Drytooling Comps and Events 2023-2024

October 27, 2023

Drytooling is quickly becoming a big deal. With more drytooling competitions and events being added each year, we decided to start compiling a list of the known drytooling events happening around the world for the coming season. Have a look below and be sure to check out the ones close to you!

Hosting or know of an event that’s not on our list? Let us know by sending an email to Nick@Furnace-Industries.com We’ll list and help promote your event!

Competitions

Turkey Takeover Drytooling Comp - November 11 2023 The Ice Coop Boulder CO
USA Indoor Dry Tooling Competition - November 11 2023 UMD RSOP’s North Shore Climbing Wall Duluth MN
Turners Indoor Dry Tool Competition - December 9 2023 Turner Hall Climbing Gym Milwaukee WI
East Tyrolean Ice Master - 11-14 January 2024 Part of the Eiskletterfestival Osttirol East Tyrol Ice Park Tauer, Austria
Ouray Elite Mixed Climbing Competition - January 20-21 2024 Ouray CO (also a UIAA Comp! See Below)
Smuggs ice Bash Drytool Competition - January 26 2024 Petra Cliffs Climbing Center Burlington VT
Festiglace Competition - February 17-19 2024 Pont Rouge Québec CA
Drytool Night Comp - April 2024 - More info to come- Of Rock and Chalk Newmarket Ontario CA DryLabs Comp 5.0 - April 2024 - More info to come - Seattle, WA

UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup series
UIAA Continental Open - November 25 2023 Zilina Slovakia
UIAA Continental Open - December 2 2023 Brno, Czech Republic
UIAA Continental Open - December 16 2023 Utrecht, Netherlands
UIAA World Cup - January 12-14 2024 Cheongsong, South Korea
UIAA Continental Open - January 20-21 2024 Ouray CO USA
UIAA Continental Open - January 21 2024 Champagny-en-Vanoise, France
UIAA World Cup - January 25-27 2024 Saas-Fee Switzerland
UIAA Continental Open - February 3 2024 Oulu Finland
UIAA Continental Open - February 10 2024 TBA - UK
UIAA World Championships - February 16-18 2024 Edmonton CA

Events

Drytool Nights in Southern Ontario
November 14 - Of Rock & Chalk - Newmarket Ontario CA
December 2 - Of Rock & Chalk - Newmarket Ontario CA
December 16 - Reach Climbing - Aurora Ontario CA
December 30 - Of Rock & Chalk - Newmarket Ontario CA

Birdsboro Drytooling Day - December 2nd 2023 Birdsboro PA

Drytool Sessions - November 4th, 11th & 18th from 5-9pm at The Edge Climbing Gym Halfmoon, NY

Scottish Drytooling Club Events
”The Club” Film Premiere + Indoor Tooling Event - November 21st 2023 - Glasgow Climbing Centre - Glasgow, UK

Ice Climbing Festivals 2023 - 2024

October 11, 2023

Here are the 'mark your calendars NOW' events that bring us climbers together for fun, friends, ice climbing, and usually lots of beer. Check out the starred events to check out Furnace Industries and our gear in person! (Pro Tip: There’s usually lots of freebies.)

Hosting or know of an event that’s not on our list? Let us know and we can list it and help promote your event!

NORTH AMERICA

*New Jersey Ice Climbers Meetup October 25 NJ Rock Gym, Fairfield, NJ.

The Scratch Pad Ice Season Opener Event November 2, 7-9p Momentum Climbing Gym Millcreek UT
This will be an evening of deep discussion regarding ice climbing safety. Our panelists include Doug Heinrich, Dustin Lyons, Will Gadd, Jeff Rose, and Jackson Yip.

*Michigan Ice Fest TOUR! The MIF is holding an Ice Fest Tour ahead of the Main Event in February to get people stoked and spread the Gospel of Ice. Be sure to hit up these locations for the fun AND to try out the sets of DRY ICE Evolutions they’ll have onsite. Details to be updated as we get them.
Dates / Locations:
November 29 Elev8 Traverse City MI
November 30 Inside Moves Grand Rapids MI
December 1 Detroit Outdoors Detroit MI
December 2 Planet Rock Madison Heights MI

Bozeman Ice Festival December 6-10, 2023 Bozeman, MT

Wyoming Ice Festival January 4-7, 2024 Cody, WY

All In Ice Fest January 5-7 2024 Ouray, CO

Sandstone Ice Festival January 12-14 2024 Robinson Park Quarry, Sandstone, MN

*Ouray Ice Festival and Competition January 18-21, 2024 Ouray, CO

Catskill Ice Festival February 2-5 2024 New Paltz, NY

Smuggler's Notch Ice Bash January 26-28 2024. Smugglers Notch, VT

Duluth Ice & Mixed Fest February 2-3 2024. Duluth, MN (Also info on the DCC FB Page.)

Mt. Washington Valley Ice Festival February 2-4, 2024 North Conway, NH

Lake City Ice Climbing Festival February 3, 2024 Lake City Ice Park in Lake City, CO

Adirondack International Mountain Fest February 9-11, 2024 Keene Valley, NY

Michigan Ice Fest February 7-11, 2024 Munising, MI

Valdez Ice Fest February 15-18 Valdez, AK

Festiglace February 21-25 2024 Pont-Rouge QC, CA

Adirondack Queer Ice Fest February 23-25 2024 Lake Placid NY

Rock Spot Ice Fest February 17-25 2024. The Flume Gorge, NH

Southern Ontario Ice Fest No dates yet. February 9-11 2024? Maynooth, Ontario, Canada

Peabody Ice Fest No date yet, Usually Late February 2024. Fenton, MI

(Info forthcoming) Agawa Canyon Ice Fest March Algoma, Ontario, Canada

(Info forthcoming) Batchawana Ice Fest February Batchawana Bay, Ontario, Canada

Nipigon Ice Festival No dates yet. Nipigon Ontario Canada

Lillooet / West Coast Ice Climbing Festival Run by Climb On Equipment. No dates yet. Lillooet, British Columbia, Canada

Winona Ice Clmbing Festival February 22-25 Winona Ice Park Winona MN

INTERNATIONAL

Remarkables Ice & Mixed Festival

Portillo Ice Fest 25-27 August 2023 Portillo, Chile

Eiskletterfestival Osttirol 11-14 January 2024 East Tyrol Ice Park Tauer, Austria

Ice Climbing Ecrins January 25-28 2024 L'Argentière la Bessée, France

Arctic Ice Festival March 7-11 2024 Fjellkysten Norway

Nubra Valley Ice Climbing Festival No dates posted yet. Nubra Valley, Near Ladakh India

DIY Drytooling Holds

April 25, 2023

Ice climbing, drytooling, and mixed climbing can be expensive activities to get into. Add in the cost of training gear to get ready for those activities and that’s pushing costs deep into $1000’s. If you have your own home wall and you are looking to add some training with your ice tools to your regimen without pushing your credit cards to their limits, there are some old school solutions, each one with advantages and disadvantages to help you get there.

Note: what we’re really talking about here is drytooling. This will not train your swing, but it will train just about everything else. Swinging ice tools indoors is just a bad idea. Stick with drytooling moves for safety and less potential damage to you and your wall.

There are indeed excellent, manufactured holds readily available. What they provide is convenient access to durable, purpose-built drytooling holds designed to get you ready for the outdoors. But, like that foothold on that eliminate boulder problem, you don’t have to use those holds. Let’s see what else is out there:

Click HERE to check out the full line of Drytooling Holds available from Furnace Industries

Door hinges

Cheap, durable, and great for training placement accuracy, door hinges have been one of the 4 pillars of drytooling training since some crackpot decided to use their tools inside. They are cheap, kinda strong, and will last a long time. With some creativity, you can set really creative and challenging moves like gastons, side pulls, and even stein pulls. Be careful with the stein pulls though. Those can be dangerous even after you’ve tested it six ways from Sunday. Why? Because hinges are meant to hang doors. They were not designed as drytooling holds.

-For the primary placement, pull the hinge pin out and use one of the circular portions left by the pin. Mount the hinge on a backer plate and get training.

-If you’re feeling lucky, use the edge. That’s gonna be hard and slippery placement, but maybe that’s what you want.

-Mount them with the countersink facing the wall for a very shallow pick placement. Laser focus on consistent body positioning will be the only thing keeping you on.

-Leave the pin in the hinge and use the outer leaf as a bridge-style placement. These are very effective, but beware of bending the leaf under weight. Remember, these are meant to hang doors, usually with two or three other hinges. They were not designed to be used as drytooling holds.

Wood Blocks

The second pillar of the DIY drytooler, blocks of wood can be very effective. Wood can be great as it’’s low cost and easy to work with. There variations are endless. Here is just one method:

-Cut a 2x4 into 4” blocks, then, safely using the right tools, cut and angle into the top edge. The more incut the angle the steeper the terrain you can use it on. Think of creating a jug for your hand, ‘cept you’re using ice tools. Unless you’re screwing the wood directly to the wall, drill a 3”8” hole in the wood and voilá, drytooling hold. Use a washer on the bolt head to prolong the life of the mount and make sure to put in a spinner screw. There‘s some great info on making wood climbing holds, not necessarily drytooling holds but you’ll get the idea, here.

However, wood will degrade over time and abuse. Wood will splinter after repeated pick placements. Wood holds will become brittle and worse, unpredictable. You don’t want to get hurt while training when a hold breaks unexpectedly.. You can’t really crank them down on the bolt either or you’ll break them. Even if you choose to screw them on, they can, or rather will, eventually split.

Moulding and Vinyl

Falling somewhat under the wood blocks category, some DIY drytoolers have used short lengths of scrap mouiding screwed to the wall as drytooling holds. Best of all, you can probably get these for free as samples from decking material companies. The important thing here is to use hardwood, or even vinyl, that has a positive top edge.

-AZEK, a material used in vinyl siding and outdoor decking can be cut into shapes making for great drytooling fun. If you or someone you know, or someone on craigslist, has recently reno’d their deck, snag some lengths, cut em, drill, em, climb on em. Bonus, you could pick a tone that matches your personal temperament. I’m more of a Mahogany guy…

Rocks

Using real stone makes up the third pillar of DIY drytooling. These are my favorite as I was a geology minor and I get to geek out about material makeup and such. Really tho, these are awesome because they last a really long time, mimic real drytooling moves, and they just look cool.

They do take bit of work to get them just right however. Invest in a good set of eye and ear protection, a good, variable speed corded drill, something beefy to hold the rock in place (unlike in the video, where you expect that guy to lose a finger). and some drill bits. Ideally all you’re doing is drilling a hole, but if more stonework is needed, you may as well buy ready made stone holds as the equipment needed (stone cutting tools, diamond tipped bits, a rotary press bench drill, with vise, some method for water cooling so you don’t foul the bits, time) will become cost prohibitive very quickly.

Click HERE to check out the full line of Smart Stone Drytooling Holds available from Furnace Industries

Make your own Resin or Polyurethane Holds

The technology for casting resin or polyurethane climbing holds is not a secret. At this point in the internet age, there are many, many YouTube videos on the subject. It’s work, but it’s not hard work. If you have the time and inclination, it can be a very rewarding process. But if you have too many things going on, it’ll be a messy, total waste of time and money that is never ever completed. AND, remember you’re trying to make drytooling holds, so you have to make sure you get the mix right so the holds are hard enough to withstand ice and mixed picks. There’s a lot of trial and error, but if you never got over your mom tossing your chemistry kit, this may be a good way to go.

