bit and got ourselves to the third fall. Since it was early we also had time to take a short side track to the opposite side of the fjord and take couple of TOPO-pictures.

The weather wasn’t as nice as the other two days had been. It was much warmed, though not so warm that everything would be melting too fast. Instead it made ice pretty easy to climb, axe placements felt secure, is elastic and it didn’t fracture too much. The third fall we had selected was purposefully an easy climb, fairly high tough. We wanted to chill out and take it easy. The third fall had fairly long snow sections, requiring running belay and the ice sections weren’t too steep. While Jari led most of the ice, I led most of the running belays. I guess I still felt a bit shaky from the experiences on previous day.

There were some signs of recent avalanche. On the last snow section one could see very clearly where a fairly large pack of snow had broken and slid down. Because there were a bit feeling that the snow still there could do it once again we took that section extra carefully. The final pitch, or actually two pitches (though the last one was only perhaps 20 meters), went through a narrow ravine, which was really interesting to climb. There would have been another alternative, a wide formation of ice on the right as well, but since the ravine looked more interesting we chose that way.

Once we got to the top of the fall the weather even cleared out a bit and I have to say I enjoyed the scenery and I were really happy that we got there. Overall it was magnificent trip and I wish to be able to end up there soon again.

Location details:

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Few images from the trip below:

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Topics currently on the drawing board:

• Creating a perfect Abalakov thread (V-thread) – Detailed instructions, tips and tricks for creating Abalakov thread.
• The perfect belay anchor on ice – Detailed instructions, tips and tricks for creating belay anchors, techniques involved changing the lead etc.
• Emergency skills on multi-pitch ice climb - Skills, tips and tricks for emergency situations on multi-pitch climbing routes.
• Quickdraw s – what’s different? - A small review on different types of quickdraws.
• Kebnekaise randonee trip – Trip story about last year’s randonee trip with plenty of (good) images.
• Dreambag – In search for best down sleeping bag for high mountain trips.
• Handy equipment review – Review on some not so necessary, but handy, equipment there is for ice climbing
• The best ice climbing websites – Review and tips for best ice climbing related web-sites in the cyberspace.

In addition to these there will be plenty of climbing trip stories and images. So table is yours let me know, what would you like read.

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:

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Few images from the trip below:

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