Dream Big

It’s nearly winter which means rock climbing season is over, and ice climbing season hasn’t quite begun.  It’s a dull time.  Ice climbing is something I really haven’t done much of, but am seriously interested in.  I’ve been on one trip.  A day trip.  I own absolutely no ice-specific gear.  I’m not even sure where you can go to ice-climb in Minnesota (besides Gooseberry Falls) but I’m dead set on getting into it.

To start ice climbing it’s not a bad plan to have (at minimum):

Boots.  Ice climbing boots to be specific.  They run from $200-$475 or so.

You can generally borrow tools and crampons from a friend.  However, I have no friends who ice climb.  That means that it’s basically necessary that I also purchase:

Crampons $150-$250

and

Ice Tools $300-$450

Final Total: $650-$1175

That’s to get started in ice climbing.

Throw in a few ice screws and hooks, a set of double ropes, and a helmet with a face shield, and I’m looking at another $300-$400.  Then, Gor-Tex gloves, gaiters, goggles, and any other number of over-priced and marginally helpful accessories.  $300 (ballpark.  That could vary quite a bit either direction.)

So, I’m looking at around a $1000 commitment this season (in gear alone) and possibly another thousand or two over a few years to come.  That would make ice climbing one of the most expensive hobbies I’ve ever been involved in.

I’ve had my eyes on a pair of tools that I know I’ll like, the Simond Naja’s.  I tried a pair at Gooseberry last year and the moment I sunk the first pick into the ice I knew that they were the tools for me.  They’re light and precise.  And, expensive at $420 for the pair at Backcountry.com.

As far as boots and crampons go, I’m still in the dark.  I won’t purchase boots without trying them on and there aren’t any places in Bemidji to do so.  A trip to Midwest Mountaineering is in order.  Fortunately they have their winter expo coming up on the 21st of November.  I intend to be there.

Crampons are dependent on boots.  I’m not going to buy a set until I know they’ll fit whatever boots I purchase.

So, I can buy a set of tools now and dream about frozen waterfalls for a couple of months, watch them gather dust in the closet, and whittle the picks down to nearly nothing through endless sharpening, or I can wait until after the expo and have boots, crampons, and tools within a couple weeks of each other.  Then it’s just a matter of finding some decent ice nearby and/or building an ice tower in the front yard.  More on that to follow.

Ice Ice Baby

Went ice climbing at Gooseberry falls yesterday. I got pasted in the face with a hunk the size of a dinner plate, and it cut my cheek a bit. It was, in other words, an awesome day. Just hucking yourself up this frozen water fall. The crampons and ice tools make you feel like a god, or at least Maximus from Gladiator.