Logs

Logs. Yes, big monster logs. Many ice climbers and drytoolers have been successful at installing large hanging logs or structures that they drill holes into and then spray paint around the holes to specify placements. When hung horizontally these setups allow for sick Fig 4/9 traverses.

This idea can easily apply to any structural material like 2x6’s and 4x4 fence posts. Use your imagination, but use EXTREME CAUTION as to how it’s rigged. Imagine the whole thing falling with you on it?

Here’s a ladder setup with thoughtfully rigged obstacles. Kinda awesome right?:

Other Methods

The ‘other’ is the 4th pillar. Get creative. Like any good alpine climber, drytoolers have become quite resourceful in their quest to be cheap (and yet at the same time spend almost $1000 on their ice gear) If you can hook it, torque it, bolt/screw it to a wall, and it’s even somewhat durable, it might well be a drytooling hold. Here are some of the more creative finds:

Chain

Lengths of chain hung from steep or overhung walls make for crazy fun and difficult training. Is it training for anything real? Perhaps not, but the beneficial core work alone is worth the effort. If you can stabilize on a swinging chain, think what you could do if the medium was frozen in place!

Hockey Pucks

Hockey pucks were and still are a great option for the DIY drytooler. This is because they are cheap, hard but not too hard, and easy to cut. You can make actual shapes from the puck. Picks dig right in, but after a time, they will wear and need replacement. Here is a nice vid of making holds from hockey pucks:

Archery Target Foam

The 6lbs density polyethylene foam used in archery targets just happens to be dense enough to hold the weight of a climber with a pick sunk into it, mostly. $25 for a 2”x23”x24”at FoambyMail.com. Glue 2-3 layers of this to a wood backer plate then mount to your wall and swing away! Your training will be on target before you know it. Just use extreme caution swinging tools indoors…

Angle Iron

Saving the best for last, this is one of my personal favs. Two lengths of heavy duty angle iron mounted just right can create a pretty sweet crack for picks to engage. It’s haaaaard, but great training that inspires creative movement and keen awareness of footwork, body positioning and body tension. A bit worky on the outset to cut to lengths and drill holes in the right places, but once you get it installed on your wall it’s game on!

-bc

To Glove or Not To Glove.

October 18, 2022

If you search for “gloves or no gloves when training”, you’re going to find a lot of information about weight lifting, and maybe in a few seasons after Google’s crawlers get into it, this post.. You’ll also find a ton of weightlifting folks with blogs supporting their argument either way. This is because each approach has it’s own pros and cons. Let’s explore.

When training at a climbing gym or on your home wall, you might ask, should I be using gloves while training for ice climbing and drytooling? The answer is, as with most things: it depends.

In training for ice / mixed / drytooling, the goal is get your muscles into repeated movement patterns that mimic the movement you’ll encounter on a climb. You can target that training for maximum results using training tools like DRY ICE Evolutions. By targeting your training, you’re building little bridges between nerves and muscles. You’re training your brain to remember how to do these movements when you’re 20’ above that last screw, when it counts. The less barriers in the way of targeting that training, the more effective the training.

Some folks think that using gloves targets training better than not using gloves and some folks think the opposite, paradoxically, for the same reasons.

The Argument for Training with Gloves

-Tactile. I mean, obviously. Training with the gloves you’ll be using outside will remove one more barrier to targeted training. If you’re wearing your gloves when training inside, the feel of the grip in your hand will be the same as the feel of the grip in your hand when you’re outside. This includes the pressure of the cuff on your wrist and the pressure of the fabric around your whole hand. The folds of fabric that will bunch up between your fingers will be the same folds you feel when you’re 40’ up that WI5. This is really the core of the pro-glove argument.

-Reduced dexterity. This is actually a good thing since, when you’re outside, you won’t have bare handed dexterity. Better to train in gloves now so your lead head and muscle memory are ready to fumble around while trying to clip the rope.

-Mental. Training using the above pro-glove points will do wonders to get your lead head in order. You’ll be ready for that runout, familiar with the feeling of the tools in your hands when the climb gets really steep. You’ll be able to calm down, breath, since you’ve been there before, training in the gym, with gloves on.

-Safety. Gloves can provide a margin of safety when training with tools indoors. If a tool pops, it’s possible you could bash your knuckles on the hold below. Gloves can reduce the likelihood and consequences of hurting your hand if a tool pops.

-Comfort. Some folks find gripping the tools more comfortable with gloves. Specifically, they report less ‘pinky pinching’ on the pommel. What ‘s really happening here is the glove is padding the pinky, increasing the surface area and spreading weight across a larger surface area.

The Argument for Training without Gloves

-Design. Most indoor training tools, like our DRY ICE Evolutions, are designed specifically to be used without gloves. The reasons for this are simple: climbers in the gym climb or boulder without gloves,. They mix up their routine with rock climbing and then a few routes of drytooling, alternating between the two disciplines. Most training tool handles are designed with increased volume to take up the space a glove would fill. What this means is that using gloves actually makes it harder to grip a tool that was designed to be used without them. In our market research we found more ice climbers train without gloves.

-Gloves are Hot. Unless your gym or home wall is blessed with arctic air conditioning, you’re gonna sweat since those gloves were probably designed to be used outside when it’s 15°F, unless of course you’re using golf gloves like most comp climbers and high end drytoolers use. Training with sweaty, swamp sponges on your hands is just not pleasant.

-Gloves are Slippery. Damp, sweaty gloves are just slippery. I’ve been to gyms that in fact prohibited using gloves while leading using indoor ice climbing training tools because of the increased likelihood of the climber falling.

-Comfort. I know right, the same argument as above, but in reverse, Some (really most) climbers prefer to use tools without gloves because they don’t have to grip as hard to compensate for slippery gloves.

-Fun. The increased dexterity of climbing indoors without gloves is more fun than fumbling clips with gloves. And more fun means more climbing. More climbing means more training. At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.

Whichever method you choose, gloves or no gloves, what’s important is that you’re out there training, doing it, preparing for your best ice season yet.

-bc.

Which Drytooling Holds are Right for You?

October 10, 2022

Matching tools on a Vertical Life Pocket.

Swirling in a sea of choices, it can be difficult to choose the best set of drytooling holds for your specific needs. Questions abound: Edges? Pockets? Real stone? Plastic? Metal? Why use one over the other? What are the differences and how can those differences benefit me?

Below we’ve sorted through the confusion to help you find the best set of drytooling holds for your gym or home wall.

We’ll offer some tips for how to set routes without destroying your home wall or gym. And we’ll answer the question, can’t I just use some old climbing holds?

DRYTOOLING HOLD MATERIALS

Metal - Metal holds (steel, sometimes aluminum) are the go-to for many drytooling hold makers because it’s just easier to make many different types of holds from metal (machining, casting, welding). Steel is the top choice for hardness, but can be expensive. Aluminum is a bit softer, but is much easier to work with and less expensive. Smaller holds are ideally made from steel since the pressure of the pick is greater over a smaller area. Larger holds are usually made from aluminum as the larger surfaces can handle the pick pressure. With metal it’s even possible to create cracks to practice pick torquing, a move that's difficult to train for without the right hold.

The Furnace Industries Drytooling Holds Full Set

Stone - Stone is the gold standard for drytooling holds and the reason is clear: we’re training for outdoors, why not train on the real thing? Stone holds give climbers real pick feedback on real stone. Smart Stones manufactures the best stone holds available today in a variety of angles, and two different pockets.

Resin - Different in chemical makeup than normal polyurethane climbing holds, these are holds made of hard resin designed specifically for drytooling. The holds are usually made of resin mixed with crushed stone and are harder than normal materials used for holds. The biggest advantage is that they can be shaped into any shape or any type of stone, allowing for a wide range of pick feedback from different textures. The problem is that even though they are harder, resin holds do not last a long time and will be gouged out and damaged by picks after only a few uses, which is to be expected. Stein pulling on them is not recommended. They are meant to be replaced after a time and are (usually) priced accordingly.

DRYTOOLING HOLD SHAPES

Pockets - Pockets are the jug of the drytooling world. They are deep and solidly reliable placements. Pockets are good for basic training and getting many laps in. They are not good training for delicate placements. But like jugs, pockets can be set as side pulls or stein pulls, allowing for solid training of difficult moves. Pockets are also perfect for roofs and extremely overhanging terrain.

Edges - Chances are you’ll encounter more Edge placements in the outdoors more than any other placement. Edge holds train you to be ready for those placements with laser precision. Picks engage only the edge of the hold, making for delicate placements requiring precise body positioning to ensure the picks don't pop off the holds.

Flats - Flats are holds with flat surfaces, used to train for placements where there is nothing constricting the picks in place like a pocket . Flats are challenging holds that demand focus and consistent pick pressure to ensure picks stay in place. They also make you a great drytooler.

Technical Shapes - There are no boundaries to the shapes that can be created. What we’re calling ‘technical shapes’ are really any shapes that require more thought that just plunking the pick into a hole. Technical shapes can be narrow rails of metal with divots drilled into them for the picks to settle into, like the FI Dimples. They can be flat incut edges with stops on either end to keep the pick for sliding out, like the FI Ledge. They can be very tiny shallow depressions machined into a shape meant to engage the pick only if placed just right. There are cracks for torquing, large balls to attempt to hook, slippery holds, and super tiny micro edge placements. If you’re a serious drytooler, you’ll likely have many technical shapes on your wall.

THE ’BEST’ SET OF DRYTOOLING HOLDS

At Furnace Industries, we are often asked what are the ‘best’ set of combination of drytooling holds. That’s like asking what are the best running shoes. The answer depends on your specific needs. Here is the breakdown of drytooling hold combinations we give to gyms and customers looking to add drytooling to their wall:

Beginner: Start with a set of 5 Vertical Life Pockets and 5 Vertical Life Edges. These holds will help you rapidly get your head into drytooling and the open your mind to the potential for more climbing creativity. The pockets will be super solid placements, and the edges will be less bomber, but still secure placements that are an easy primer for more technical moves. Bonus: Vertical Life Drytooling Holds are the most economical holds available on the market today.

Advanced: In addition to VL Pockets and Edges, get yourself a set of Furnace Industries Drytooling Holds. FI Drytooling Holds are top-of-the-line holds machined from stout 6061 aircraft grade aluminum bar stock. There are no welds and therefore no weak points. They offer a massive potential for creative and challenging movement leading to equally massive gains in your training.

If metal’s not your thing, a set of resin drytooling holds will offer many options to train difficult moves and endless variety depending on how you set them on your wall.

Expert: Expert drytoolers will benefit from the above hold sets with the addition of a set of Smart Stones Drytooling Holds. The Smart Stones we offer at FI are handmade from high grade granite and were designed specifically for Furnace Industries. We worked closely with Smart Stones to bring you this exclusive set of holds. The real stone will prepare expert drytoolers for the real deal. And with some creative route setting, the sky is the limit.

CAN’T I JUST USE OLD CLIMBING HOLDS?

The answer lies in your tolerance for risk.

