30 Winter 2018 LOCALadk Magazine
LOCALadk
For folks who've never done it, climbing ice is one of the
strangest things you'll ever do. Rock climbing feels like a
fairly natural thing, you grab the rock with your bare hands,
and wear thin rock climbing shoes on your feet. Ice climbing
on the other hand, requires the use of ice tools, which you
can't feel much through, and large warm boots with metal
crampons attached— quite an alien experience, even to sea-
soned rock climbers. Being subtle with your tools and learn-
ing what will hold and not hold through the muted feedback
of ice climbing gear requires a lot of time with the medium.
When I climb, part of the allure is that you're not really sup-
posed to be up there. You feel like you're trespassing into the
vertical world, forging into a place that usually belongs to
the birds alone. The will to move upward is the only thing that
will get you up a climb. Brutal honesty with yourself, quick
problem solving, and physical fitness are required. Climbing
is the perfect way to test yourself against yourself; it's what
I call a gladiator sport. In today's world there are ver y few
mental and physical tests where you have to walk the razors
edge, where your destiny and safety sit in your own hands.
Below, from top to bottom: Matt Horner climbs March Madness on Poke - O -
Moonshine. Chad Kennedy on Power Play at Chapel Pond. Bill Schneider
By Tooth and Claw, Mount Marc y
Doug Ferguson
Kevin MacKenzie
