Browse upcoming Climbing activities You must be a basic or intermediate climbing course graduate, student, or have equivalency to register for a climb.
Contact: Gregg J. Gagliardi to register (gagliardi@nventure.com) no later than September 15, 2011.
This course is specially designed for Tacoma Intermediate Course students and graduates who wish to acquire new (or review old) technical skills needed to safely climb moderate to steep ice (WI/AI 3 to WI/AI 5). It begins with a review of fundamental ice climbing techniques for low angle ice (French technique) and progresses to climbing vertical ice (German/American technique).
The course will cover all basic aspects of ice climbing, including gear selection, crampon technique, ice tool use, anchor building, belay systems, rappel systems (including the use of ice threads), ice screw placement, leading strategies, and movement skills to increase efficiency and conserve energy, and safe ice climbing practices.
Like the Tacoma Sport Climbing and Crag Climbing courses, the Ice Course is designed to be small, relaxed, collegial but technically solid and safe. Its goals are two-fold; (1) to help additional Tacoma Mountaineers become proficient on ice and (2) to foster development of an ice climbing community at the Tacoma Branch.
Cost: Owing to the high costs of gear, travel and lodging, the course fee is a $100.
Pre-requisites: Students must be enrolled in, or graduates of, the Tacoma Intermediate climbing course.
Gear: Students are advised to defer buying specialized ice climbing gear (e.g. ice tools, vertical/mono-point crampons, ice screws, etc.) until after the first class (September 27, 2011). Ice gear can be quite expensive and there are a number of alternatives to immediately purchasing spendy new gear.
Lecture 1: Tacoma Clubhouse, 6:30 pm, September 27, 2011. This meeting will focus on gear, clothing and course preparation. It also features an instructional DVD on ice climbing skills by Jeff Lowe.
Field trip 1: October 1st and 2nd, Lower Coleman Glacier
Field trip 2: October 15th and 16th, Lower Coleman Glacier
Lectures 2 and 3: Seattle Clubhouse Ice Wall (Goodman Room C), October 11th and 18th. These meetings will focus on movement skills practice on the indoor ice wall.
Field trip 3: January 2-4, 2012, Ouray, Colorado Ice Park. This field trip occurs three days before the 2012 Ouray Ice Festival, thus allowing students many hours of safe, top-roped climbing on numerous ice routes before the crowds arrive. Those who stay for the festival (January 5-8; highly recommended) will have an opportunity to enroll in low-cost ice climbing clinics taught by some of the world's most accomplished ice climbers and guides, demo new gear at no cost, watch the ice climbing competition, and participate in a variety of other festival social activities such as lectures, slideshows, films, gear auctions.