Climbing holds are not meant to be used as drytooling holds. They are not strong enough to withstand the immense forces placed on a single point on the holds. They were designed for hands and feet, not cold, hard, steel picks. Small edges can shatter with no warning. Jugs can snap when stein pulled. Polyurethane can become brittle with age, making for unpredictable and frankly unsafe drytooling placements. And another problem many drytoolers don’t talk about; the shattered resin splinters from picks on plastic holds can get in eyes and irritate skin (ever scratched your cornea? It’s the opposite of fun).

There are indeed holds that you can use as drytooling holds like large slopers with holds drilled into them, but these are few and rare. Picks will destroy the hold eventually, and every placement weakens the hold just a little bit more. It’s only a matter of time before the hold breaks. Do you want to be fig fouring on it when is does?

ROUTE SETTING TIPS

-Routes. To set easy routes, keep the holds closer for easier placements. Set routes on less-than-vertical to vertical terrain. If you're new to the strange and exciting world of drytooling, keep the footholds large and obvious so you can focus on the tool / hold interaction.

To ratchet up the challenge, set on steeper train. No terrain is too steep, but realize the difficulty will increase exponentially with every degree of steepness. Also remember that your reach with tools is at least 21” longer on each arm. Set the holds further apart to account for the increase in ape index.

-Backer Plates. So, you spent all that money building your home wall, or you’re setting drytool routes at a million dollar facility, how can you prevent the picks from damaging the wall? Backer plates prevent the picks from contacting the climbing wall surface. These can be as simple as plywood squares cut larger than the hold, or as slick as purpose-built aluminum mounting plates. Not all drytooling holds will need a backer plate, but when they do, it’s the obvious solution.

-Helmets. It may seem silly in your home wall, but wear a helmet. Why? Because you don’t want to be that person who shows up at work with a massive ding on your noggin’ from an ice tool popping off a hold. The constant explanations aren’t worth the silent judgement you’ll face afterwards.

-bc

The Right Way to Get Your Ice Climbing Gear Ready for Ice Season

September 18, 2022

Leaves are falling. Frost is tickling the grass. Morning runs now require gloves and hats, sometimes even a headlamp. It’s almost time. Almost time for the magic to happen. It’s almost ice season.

But it’s not a good idea to wantonly bust out the gear for your first outing and show up at the nearest ice flow. You have to make certain that your gear is ready. Ice climbing is arguably the most gear dependent form of climbing, and you must make sure that gear is good to go. Let’s talk about the right way to get your gear ready for the ice.

Ice Tools

Depending on where your tools are stored, your tools may need some love. Hanging them in an uninsulated garage leaves them exposed to changes in humidity. This can be a problem as cold tools with attract moisture like a cold beer in summer. Tools will rust, and the hot / cold cycle on temperature swings will loosen critical nuts and bolts hold the picks, spikes and other tool bits in place.

Make sure picks and spike are free of rust, the hardware is snug, and the picks are sharp. Break out the file and sharpen them now rather than waste time at the base of the flow. If you tape the shafts of your tools, check to see if it needs replacement.

While you’re there make sure your tethers are still good. Due to moisture, the elastic degrades faster than you’d like it to leaving you with a stretched out floppy noodle between you and your tools. If you need replacement, you can get new Blue Ice Hydra Tethers here.

Crampons

Like your tools, check for loose nuts and bolts, Check for rust and sharpen or replace frontpoints now if you didn’t do it at the end of the last season.

This is super important: Take a couple mins to really check the fit on your boots. Just this last season, I was on a route in Ouray, CO, very runout above my last screw when my right crampon fell off mid climb. This had happened to me before, but on approaches, not on a climb. This was just so easy to prevent. Make sure you test fit the crampons on your boots with your preseason gear check.

ICE Screws

The last thing you want is to rack up, start climbing, only to find your screws all dulled, fouled and rusted. Check for rust. Make sure all the teeth on all your screws are sharp like kittens teeth and that the threads are sound. If not, find someone to sharpen them like Charles at IceScrewSharpening.com or ClimbtheScratchPad’s service. Make sure all the handles fold in and out and rotate freely. Lubricate as needed with cam lube, Tri Flow, or even just mineral oil.

Pro Tip: Use a Kleen-Bore Silicone Gun and Reel Cloth. Push it through your screws to make cleaning the cores from them a breeze. I run these silicon soaked rags through my screws at least once a season.

Clothing Layers

This includes all layers from your down jacket to your base layers.

Make sure all the features work, the zippers still zip, snaps still snap, and the glued seams are still glued. I recently found my cell phone had fallen out of my inside jacket pocket because the cheap-ass glued seam dried out.

Make sure everything still fits (yep, I recently learned it’s a thing for new parents). If you didn't do it at the end of the season, wash your shell gear (jackets / pants / gloves) with Tech Wash and re-up the waterproofing by using NIkwax. And yes, you can and should wash your Gore-tex too.

Check the laces on your boots. Make sure they aren’t frayed, worn, or about to snap.

Check pants for crampon tears and fix with gore-tex tape and seam grip. Don’t worry, you will still look cool. More repairs = more bad-ass.

Climbing Pack

I once had a beautiful 30L Cilogear pack that I used for ice climbing. It was super nice, with all the features any winter climber would ever want in a pack. But silly me, I’d left a granola bar in there, and when I pulled it out my basement following season, I found that our resident mice that Thought I’d reached a truce with had chosen to sample some top notch nylon reinforcement on their way to oatmeal honey bliss.

if you use a different pack for winter than summer, check your winter pack for holes, fix anything, clean it of granola bars, before the ice comes in.

Ropes

If you’re lucky enough to have separate ropes for summer and winter, you are truly blessed. But even if you don’t they still need to be inspected before you clip in for that free hanging rap over Bridal Veil Falls.

Check for wear and damage. How? Run every inch of those ropes through your hands. What you’re looking for are abnormalities that indicate wear. The British Mountaineering Council put together this really great video showing exactly how to inspect your rope:

Other tips:

-Keep a note stowed away in your pack with emergency info and a contact list JUST IN CASE.
-Volunteer with a local climbing stewardship group or trail crew on a clean up day to get familiar with the approach before the death of winter.
-Carry a First Aid Kit. Make sure it’s stocked and good to go before you head out.
-Check the treads on your tires to make sure you can get to and from the trailhead in that huge snowtorm.

The point of all this prep is to make sure you’re firing on all cyclinders, with no distractions from unprepared, damaged gear. That way you can use all of your focus on the climb and most importantly, having fun.

-Bc

Get your Ice Screws Sharpened!

September 2, 2022

I was leading a climbing in the Catskills last year. About 40’ up casual WI3 terrain before the business began, I was weaving a tapestry of profanity, losing it trying to push a dull-ass, broken tooth screw into what should have been a quick placement. I got so wound up while my screw kept coring out, frustrated at the futility, I finally chucked the screw in a blind rage behind me, a lone piece of BD hardware soaring in a graceful arc, swallowed by a hungry, anonymous snowdrift along the bottom of the creak bed.

It took me about 25 mins of rooting around and carefully digging in the drifts to find that dull-ass screw. Because after I calmed down a bit, I remembered something: I got a guy for that…

Our friend Charles Pechousek at IceScrewSharpening.com will clean up and sharpen your screws. He uses a CNC milling machine, producing precision teeth that are often sharper than new. I have the marks marks in my ice climbing pants to prove it. At $10/screw, that’s more than reasonable for wicked, and I mean wicked, sharp screws.

And for you big risk takers, he can even make one of your beat up 10cm screws into a Super Stubby. What’s a Super Stubby? If you don’t know, best to keep it that way…

You could even go to the consignment gear shop, pickup 10-12 screws for 1/2 of what you pay for new, send them to Charles, and then have basically a brand new rack of ice screws. I wish I’d thought of it sooner.

Charles does all his work in batches, typically before the ice season, which is now for most of us. So do not wait. Get your screws out, send them to Charles, go enjoy the fall leaves, and when the ice comes in, you’ll ready for the most satisfying ice screw placements of your life. That is, till you bottom them out, but then remember, you got a guy for that!

Get all the details at IceScrewSharpening.com.

Ice Climbing Festivals 2022 - 2023

August 24, 2022

Hosting or know of an event that’s not on our list? Let us know and we can list it and help promote your event!

Get 10% OFF! Send an an email to Nick@Furnace-Industries.com with proof of your ice fest registration or ice park membership (ie. Ouray, Sandstone, Winoa etc) and we will send you a 10% coupon on training gear to help you get ready for ice fest!

NORTH AMERICA

New Jersey Ice Climbers Meetup Starting October 28, 7pm-10pm. Mondays @ NJ Rock Gym, Fairfield, NJ, Fridays @ Goat Climbing Gym, Hackensack. NJ. Get ready for ice season with WEEKLY ICE CLIMBING TRAINING NIGHTS! WooHoo!

Bozeman Ice Festival December 8-11, 2022 Bozeman, MT

Wyoming Ice Festival January 5-8, 2023 Cody, WY

All In Ice Fest January 6-8 Ouray, CO

Sandstone Ice Festival January 6-8 2023 Robinson Park Quarry, Sandstone, MN

*Ouray Ice Festival and Competition January 19-22, 2023 Ouray, CO

Catskill Ice Festival January 21-23 2023 New Paltz, NY

Smuggler's Notch Ice Bash January 27-29. Smugglers Notch, VT

Duluth Ice & Mixed Fest No dates yet. Usually in late January. Duluth, MN (Also info on the DCC FB Page.)

Mt. Washington Valley Ice Festival February 3-5, 2023 North Conway, NH

Lake City Ice Climbing Festival February 4, 2023 Lake City Ice Park in Lake City, CO

Adirondack International Mountain Fest February 10-13, 2023 Keene Valley, NY

Michigan Ice Fest February 8-12, 2023 Munising, MI

Valdez Ice Fest February 17-19, 2023 Valdez, AK

Festiglace No dates yet. Usually in February Pont-Rouge QC, CA

Rock Spot IceFest February 18 - 26. The Flume Gorge, NH

Southern Ontario Ice Fest February 10-12 2023 Maynooth, Ontario, Canada

Peabody Ice Fest No date yet, Usually Late February 2023. Fenton, MI

(Info forthcoming) Agawa Canyon Ice Fest March Algoma, Ontario, Canada

(Info forthcoming) Batchawana Ice Fest February Batchawana Bay, Ontario, Canada

Nipigon Ice Festival No dates yet. Nipigon Ontario Canada

INTERNATIONAL

Remarkables Ice & Mixed Festival 10-13th August 2023 Queenstown, NZ

Portillo Ice Fest No dates yet. Usually in August Portillo, Chile

Ice Climbing Ecrins January 12-15 2023 L'Argentière la Bessée, France

Arctic Ice Festival February 17-26 2023 Fjellkysten Norway

Nubra Valley Ice Climbing Festival No dates posted yet. Nubra Valley, Near Ladakh India

ScratchMaster Competition April 16th 2022

April 3, 2022

Scratch Master Competition April 16th, 9am-6pm at The Scratch Pad.

Drytooling gyms and comps are have really surged in past couple years. Here’s just one event we are really excited about:

The Scratch Master Comp is an open drytooling comp for climbers of all skill levels. There will be a Citizens division and an Elite division. The comp will be held at The Scratch Pad and will have qualifiers and finals on the same day.

Check out this comp and sign-up today!

The Scratch Pad 165 North 1330 West #A4, Orem, Utah 84057

Do you have a drytooling comp or know of one coming up? We want to know about it!

Shoot us an email: Ben@Furnace-industries.com or Nick@Furnace-industries.com
and we can help promote it!

Ice Climbing Festivals 2021 - 2022

November 12, 2021

Hosting or know of an event that’s not on our list? Let us know and we can get it up there!

NORTH AMERICA

MCA Ice Climbing Festival September 17-19 2021 Matanuska Glacier, AK

Portland Alpine Festival Paused due to COVD. Usually in November Portland OR

Bozeman Ice Festival December 4-12, 2021 Bozeman, MT

Sandstone Ice Festival January 7-9 2022 Robinson Park Quarry, Sandstone, MN (Might be more info on their FB Page.)

All In Ice Fest January 7-9, 2022 Ouray CO A 3 day ice climbing festival dedicated to fostering a community of climbers, guides, and creatives from historically marginalized communities to increase equity, access, and diversity in the outdoors. Come and be a part of a new era of climbing!

Adirondack International Mountain Fest January 14-17, 2022 Keene Valley, NY

*Ouray Ice Festival and Competition January 20-23, 2022 Ouray, CO

Catskill Ice Festival January 22-24 2022 New Paltz, NY

Smuggler's Notch Ice Bash January 28-30, 2022 Smugglers Notch, VT

Duluth Ice & Mixed Fest January 28-30 2022 Duluth, MN (Also info on the DCC FB Page.)

UIAA North American Championship February 3-5, 2022 Ouray CO

Mt. Washington Valley Ice Festival February 4-6, 2022 North Conway, NH

Michigan Ice Fest February 9-13, 2022 Munising, MI

Valdez Ice Fest February 18-20, 2022 Valdez, AK

Festiglace No dates yet. Usually in February Pont-Rouge QC, CA

Rock Spot IceFest February 18 - 27 The Flume Gorge NH

Southern Ontario Ice Fest February 11-13 2022 Maynooth, Ontario, Canada

Wyoming Ice Festival February 17-20 2022

Nipigon Ice Festival March 3 2022 Nipigon Ontario Canada

INTERNATIONAL

Remarkables Ice & Mixed Festival 11-14th August 2022 Queenstown, NZ

Portillo Ice Fest No dates yet. Usually in August Portillo, Chile

Ice Climbing Ecrins January 13-16 2022 L'Argentière la Bessée, France

Arctic Ice Festival February 19-27 2022 Fjellkysten Norway

Nubra Valley Ice Climbing Festival No dates posted yet. Nubra Valley, Near Ladakh India

Enter to win a pair of Drytooling holds!

November 6, 2021

Krukonogi_Verticallife_Pocket_Mixed_Climbing_Dry_Tooling_Hold_Furnace_Industries-6.jpg

It’s November, and if you’re not training yet, now is THE time. To help you on your way towards safely topping out that next WI5, we’re running a very simple giveaway. We’re giving away 2 drytooling holds every month through March 2022.

All you need to do is sign up for our mailing list below for a chance to win a pair of Vertical Life Drytooling Pocket holds.

The Vertical Life Dry Tooling Pocket is a deep pocket hold designed to train beginner up to hardcore competition ice and mixed climbers. The durable, low impact design is intended to take up a minimum of space to not interfere with other routes on the wall. More info about the Pocket and the Edge can be found HERE.

Training for Ice Climbing - Taking it Outside

August 6, 2021

This post is part of a series on Training For Ice Climbing and Dry Tooling. Click below for sequential posts:

Build a Solid Foundation
Fortification
Basic Core
Hard Core
Endurance
Special Techniques
Head Games
Taking It Outside

Derek Castonguay on Tangled Up In Blue WI4, Ouray CO

Taking it Outside

You’ve trained physically and mentally. Picks are sharpened, screws reconditioned. The ice is in. You are ready to rock this. Go forth and crush.

If you’ve read this far in the series, you may already have, or know a lot about, ice, mixed, and dry tooling climbing equipment. Below are some ideas about more specialized gear you may find helpful.

Specialized Equipment

Fruit Boots

On the UIAA competition circuit and at more serious mixed climbing crags, all climbers are using Fruit Boots. These are hyper-specialized lightweight footwear with minimalist crampons bolted directly to the sole of a stiff, sticky rubber boot. Think of a board-lasted high-top rock shoe with a crampon and some insulation.

If you’re aiming for some sporty mixed routes, fruit boots are in your future. Only issue is that they’re not easy to find outside Europe. Here are some makes you may be able to find in the wild.

Lowa Boots
https://www.lowaboots.com/mens/mountaineering/ice-comp-ip-gtx®?color=Lime/Orange

Scarpa
https://www.scarpa.com/rebel-ice

Boreal
http://www.borealoutdoor.com/products/details/ice-mutant

Gloves

When you’re red-lining your climbing limits, you can’t be futzing clips with mitted hand. As mixed climbers gear up to go for the redpoint, they’re usually wearing a super thin glove, and the mixed climber's glove of choice has become golf gloves due to their finger sensitivity, added friction on tool handles, and price. Definitely not for warmth or durability, golf gloves bring a measure of calm when you get the rope in the clip the first time. Pro Tip: For even more grip, go the extra mile and coat your hands in liquid chalk before putting your golf gloves on.

Top 10 Best Men Golf Gloves 2017 Reviews

Other glove options:

Mechanix Gloves
http://www.mechanix.com/automotive/the-original-glove

Football receiver gloves - Can be found on Amazon

Clothes

Winter climbing clothing solutions are very specific to each person and as such the advice below is specific and anecdotal to my body and experiences. Here is what I’ve learned after 25 years of ice climbing:

When performing in the winter environment, keeping warm and dry is paramount, but something that many new climbers miss is that climbing ice is extremely physical. Sweating can be a real problem especially if that sweat saturates clothing and begins to rob your body of heat when you slow down (i.e. at the end the pitch). The rule is: Try not to sweat, but at the same time try not to get a chill. Take layers off as needed. Put them on as needed. Slow down. Speed up. Maintain a comfortable body temp while not allowing or your body overheat or to get a chill. It’s imperative to warm up or cool down so your mind can be calm on the climb. If it sounds like a lot of work to be constantly adding/removing layers, it is, but it’s just what you must do to maintain comfort in the winter.

Cold Hand Solutions

Handwarmers

I tuck these inside the sleeve of my long sleeve base layer, one on each side. They slide around but generally live on the underside of my wrists, which is exactly where I want them. The goal is to warm the blood that’s going into my hands. Personally, I’ve never found the need to secure them in place, but some lightly applied athletic tape would do the trick.

Multiple sets of gloves

When you’re out for a day of ice climbing, it’s easy to bring extra sets of gloves and simply change them out when they get wet. I usually have three pairs. One lightweight set for the approach (BD Lightweight Fleece Gloves), one set for climbing (BD Punishers), and one super warm set for the belays (BD Guide Gloves). I put the climbing gloves inside my jacket on my chest after each pitch and swap out to my super warm belay gloves. There is an incredible amount of drying power available from your torso after leading a pitch of ice. Put it to good use.
While I’m partial to BD’s hand wear, Outdoor Research, Rab, Mountain Hardwear, Arcteryx all make excellent glove options. Just know that when you’re out there playing hard, you’re going to destroy them. I have to replace my BD Punisher climbing gloves before every season.

Cold Feet Solutions

Socks

For managing cold feet, it’s important to realize that you’re likely wearing super high tech, leather or plastic insulated alpine climbing boots. Like alpine touring ski boots, they are made to be worn with regular weight socks. Wearing multiple sock layers or super thick socks may actually make your feet colder. Insulation does not work unless there is a small amount of air for your feet to heat inside the boot. Wearing multiple sets of socks that make your boots fit too tightly prevents blood circulation and fills in air gaps that would help provide insulation. The key here is to make sure your feet are not being compressed too much.

Think of it this way: Your cozy warm sleeping bag or puffy jacket only works because the insulation has ‘loft’ creating many tiny air pockets where air is trapped. Now squish that loft down. Insulation is negated because there are no air pockets. Heat will simply be radiated through the compressed layer to the outside environment. The same thermodynamic principles apply to feet in socks in boots.

Hand / Toe Warmers

I fit my ice boots like I do my street shoes: comfortably. These are not rock shoes and you do not want your toes crammed up against the front of the boot. On really cold days when I wear two pairs of long underwear, I tuck handwarmers outside my base layer but inside my expedition weight layer on the inside of my calf/ankle above my boots. Note: Do NOT place them against your skin. I have burned the skin on my lower legs with hand warmers right against my skin. Again, the idea is to warm the blood that’s entering my feet.
On the coldest of days I put toe warmers on the top of my toes on the outside of my socks before putting on my boots.

Lacing

Don’t hesitate to adjust the lacing of your boots often. I have made this mistake a million times. Toes are freezing and all I had to do was loosen the top couple or bottom couple of laces but i didn’t want to undo my gaiters or pant so I just suffered. STOP and fix it, you’ll be much much happier.

Coming Back Alive

Ice and mixed climbing can be extremely dangerous. These posts are NOT a substitute for sound judgement and decision making. Going out climbing is optional. Coming back is not. If there is ever a doubt, just don’t go climbing. Come back another time or hire a guide.

I once climbed with a guy who had a hard and fast “3 Strikes” rule. It goes like this: if three things go wrong, go home. They don’t have to be huge things, but significant enough to affect the day’s outcome, like a forgotten belay device, minorly twisted ankle, dropping a screw. Your day is over. Go home. Ice climbing is not an activity with wide margins for errors.

Just remember one thing, if there’s an incident, it is never the mountain’s fault.

Avalanche over Polar Circus WI5+/6 in the Canadian Rockies. Note the climber just right of the slide!

Avalanches

Many world class routes lie directly in the path of major avalanches, including on the East Coast. As ice climbing and winter sports continue to grow, more and more climbers and recreationists are getting caught in avalanches. Every single one of these incidents was preventable. I strongly, strongly, urge that all ice climbers take an avalanche course.

Here is a link to several avalanche course providers at The American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education

Preparation

Wear an avalanche rescue beacon that signals your location. And YES, ice climbers should carry beacons.
Learn how to use rescue equipment.
Practice using rescue equipment.

Awareness

Constantly evaluate avalanche conditions.
Areas with fresh accumulations of wind-driven snow are particularly vulnerable.
Extremely steep slopes particularly in shaded areas near a ridge are also risky.
Always travel with a partner. Descend risky areas one by one and watch for avalanche signs.

Rockfall, Icefall, Climbing Under Other Parties

Rockfall

The freeze thaw cycle of ice serves to break up the rock of our mountains. After eons of this fractious activity, our mountains are rife with loose piles of death blocks awaiting the faintest of breezes to topple them over. If you’ve ever heard a rock whiz by at 9.8m/s2, you know by the time you know it’s coming it’s already 50ft below you. Be smart, Wear a helmet.

Icefall

At some point during the season, the ice will fall down. Usually at the end, it might even happen in the middle of the season during a warm spell. Collapses even happen during a super cold snap. Assessing the stability of frozen water is one of the most difficult things to learn. It can only be learned by climbing lots and lots of ice, learning it’s different properties at various temps, humidities, altitudes, and locales. Even with all that experience you may still be wrong. Wear a helmet and be conservative in your stress tests. Also, stack the deck in your favor by not tempting fate standing directly below a 70’ hanging dagger cuz you think it’ll make a nice selfie.

Climbing under people

Ice climbing displaces ice, there’s really no way around it. Some climbers are better at displacing less ice, but it still happens. That ice tumbles to the ground and will do damage to anyone in it’s path. Worse, that falling ice can trigger snow slides.

One of the world’s best ice climbers, Guy Lacelle, was killed during the 2009 Bozeman Ice Festival when he was caught in an avalanche triggered by climbers under whom he was climbing.

No matter how badly you want to do that route, if someone’s on it, WAIT till it’s clear or go do something else.

#SeekQualifiedInstruction

Be realistic of your and your partner’s abilities. Do you possess the skills to make an honest assessment of the risks? Could your partner evacuate you if you were unconscious? Could you do the same for them? Do you know first aid? Do you hold WFR Certification? Could you assess the likelihood of a slide event in avalanche terrain?

Until you feel confident that you can handle yourself in this environment, #SeekQualifiedInstruction. You will learn tons from a certified AMGA guide.

You’re physically ready, mentally ready, and you have the requisite safety skills and first aid training. You climb regularly with DRY ICE Tools. Time to Climb! Buckle in for the ride of your life. There’s just nothing better than climbing ice.

-bc

This series was written by Ben Carlson an AMGA SPI Guide and Co-Owner of Furnace Industries.

Training for Ice Climbing - Head Games

August 6, 2021

This post is part of a series on Training For Ice Climbing and Dry Tooling. Click below for sequential posts:

Build a Solid Foundation
Fortification
Basic Core
Hard Core
Endurance
Special Techniques
Head Games
Taking It Outside

You’re doing:
Foundation with Fortification
Hard Core
Endurance
Special Techniques

Head Games

Alpine start. Coffee. 45 min drive to the trailhead. Opening the car door to icy cold slap in the face. Breathy headlamps on. 1.5 hrs uphill avalanche prone gully approach to the route. Packs off below the ice flow, the sun has just begun to turn the sky from soft black to inky azure. Geared up. Ropes flaked. Temps -10°C. You are cold, but somehow sweating, Fingers and toes numb but not hurting. Sound of the water running inside the ice. Look up, it’s steep, dead vertical with crazy blobby overhanging sections high up. 200m snow slope below is exactly 30° followed but a short cliff into the drainage. Tied in. Screws racked. On belay. Swing a tool into the ice and hear the hollow thunk of a ‘maybe-it’s-good’ placement. Swing again. Doubts arise. Is it bonded well? How have the temps been? Are my crampons on the right feet? Butterflies in your stomach. What am I doing here?! Wait, what?. The tip protectors are still on my screws. This looks scary. Why won’t my hands warm up? It’s starting to snow...

Dangerous Liaisons

Ice Climbing is not for the meek. It is incredibly dangerous with extremely high probability of injury during even the shortest of leader falls. For those who are game for lead climbing ice or mixed routes, there’s nothing more consuming of one’s focus or demanding of one’s skills, ‘cept maybe motorcycle racing, or boxing. The technical and physical parts are easy to learn and prepare. The mental game is not.

The Mental Game

Even with the extreme risks, Ice, Mixed, and Dry Tool Climbing offer an incredibly rewarding experience that reinforces a deep confidence in one’s self sufficiency. This type of climbing requires the leader to look deep within. You are quite literally climbing something that will fall down someday. You have to know when you can do it, and when you can’t. You must know when the risks are too much, when to walk away. Risk management is paramount.

Be honest about what you know and what you do not. That level of conservative confidence develops from a long climbing apprenticeship, from mistakes made and lessons learned. From keeping eyes open and senses alert in the mountains. From seeking qualified instruction such as guided skills courses, avalanche training, lead clinics at ice fests, reading, watching, training in the gym with DRY ICE Tools. From repeatedly experiencing how your body reacts under extreme physical stress. From knowing how your head performs under extreme mental stress.

Below is just one approach to training your mind to deal with the existential one-two punch that ice climbers take on the chin.

Mental Training

Not flying? Not trying.

In the gym, get into the ‘red zone’. This means climbing past your ability and really spending time in the zone where you feel like you’re coming off and are indeed coming off. Get there, stay there, and be there as long as you can. You are going to fall so do this with caution. Do it on lead. Breathe through it. Soak it in.

Notice what happens to:
-Your breathing - Fast? Slow? Controlled? Short? Deep?
-Your forearms - Flaming? Comfortable? Are you managing the pump by switching hands?
-Your shoulders - Are your shoulders choking up as your grip strength wanes?
-Your arm position - Are you bending your elbows instead of hanging with straight arms?
-Your footwork - What are you feet doing?

Then, notice what your mind is doing. There will be a lot of noise in there. Take a moment, rise above it in your head and hear it. Are you hearing “oh shit, oh shit, oh shit”? Are you telling yourself, “I can’t”? Is there something saying, “There’s just no way”?, "I Suck.” Write these things down. See them on the paper, then write the opposite. “I got this”, “I can”. “I can figure out a way.” “I am climbing very hard and very safely.’

Do this every time you workout your mind on a climb. The longer you spend in the red zone, the more you’ll learn about what you’re telling yourself and how your mind behaves in that space. Close your eyes and listen to yourself. Do NOT try to fix it, simply become aware of it. Once you can settle down and give that voice the attention it’s demanding, it will simply quiet down, dissipate into the background. This is because you are not those thoughts. You are the observer of those thoughts. You will push past previous failure points once you realize that you, in fact, are your own worst enemy.

Let Go.

Two monks were traveling together. At one point, they came to a river with a strong current. As the monks were preparing to cross the river, they saw a very young and beautiful woman also attempting to cross. The young woman asked if they could help her cross to the other side.

The two monks glanced at one another. They had taken vows not to touch a woman.

Without a word, the older monk picked up the woman, carried her across the river, placed her gently on the other side, and carried on his journey.

The younger monk couldn’t believe what had just happened. After rejoining his companion, he was speechless, and an hour passed without a word between them.

Two more hours passed, then three, finally the younger monk could not contain himself any longer, and blurted out “As monks, we are not permitted to touch a woman, how could you then carry that woman on your shoulders?”

The older monk looked at him and replied, “Brother, I set her down hours ago, why are you still carrying her?”

Ice Climbing and especially Mixed Climbing are excellent at pushing unnecessary thoughts out of your head. But sometimes there’s that thing that just lingers on the mind. Going through a rough breakup? Angry at something at work? Did someone cut you off in traffic and is that frustration festering? Events like these can pull focus away from the serious task at hand. Three deep breaths. Let go. Be present. Go climb.

Other Notes to Quiet the Mind

Stoke the fire. It is so cold outside that a torrent of falling water has frozen in place. Your body is 98% water. If you’re cold, your mental focus is not where it needs to be. What was the last thing you ate or drank? To climb at your best your mind requires you to feed the fire to keep warm in the winter environment. Plan your food for the day to maintain body temperature and energy level. Fill up a vacuum bottle with hot drinks. Drink hot tea at the belays. Bring a puffy jacket and use it. Eat high fat, high calorie food like jerky, peanuts, and chocolate. Ice climbing is no place for healthy snacks. You’ll be happier and your lead head will remain intact.

Know Thyself

More than just an ancient directive handed down from the Greeks, be honest about your failings with yourself and with your partner. While assessing Objective Hazards, know that it’s Subjective Hazards that more often than not lead to accidents. Get good at assessing risks, divorcing your desires from potentially unreasonable risk. This is not Point Break. There is precisely zero shame in walking away. The only bruise will be to your quickly-healed ego.

Additional Resources and Suggested reading:

Climbing Guide Dustin Portzline is one of the few guides out there (the only one we know of in fact) who specifically offers courses in mental training. Check out him and the course here.

The Rock Warrior’s Way by Arno Ilgner
This is THE climber’s mental training bible.

Zen Flesh Zen Bones by Paul Reps (Compiler) and Nyogen Senzaki (Compiler)
First published in 1957, this book became an instant sensation with an entire generation of readers who were just beginning to experiment with Zen. As climbers we can benefit from these lessons and tales collected over the past 5 centuries.

The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff
The unassuming bear to introduces us to Eastern philosophical principles. Pooh epitomizes the "uncarved block," as he is well in tune with his natural inner self.

Accidents in North American Climbing - The American Alpine Club
The year’s most significant and teachable climbing accidents. Learn from the mistakes of others.

Training for Ice Climbing - Special Techniques

August 6, 2021

This post is part of a series on Training For Ice Climbing and Dry Tooling. Click below for sequential posts:

Build a Solid Foundation
Fortification
Basic Core
Hard Core
Endurance
Special Techniques
Head Games
Taking It Outside

NOTE: These workouts are intended for the fitness-minded climber. It’s up to you to manage your time and expectations. You may not initially be able to achieve the workout as described. Just working towards that goal will do wonders to get you ready for ice season.

You’re doing:
Foundation with Fortification
Hard Core
Endurance

There are moves that are specific to every climbing discipline. Ice Climbing and Dry Tooling are no exception. Let’s get ready for them. For maximum indoor training benefit, pick up a pair of DRY ICE Tools since the handles are designed to be used without gloves.

Of course, like most things in climbing there is a small controversy about using the fig 4 or fig 9. The core of the argument is that, like the now much reviled heel spur, these maneuvers make climbs too easy, are technically repetitive, and that nobody does these moves in the mountains. All those reasons hold water, but the one that may be most relevant is that these moves can be extremely destructive to a climber’s shoulders. If you want to climb for a long time, limit your use of these moves.

Special Techniques Workout 2x / Week

Figure 4 - 10x, 3 sets

The idea with the Figure 4 is to use your own body to leverage your reach even further. The move becomes necessary when getting your feet on severely overhanging terrain becomes an inefficient use of energy. It looks like this:

There is really only one way to prepare for this awkward maneuver, and that’s to do it.

Find a solid place to hang from your DRY ICE Tools and use a spotter, bring your legs up, wrap your left leg over your right lower arm / wrist (not your elbow!), extend your left leg, and get into a Fig 4. The closer to your wrist you place the back of your knee, the further you can reach. Unwind, extend your legs down without touching the ground, repeat on the other arm with opposite leg.
Continue for 10x. Rest. Do it again. 3 sets.

Figure 9 - 10x, 3 sets

These are essentially the same move, but instead of wrapping your leg over the opposite arm/wrist, wrap it over the same arm/wrist, i.e. left leg to left arm. Remember, the closer you can get the back of your kee to your wrist, the more effective the maneuver.
Continue for 10x. Rest. Do it again. 3 sets.

Marianne Van der Steen doing a Figure 9. Photo Gaetan Raymond.

Fig 4 to Fig 9 - 10x, 3 sets

Building on the two previous exercises, this puts the two together as is sometimes necessary when traversing through a roof section. From a series produced by world-class climber Gaetan Raymond, the technique looks like this:

In a workout, hang from your DRY ICE Tools, get into a Fig 4, flip your leg over your other arm to get into a Fig 9, unwind and lower leg, repeat with the opposite leg/side.

Continue for 10x. Rest. Do it again. 3 sets.

The sequence looks like this:

One Armed Rows - 10x, 3 sets

Why? To get ready for those inevitable and ridiculous long reaches need to get to the good placement when coming out from under an overhang.

In the gym place a DRY ICE Tool on a hold, feet on holds low on the wall. The steeper the wall, the better the better the workout. Reach as high as you possibly can with opposite tool, Lower down slowly. Repeat. Extra points if you add weight to the reaching tool.

Continue to reach as far as you can and lower down slowly, 10 reps, 3 sets

Hanging Sit Ups - 10. That's it just 10.

(Yes the upside down ones.)

Why? To get comfortable being upside down and using abs to get to the next placement.
While you need some specialized equipment and a spotter for this, if you have access both, you are in for a treat. Using an Inversion Table, Hang Up Gravity Boots, or if you just your gym’s Ab Bench, get into position and work those abs.

If you don’t have access to that equipment, using your gym’s Ab Bench on it’s highest setting will suffice.

Do not just say ‘F-that, no way’. Just try it, even if you do just one, or even ½ of one. Work up to these. When you can knock out 10-12, a whole world of sick, overhanging mixed and dry tool routes will open up to you.

Training for Ice Climbing - Endurance

August 6, 2021

This post is part of a series on Training For Ice Climbing and Dry Tooling. Click below for sequential posts:

Build a Solid Foundation
Fortification
Basic Core
Hard Core
Endurance
Special Techniques
Head Games
Taking It Outside

After a 3 hour approach in knee deep snow, will you have enough juice to top out, descend, and make it home?

You’ve been doing:
Foundation with Fortification
Hard Core for two weeks

When standing below the 180’ P1 of a WI5+, you’ll quickly realize it’s a long, long way to the next belay. Now do that for for 4-5 pitches, do that everyday for two weeks. and then you'll be able to rock some of the bigger routes in the Canadian rockies. Let’s make sure you have enough juice to get up them.

By now you’re probably feeling pretty strong and climbing pretty darn hard. But what use is all that power if you can’t last?

No matter how much power you have, if you don't have muscular endurance you can injure yourself with too much repetition. Cardiovascular endurance makes it easier to climb longer and with more intensity, but also make other parts of the day, such as the approach and descent, easier. Besides helping you avoid heart problems and improve your circulation, endurance training burns more calories than weight lifting, so it can also help you maintain your weight. At the very least, the CDC recommends a minimum of 150 minutes (just 22 mins / day) of moderate cardio per week, or 300 minutes for maximum benefits.

Endurance Workout 3x / Week

Since the beginning of these posts, our goal has been to increase maximum strength, which is why we introduced strength training before endurance training. However, now we’re focusing on endurance, specifically, intensity and duration.

IMPORTANT: It is not a good idea to strength train after an endurance workout. Attempting a strength building workout when your muscles are already fatigued means you can’t work out at the intensity necessary to provide an ideal training stimulus. Working already fatigued muscles increases the risk of injury. If your muscles are already tired, coordination suffers and stabilizing muscles will be weakened. After a strength training session your body needs time to recovery to repair and rebuild muscle tissue.

In general, you should not do two different types of workouts back-to-back (like in the same session). You will achieve better results in both your strength and endurance training if you give your body sufficient time to recover (about a day).

Before getting into our Endurance Workouts, we need to talk about the Exertion Scale. Since we’ll be using it to describe the workouts, this fun chart explains it:

The three main exercises for building endurance are swimming, biking, and running. If you’re a triathlete, you already know these all too well.

You could also:
Hike (ideally something very long and steep)
XC Ski
Row
Dance
Do other sports like tennis, basketball, soccer, or racquetball
Or just use the cardio equipment a the gym: spinning machine, elliptical, treadmill

Whichever activity you choose, make sure to get you heart rate up and keep it up anywhere from 40 min-2 hrs. Here are some examples:

Swimming

Swim a mile, or work up to swimming a mile. No breaks. Exertion: 3-4 and finishing up with a 5-6. This will work out to 40 min for most people.

There are many reasons why swimming is one of the greatest all around exercises, but it’s the low-impact resistance training coupled with aerobic benefits that are of particular interests to ice climbers. Also there’s research that swimmers tend to have healthier lungs allowing them to process oxygen more proficiently, a quality that is clearly beneficial to ice climbers pushing their limits on hard climbs and/or at altitude.

Biking

1-2hr Bike Rides. Exertion: 4-5

Get on that bike and roll out. Could be road, mountain, gravel, BMX, whatever, so long as you’re able to consistently keep the exertion and your heart rate up. Riding up long hills are best as they require you to push harder for longer, just like on that next long overhanging section, or the approach to Grand Illusion in Smuggs, VT.

Running

Run for 40-60mins. Starting with level 3-4 exertion and finish with level 5-6.

Think hills, or trail runs. Road runs will do, but you’ll get more out it if you’re not able to relax into an easy, level pace. Remember to stretch your calves before/after.

Climbing

40-60mins of Climbing. This is not a time for projecting a route. Think laps. Do 3x 20 min pushes of continuous climbing. Climb at level 3-4.

If you just can’t get enough climbing, you can in fact build endurance for climbing by climbing, but only by climbing a lot. The key is to go for BIG mileage on easy terrain. This is not about power, it’s about mileage. You can double your effectiveness by downclimbing. However you do it, make sure to keep your heart rate up, NO RESTS. If you choose climbing as your endurance training, keep the exertion low to avoid tendon injuries: Level 3-4. Remember to do push-ups to work the counter muscles.

Rest

All the training in the world is useless if you don't rest. Resting makes the training stick. Below is one approach to maximizing workout effectiveness by slowing down.

-Schedule Down Time. By ‘down time’, we mean light duty activity: a short, fun, easy bike ride, an easy day of climbing, go for a walk. Don’t stop moving. Remember, and object in motion will stay in motion, but an object at rest will stay at rest.

Make sure you schedule at least 24 - 72hrs of rest between intense workouts. Your body needs time to heal, but more importantly, you’re risking injury if you don’t allow your body to recover.

Sleep

Make sure you get sufficient sleep. Hormones released while sleeping are meant to induce a state of recovery in the body. Muscle-building activity and hormone concentrations increase during sleep.

Hydration

Dehydration significantly reduces climbing and athletic performance potential, but also delays the recovery process. Exercise and the accompanying increase in metabolism both increase the body’s need for water and electrolytes. When exercising the minimum amount of fluid intake per day is 3.7L/day for males and 2.7L/day for females.

Eat

(NOTE: Extensive nutritional advice is outside the scope of these posts. If you’re really serious about training, we highly recommend consulting a nutritionist for athletes or holistic wellness advisor.)

When you’re recovering, it’s time to eat. Protein is key for rebuilding muscle tissue the components for various cells, tissues, enzymes, and hormones. The point is that you must eat while recovering from training. You can save the dieting epics for the mountain, but your training is supposed to be make you harder to kill.

Massage

Massage from a therapist or self-massage with foam rollers, massage sticks, and even just a tennis ball can reduce muscle stiffness and promote circulation helping to reduce recovery time.

Gently roll a ball or massage stick over all major muscle groups until you find a sensitive spot. Apply gentle direct pressure until the pain dissipates. Roll over the muscle again and repeat if necessary. Even if you feel massage doesn’t speed up your recovery, it might make you feel better compared to not getting massaged in the first place.

Other resources:

Uphill Athlete
Uphill Athlete is a platform for openly sharing proven training knowledge for the sports of alpinism, mountaineering, rock and ice climbing, ski mountaineering, skimo racing, and mountain running. Run by Steve House, Scott Johnston (House’s coach), Matt Naney, and Maya Seckinger.

Training for the New Alpinism
Training theory translated into practice to allow you to coach yourself to any mountaineering goal.

Training for Ice Climbing - Hard Core

August 6, 2021

This post is part of a series on Training For Ice Climbing and Dry Tooling. Click below for sequential posts:

Build a Solid Foundation
Fortification
Basic Core
Hard Core
Endurance
Special Techniques
Head Games
Taking It Outside

You’ve been doing:
Foundation and Fortification
Basic Core for two weeks

Right, now let’s get serious. We’re going to really work the core and turn up the heat.

Remember these workouts are in addition to your foundational exercises. You’re starting with your foundation workout, climbing a lot, and working your core. You will replace the Basic CORE with the Hard CORE workouts below, 2x a week.

Hard Core Workout 2x / Week

Planks / Side Planks

The Plank is one of the best exercises for core conditioning because it also works your glutes and hamstrings, supports proper posture, and improves balance.

- Hold your elbows directly under your shoulders and place your wrists in line with your elbows.
- Push your body up into your upper back and hold your chin close to your neck (like you’re holding an egg between your chin and your throat).
- In this position, brace your abdominals—contract them like expecting a punch in your stomach, squeeze your glute and thigh muscles simultaneously. Continue to breathe normally.
- Hold a plank at least 20 to 30 seconds. (If you’re doing it right, you won’t need to hold it for longer than 30 sec.)
- Rest for 1 min and repeat for 3-5x

There are many variations. Try planks with a wide stance, do side planks holding each leg off the ground, hold your arm at your side or extended, twist your hips left and right. For bonus points, use a Bosu Ball (ball side down).

Mistakes to avoid:
X - Allowing your hips, head, or shoulders to drop
X - Placing your hands too close together, which creates internal rotation and instability at your shoulder joint
X - Holding your breath
X - Trying to hold the position too long, It is better to maintain proper form for a shorter period of time than to hold improper form for longer.

**Side Plank, Side Plank with one leg raised**

Mountain Climbers / Suspended Mountain Climbers

These are an excellent challenge for the core muscle group. MC’’s and SMC’s work everything from your shoulders to your knees. These can be a great cardio exercise. If you have access to a TRX setup we highly recommend using it to perform a suspended variation. If you don’t, performing this from a push-up position is also excellent.

- Begin in a pushup position.
- Bring one leg into your chest, then switch legs.
- Keep the weight on the straight leg and hold the plank position.
- Repeat for 10-12x.

Standing Leg Wood Chop w/Medicine Ball

The wood chop works the abs but targets the obliques. Unlike static planks, the wood chop targets your middle while your middle is in motion, making this move a serious functional fitness maneuver. These can be done in a simple standing position, but for a better workout, stand on one leg. Use a 5-10 lb. medicine ball. If you don’t have a medicine ball, use bag of rice / large soup can / pack stuffed with a rope.

- Stand on right leg, (left leg bent, thigh parallel to the ground).
- Hold medicine ball up with both hands to the right side.
- Quickly and smoothly bring the ball down to the left side.
- Keep torso upright, do not bend your torso, keep standing leg slightly bent and restore to the starting position.
- Repeat 8 -12x. Repeat with the other side. 3 Sets.

Modified Front Lever

This is the first seriously challenging exercise in our program and also one that starts to put together some of the work we’re doing like grip and core strength. These are hard. Just getting into the position is a challenge, which is exactly what we want. This move is a direct correlation to moves we may do when mixed climbing.

- Hang straight. Body vertical.
- Bring one leg up to your chest.
- Rotate so your back and the opposite leg (keep it straight) are parallel with the ground.
- Hold the position for up to 20 sec.
- Repeat 6-12x.

These are going to be hard. Take your time. Work up to multiple reps.

For an excellent series of serious core exercises and all kinds of training for climbers in general, look no further than Eric Hörst’s Training For Climbing. In particular this, Hörst video from Epic TV demonstrates several workouts that are of particular interest to ice and mixed climbers:

Training for Ice Climbing - Basic Core

August 6, 2021

This post is part of a series on Training For Ice Climbing and Dry Tooling. Click below for sequential posts:

Build a Solid Foundation
Fortification
Basic Core
Hard Core
Endurance
Special Techniques
Head Games
Taking It Outside

You’ve been doing:
Foundation and Fortification

You swing into hard ice and it dinner-plates alarmingly. Leveraging off the current placement, you work out the pick, clear out the shattered ice, swing again. Good stick. Body out from the ice, look down at your feet, lift a foot onto the next blob and kick to set your front points, step up, thrust hips into the ice, reach up and swing your other tool…

Un-metaphorically, all the force we need to drive in our picks and front points comes from deep inside us. Every single move we do in ice climbing relies on one thing, the Core.

Your core is a complex series of muscles, extending far beyond your abs, including everything besides your arms and legs. Your core muscle group is incorporated in almost every movement in climbing. It is imperative to strengthen and stabilize core muscles to be able to transfer energy into our swings, our kicks, and into upward movement.

Basic CORE Workout 3x Week (up to 4x a week)

For all of these exercises do 6-12 per set, or till you get a good burn. If you are not getting a good burn, use a weights to challenge your core.

Crunches

These are crunches, not sit-ups. When we crunch, we take the emphasis off of our abdomen and onto our hip flexors. Focus on either bringing your ribs down to your belly button, or pushing the small of your back into the floor, whichever works for you. It will raise your chest a few inches off of the ground. This little motion is all you need to target your abs.

There are many variations of crunches. We like doing crunches with legs up, twists (challenges obliques), and the bicycle.

Things to watch out for:
You crunch too high - Targets the wrong muscles.
You use momentum - Negates the point of the workout and puts undo stress on joints.
You yank your neck - Keep your chin off your chest, try crossing your arms over your chest or placing your fingertips around your ears.
You relax on the way down - You’re skipping half the workout, and it’ll take twice as long. Squeeze abs on the way up, AND the way down.
You hold your breath - This is a bad habit many climbers make. When breathing stops, your body doesn’t know what to do. Are you drowning? Are you stuck on the toilet? Make sure to breath smoothly and constantly to focus on the effort. Develop this habit, use it when climbing and it will help keep your mind in check too.

Reverse Crunches

The reverse crunch is a basic core strengthening exercise that improves stability throughout the lower back, hips, and spine. They help you protect your back and create a greater range of motion, which helps place more tension on your abdominal muscle, precisely what’s needed for safe, stable ice climbing technique.

-Lie on the ground in a traditional crunch position, your toes to the sky and hands underneath your head or on the floor beside your torso.
-Press your lower back into the floor and pull in your belly button to lift your butt off the floor.
-Using your core, pull your hips up so that your tailbone raises off of the ground. For slight bonus lift your shoulder blades off of the floor.
-Slowly lower hips and return to the starting position.
-Make sure not to use swinging momentum from your legs to power your reps. Focus on squeezing those abs!

Contralateral Limb Raises aka Superman 3 x 15

These target your back, particularly the muscles that help stabilize your spine.

- Lie on your stomach with arms outstretched.
- Slowly lift one arm a few inches off the floor, keeping it straight without rotating your shoulders.
- Simultaneously lift the leg of your opposite side.
- Hold the position for 5 seconds, then lower your arm and leg back down.

**Contralateral Limb Raises 3 x 6-12 reps**

Single Leg Dead Lift

The Single Leg Dead Lift is a great exercise as it incorporates active hip extension and flexion on a single-leg stance, just like running, climbing up stairs, and particularly important to us ice climbers, kicking. Doing deadlifts also increases strength, balance, and flexibility. If you’re doing them right, more than likely you’ll feel a stretch in your hamstrings. Watch out that you do not bend your spine on the way down, but rather take the stretch in your hamstrings. The idea is to keep your back flat and pivot from the hips.

- Start standing position.
- Reach leg back, lift leg and hinge upper torso forward at same time. Move smoothly and in control.
- End with leg and torso parallel to the ground. Make sure you hips are square to the ground too.
- Return to standing position.

If you’ve been climbing for a while and you have developed some core strength, SLDLs may be relatively easy. Increase the difficulty by holding a kettlebell or freeweight:

In our next post we really dive into difficult core exercises. Lay a strong foundation with the Basic CORE Workout now to be prepared for the challenges ahead.

Training for Ice Climbing - Fortification

August 6, 2021

This post is part of a series on Training For Ice Climbing and Dry Tooling. Click below for sequential posts:

Build a Solid Foundation
Fortification
Basic Core
Hard Core
Endurance
Special Techniques
Head Games
Taking It Outside

NOTE: These workouts are intended for the fitness-minded climber. It’s up to you to manage your time and expectations. You may not initially be able to achieve the workout as described. Just working towards that goal will do wonders to get you ready for ice season.

You’ve been doing:
Foundation

Now that you’ve developed a workout habit that maintains a solid foundation (you’ve done approximately 6 Foundation workouts by now right?), let’s open it up.

Building on the Foundation Workout, the goal now is to add longer, less intense workouts with intervals of high intensity.

Fortification Workout 2x / week 30-40 mins

Intervals

Intervals (aka, High Intensity Interval Training or HIIT) are the single most effective way to increase power while building endurance. These are short, high intensity workouts followed by regular intensity workouts. High intensity means high intensity, as in, as hard as you can go, ~95% Max HR. Due to the extreme intensity, injury is easier. Use this variation very wisely, While it can greatly improve your ability to go harder longer you MUST be careful to not over do it and cause injury.

Intervals training at their most basic go like this: when warmed up and running, biking, or swimming, go full on as hard as you can for 30 sec, then slow down to a regular pace for 1-2 mins. Repeat for 20-30 mins. Use this tool 2x / week.

You can even do this when climbing. Find a long easy route, outside or in the gym. Climb as fast as you can for 1 min, and then climb at a recovery pace for 1 min. If you top out, lower off and immediately begin climbing again. Bask in the heat of your pumped forearms and burning lungs. Repeat for 8-10 mins. Bonus if your gym has auto-belays, or if your auto-belay is named Jim.

Below, Marian is on her third interval on a route set for DRY ICE Tools. Doesn’t get any more ice-specific than that.

For a more organized version of the interval workout, look no further than the Cardio Pyramid. It looks like this:

30 seconds sprint / 30 seconds recover
1 minute sprint / 1 minute recover
2 minutes sprint / 2 minutes recover
4 minutes sprint / 4 minutes recover
2 minutes sprint / 2 minutes recover
1 minute sprint / 1 minute recover
30 seconds sprint / 30 seconds recover

Replace ‘sprint’ with ‘all-out swim / bike / run / climb’ for interval workout du jour. IF YOU CANNOT DO THIS, tailor the cardio pyramid to your maximum ability, maybe you start with an initial 5 sec sprint, then work up to and initial 10 second sprint, etc.. The point is to get your HR up and get moving.

Stretching

All this training is useless without the flexibility to use it. Yoga is excellent. While we could take up an entire post with stretching for ice climbing, below are some stretches to keep you limber for that next high step.

Calf Stretch

When climbing ice, few muscles get as worked as hard as the calves. Taking care of them is not only an important part of being fit but also strong, supportive calves help keep your mind calm when your 80’ up on some sketchy, chandeliered grade 5.

Why is it important to stretch calf muscles?

Nerding out here: The calf is comprised of two muscles the gastrocnemius and soleus which fuse at the Achilles tendon and when they contract, they flex the foot to allow you to plant on the balls of your feet and stand on your crampon’s front points. As your foot lands when you walk, run, squat down to sit, or climb ice the calf muscles must stretch to allow your foot to flatten, your heel to come down to be level with your front points, and your shin to come forward. If your calf muscles are excessively tight you will constantly walk and stand on the balls of your feet. This impairs your ability to move efficiently on ice or mixed terrain.

Also, excessively tight calf muscles are prone to tearing, increase your risk of Achilles tendon tears, and are weak. Stretching the calf muscles several days a week will improve range of motion, decrease risk of tearing, and help the calf muscles provide the support you need when climbing or placing a screw on steep ice.

Below Marian is using a simple downward dog pose to stretch her calves.

-Hold stretches for 30 seconds.
-For a deeper stretch bend the knees and ankles.

Tricep Stretch

The tricep is the extensor of the elbow. It allows us to straighten our forearms, or more importantly, swing our ice axes. Keeping your triceps limber allows a more efficient swing and easier pick placements.

-Place your hand on your upper back with the elbow bend towards the ceiling.
-Use your other hand to pull the elbow towards your head.
-Hold for between 10 and 30 seconds.

Forearm Stretch

Constant, repeated gripping of ice tools is tough on forearms. When stretching forearms it’s important to stretch BOTH the flexor and extensor muscles. Most climbers skip the extensors at their own peril. Do not skip these 4 stretches. They are simple and you can do them anywhere. If you’ve been knocking out foundation workouts, they will feel great.

Flexor

-Palm facing outward and the thumb pointing out from center.
-Using your other hand, pull your fingers back stretching forearm.
-Hold for 10 to 20 seconds.

-Palm facing outward and the thumb pointing in to center.
-Using your other hand, pull your fingers back stretching forearm.
-Hold for 10 to 20 seconds.

-Perform this stretch with both arms.

Extensor

-Straighten your arm. Make a palm-up fist.
-With your opposite hand pull fist inward to stretch along the back of forearm.
-Hold for 10 to 20 seconds.

-Release the stretch and rotate the fist into palm-down position.
-Using your other hand, pull your fingers back stretching forearm.
-Hold for 10 to 20 seconds.

-Perform this stretch with both arms.

Glute Stretch

As climbers were tend to ignore our of lower body in favor of strong and limber fingers, arms, and back. It’s safe to say that good footwork is crucial to getting up almost all ice climbs. Good range of motion through our hips is vital to unlocking the core strength we’ll be building in futures workouts. Stretching glutes is just one in a series of stretches that help us with hip mobility so we can have better footwork, or crampon-work if you will, on an ice or mixed climb.

-Sitting or laying on the floor, legs stretched out in front of you.
-Bend one knee, keeping the other extended.
-Drape your opposite arm across your bent knee and twist toward it until you feel a stretch in your glute and outer hip.
-Hold for 20 to 30 seconds, then switch legs.

Training for Ice Climbing - Build a Solid Foundation

August 6, 2021

This post is part of a series on Training For Ice Climbing and Drytooling. Click below for sequential posts:

Build a Solid Foundation
Fortification
Basic Core
Hard Core
Endurance
Special Techniques
Head Games
Taking It Outside

NOTE: These workouts are intended for the fitness-minded climber. It is up to you to manage your time and expectations. You may not initially be able to achieve the workouts as described. Just working towards that goal will do wonders to get you ready for ice season.

Who doesn’t want to climb more? Who doesn’t want to climb harder?

This is the first in a series of 8 to-the-point, no B.S. posts to get you ready for ice season. We’ll use photos and videos to show you the exercise and proper technique with ACE Certified Fitness Trainer and Ice Climber Marian DeWitt. These posts are not for beginners. We’ll assume you know enough about the basics of climbing and working out.

Whether your goal is a 550’ stout icy directissima like Bridalveil Falls in Telluride or a bouldery mixed climb at Haffner Creek, this series is meant to get you stronger so you can climb harder, longer, and most importantly, SAFER. Because what’s better than climbing?: More climbing!

Goals

Choosing a goal will make training much easier. So, what is your goal? Aiming to tackle a big new climb this season? Weekend warrior? Just climb ice as much as you can? Write your goal down. Right now. Make it real. Not just on a computer, use an actual pen. Set a photo of it as your desktop pic or smartphone background. Make it the focus of your climbing training.

Whatever your goals are, you need to be strong and aerobically fit to be safe. We’re going to get you there. Here’s how:

12 Weeks of Training: Sept - Nov, 2 Weeks of Each Workout

September
-Build a Solid Foundation
-Fortification

October
-Basic Core
-Hard Core

November
-Endurance
-Special Techniques

December
-Head Games
-Taking it Outside

Each of these workouts is meant to build on the previous. This means that as workouts progress, you must continue doing the previous routines as part of your new workout. Continuity is important. Neglecting part of the workouts will negate the benefits of the early posts and open you up to injury.

Notes on Climbing Safety:
Ice climbing, like all other types of climbing, is extremely dangerous. Always climb within your ability, after carefully judging the safety of the route. Failure for you to follow these conditions may result in injury or death. No one is responsible for your actions but you. Be an adult. Take the risks very seriously.

Notes on Workout Safety:
-Take 5-10 minutes to warm up and cool down properly. Light running, biking, stretching.
-Start slowly and boost your activity level gradually.
-Training too hard or too often can cause overuse injuries like stress fractures, stiff or sore joints and muscles, and inflamed tendons and ligaments. Activities requiring repetitive wear and tear on certain parts of your body - such as climbing (shoulders, elbows, fingers) - are often the cause of overuse injuries. Mix different kinds of activities, get sufficient rest, stretch, and hydrate!
-Listen to your body. Hold off on exercise when you're sick or feeling very fatigued. Cut back if you cannot finish an exercise session, feel faint or fatigued during the day, or suffer persistent aches and pains in joints after exercising.
-If you stop exercising for a while, drop back to a lower level of exercise initially.
-Hydrate.
-Remember to work the counter muscles i.e. doing push-ups after a lot of pulling.
-Hydrate.
-For strength training, good form is essential. Never sacrifice good form by hurrying to finish reps or sets.
-Did we mention that you should hydrate?

A Note on Diet
Extensive diet recommendations are outside the scope of these posts. But if you really want to see results, cut out the #1 offender: Alcohol.

K. Let’s get to it.

Build a Solid Foundation

It’s a cliche but it’s true: we have to learn to walk before we can run. Our goal here is to build and maintain a solid foundation so you can focus future workouts on ice climbing dry tooling specific exercises. If any of this sounds sounds boring, make it fun by working out with a friend, listening to music, slacklining between sets, or whatever you must do to get and remain amped.

If you do nothing else, the regimen below should be your standard workout to get yourself ready for ice climbing. If your goal is just to climb a lot, this will prepare you. If you can’t do all of these at first, that’s OK. Work up to it and do the best you can. You will see improvement quickly.

Remember to always stretch before and after working out.

Foundation Workout - 3x / week

3 x 10 Pull-Ups - two sets on tools, one on hands
3 x 15 Lock Offs
3 x 30 Push-Ups (Bonus if you do them on tools or a Bosu Ball)
3 x 15 Hanging Leg Raises on tools.

3-5min rests between exercises.

Aerobic work i.e. 30-40 mins running, biking, or swimming at ~80% max HR. Start and end easy, but get that heart rate UP!

**3 x 10 Pull-Ups - two sets on tools, one on hands, 3 x 15 Lock Offs**

More Exercises - Calves

Calf Raises
Few muscles get worked when ice climbing as much as calves. Get them used to the abuse now and you’ll be ready for that extended screw placement.
Hanging onto a sturdy object for balance, stand on something to raise the front of your foot higher than your heels. Exhale and lift your body using your calves to get a full contraction through your foot. Contract the calves hard at the top and hold for a second. Inhale as you lower down. Repeat for 3 x 15. For a better workout do this one leg at a time.

More Exercises - Grip Strength

**10 mins of Dead Hangs. Hang for as long as you can. Rest 1 min, repeat.**

Dead Hangs
When ice or mixed climbing, at some point you’ll be hanging solely from your tools. Being able to hold on for a long time greatly increases your chances of sending, or better yet, not falling while festooned with all manner of pointy ironmongery.
The dead hang is a simple exercise and is a great way to develop fundamental grip strength. It's important to learn to dead hang with good form. Maintain a shoulder width grip. Shoulders are pulled down and back so that it doesn't feel like your arms are being pulled from the sockets. Hang for as long as you can. Repeat and try to beat your longest time. Do this for 10 mins.

More Exercises - Shoulders / Back

Rows
The purpose of rows is to strengthen the muscles that draw the arms toward the body, or in our case, the body to the ice tools.
Ideally you have access to a low pulley row machine with a V-bar. The V-bar enables you to have a neutral grip where the palms of your hands face each other (like ice tools). If you don’t there are a bazillion variations to the row that can be done with free weights, exercise bands, even a rock.
On the machine, lean over as you keep the natural alignment of your back and grab the V-bar handles. With your arms extended pull back until your torso is at a 90-degree angle from your legs. Your back should be slightly arched and your chest should be sticking out. You should be feeling a nice stretch on your lats as you hold the bar in front of you. This is the starting position of the exercise. Keeping the torso stationary, pull the handles back towards your torso while keeping the arms close to it until you touch your abs. Breathe out as you pull in. At that point you should be squeezing your back muscles hard. Hold that contraction for a second and slowly go back to the original position while breathing in.
Row for 15-20 mins.

More Exercises - 1-2 Hours Climbing in the Gym

Hey, if your gym is like ours it’s basically social hour most of the time. If it is, get in there anyway, get moving, have a good time with friends while helping to build your foundation.

This is the first post in a series of eight to get you ready and training for ice & mixed climbing. Stay tuned for the next post in the series coming Oct 2nd.

Does your climbing gym not allow sharp ice tools in their facility?

Pick up a pair of gym safe Dry Ice Tools for training inside the climbing gym – Here

Furnace Industries Introduces Comics®

April 1, 2021

The FI Comic

Fully Featured Smart Ice Tool

Not to be confused with the purple-haired goth-teenager of climbing gear, Comics (pron. Coh-Micks) are the first tools with Shaftplay®, onboard smart media tech that pairs with your iPhone, and probably those other phones too.

Comic Breakdown

Comics are made to please more than a bouldering pad stuffed with cash. Never again will you have to stop and fumble your frozen fingers when your chest pocket starts buzzing. With Shaftplay®, you'll breeze through pitches while you take that important phone call with the easy push of a button right on the grip of your tools. Just like the heated steering wheel of a Boulderite’s $80k Sprinter Van, simply tap the answer button under your thumb and keep climbing while you trade your GameStop stonks.

Use the Shaftplay® speakers with the Comic App and connect your smart pwn (phone, stupid auto correct) to play episodes of your favorite Dirtbag Diaries, the forthcoming Climbing Gold, edX or EDX, Mark Normand's congenial brand of stick-stick comedy, or your digitized vinyl alt-metal collection. You know, all the stuff ice climbers like.

Keeping the fun to yourself? Pair your earbuds with your Comics and you’ll be tapping your front points to dubstep beats with integrated blueteeth technology. Jam your way up any route in the Jura Mountains. Get rockin the Ruth Gorge. Headbang in the Himalayas.

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Soloing? Climb with your earbuds while listening to the mellifluous Rachel Martin on NPR.
Guiding? Connect your favorite Uphill Athlete lecture to share on-the-spot fitness training tips with clients.
Posing? Share your mug/brand and your own personal soundtrack (royalties should def apply)

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The Comics’ internal storage makes recording your adventure easy, a must in today’s Insta-attention-grabbing world. Simply log your tools into your IG account, launch a live feed, and let Shaftplay®’s camera and microphone take over the internet with your perfect placements.

Furnace Industries Does It Again!

But nothing will keep your spirits warmer than the lithium battery-operated heated tool grips! Simply top up the charge on your tools using the included USB-C charge port (located under the proprietary removable USpike-B) or using your vehicle's induction charger for all-day digital comfort.

When asked about the inspiration for the Comics, tool creator Lars Kaarlsson said, “It was just so wicked cold up there! Aach! All I could do was sing to myself while my fingers froze and do 1,000 ab crunches while suffering at the belay on P13 of the world famous San Juan alpine route Punchline IV 5.9 A0 Wi4+ M3/D12 F5 WG7+ when it hit me; When is a tool more than a tool?!”

Now you can climb every mountain and immediately livestream it, with Shaftplay®.

The FI Comic. Available at Mountain Gear.

-bc

FI News

Competitions

Events

NORTH AMERICA

INTERNATIONAL

Door hinges

Wood Blocks

Moulding and Vinyl

Rocks

Make your own Resin or Polyurethane Holds

Logs

Other Methods

The Argument for Training with Gloves

The Argument for Training without Gloves

DRYTOOLING HOLD SHAPES

THE ’BEST’ SET OF DRYTOOLING HOLDS

CAN’T I JUST USE OLD CLIMBING HOLDS?

Ice Tools

Crampons

ICE Screws

Clothing Layers

Climbing Pack

Ropes

NORTH AMERICA

INTERNATIONAL

Scratch Master Competition April 16th, 9am-6pm at The Scratch Pad.

NORTH AMERICA

INTERNATIONAL

Taking it Outside

Specialized Equipment

Fruit Boots

Gloves

Clothes

Cold Hand Solutions

Handwarmers

Multiple sets of gloves

Cold Feet Solutions

Socks

Hand / Toe Warmers

Lacing

Coming Back Alive

Avalanches

Preparation

Awareness

Rockfall, Icefall, Climbing Under Other Parties

Rockfall

Icefall

Climbing under people

Head Games

Dangerous Liaisons

The Mental Game

Mental Training

Not flying? Not trying.

Let Go.

Other Notes to Quiet the Mind

Know Thyself

Additional Resources and Suggested reading:

Special Techniques Workout 2x / Week

Figure 4 - 10x, 3 sets

Figure 9 - 10x, 3 sets

Fig 4 to Fig 9 - 10x, 3 sets

One Armed Rows - 10x, 3 sets

Hanging Sit Ups - 10. That's it just 10.

Endurance Workout 3x / Week

Swimming

Biking

Running

Climbing

Rest

Sleep

Hydration

Eat

Massage

Hard Core Workout 2x / Week

Planks / Side Planks

Mountain Climbers / Suspended Mountain Climbers

Standing Leg Wood Chop w/Medicine Ball

Modified Front Lever

Basic CORE Workout 3x Week (up to 4x a week)

Crunches