Ice climbing grades reddit. I'm 173cm/5'8" and use a 52cm Summit evo.
- Ice climbing grades reddit. My typical rack for ice climbing includes 10-12 screws. Grading in gyms is also highly variable. I'm definitely at least one number grade down. Are there however any routes/boulder problems/trad problems or ice climbs that have some very disputed grading, or have graded much harder or lower than their initial grade? ALL of Canada is underrated when it comes to ice climbing. What I'm wondering is what the actual chance of serious injury is? Are we talking you are going to be lucky to escape unharmed, about 50/50, or 1/10 chance of serious injury etc. Consistency is a pipe dream. Grade VII). Most, if not all, mixed climbers know how to ice climb. I've been climbing consistently for 2 years, I'm hovering around the V4 / 5. I also ice climb a bit (just TR for now), so something with ice clip attachments would be great so I can progress into leading ice as well. Several potential issues: 1) Vertical front points have less surface area than horizontal front points. Even 1 in 10 is very dangerous, I'm just curious where the numbers lie. Here are the best climbing destinations this year. Ok, super simplistic, but something that I have to remind myself about when the season changes from sport to bouldering and vice versa is this: Bouldering is all about pulling as hard as possible. I have an old pair of sabertooths that I pair with sportiva trangos for hiking and snow travel. Call me a hater but unless there’s stellar ice right in your back yard idk why you’d go to CO, MO, MI, NH, VT, NY WY when you can just as easily find more ice with less people and arguably better climbing in AB, BC, ON and QC 馃し馃徎鈾傦笍 Advice on letting go of grade-driven motivation and comparison to other climbers? Climbing grades are opinion, not fact. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. Heading to Banff next week to ice climb for the first time. The most commonly used Jan 4, 2025 路 Learn the basics of ice climbing in Banff with our comprehensive guide. For alpine stuff the technical ice climbing skills are pretty similar, though instead of bomber screws on a typical WI climb you might have to do a little mixed climbing I'm not too good on ice climbing grades, but I'll ask my college (who is a very good ice climber), so I'll get back to you shortly:) Also ice climbing is something you really should try of you get the opportunity! I was wondering where people (on average) max out on their grade. Currently live in Oregon USA -rock climb sport routes (leading up to 10a) and have basic anchor building skills. Live in Denver and will be doing plenty of ice climbing this winter in CO and a number of days up in Hyalite. So light, smooth, easy to coil and work with, and cool looking. Hey everybody. Every thing you need to know on climbing grades. Climbing plastic picked-out WI5 in balmy Colorado doesn't necessarily mean you'll be able to get up virgin, brittle WI4 in the Canadian We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. And yes we are scared of falling. Not entirely dedicated to climbing, but I like my Talon Pro 30. I genuinely like climbing but more often than not I've become obsessed with constantly improving and being really hard on myself for not being a better climber. Dry tooling mixes ice climbing and rock climbing technique, along with a few moves that are completely unique to the sport Whilst not specifically ice climbing related, what’s everyone’s top picks for a mixed technical axe that can have picks swapped out to ice? Preferably not insanely expensive, so no more than £400 for a pair. Ironically, it was also the first 8000m to climb. Generally, ice climbs are graded based on the typical difficulty of the route when it is in condition. Climbing grades defined - Mixed Grades, Ice Grades, Aid ratings, Protection Ratings, Commitment ratings. Dedicated to increasing all our knowledge about how to better improve at our sport. And especially until like v6 or above will it get a little easier to grade. The ice climbing season is couple months away and I'm looking to buy new gloves. my climbing gym only has 1-10, 1 being the easiest. Primary use would be long multi pitch climbing (both sport and trad) in summer and easier mixed/ice climbing in winter (think up to WI5+). At which grade did you start to plateau? When did you start seriously training? Jan 28, 2022 路 Climbing grades describe the objective difficulty of a climb and are organized into grading systems based on the climbing style and the region. good comments here already, but really depends on what you're climbing too - only ice? mixed too? what grades? I love my x-dreams and dislike the nomics on ice, but that's 100% personal preference based on my swing and nothing to do with the quality of the tool. I'm 173cm/5'8" and use a 52cm Summit evo. : r/climbing r/climbing Current search is within r/climbing Remove r/climbing filter and expand search to all of Reddit We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. This chart is designed to be used with the 80's ice soloing madness with Mark Twight and Randy Rackliff. 11K subscribers in the iceclimbing community. I have the Mammut Alpine Dry 8mms and can't recommend them enough for ice and alpine rock climbing. 6) instead of an mixed grade (M3 or whatever). Edelrid Sendero was as well, but the smallest size doesn't go small enough. My point being I don't think soft gym grades are doing a disservice to climbers, if anything I think the fear of outdoor climbing being harder probably inhibits more people from performing better than the soft grades. The issue is I do not know where to start. The length of the steep. 10K subscribers in the iceclimbing community. Now climbing 6B/6C boulders and sometimes even almost a full 7A sport climb. Hire a guide? Post in the ice climbing chats or mountain project that you’re a newb looking to learn? Go to the climbing festivals and sign up for their clinics? Edit- if you’re going to down vote the advice you’re given from people who actually do what you’re interested in learning how to do then don’t ask for help. The 10+ grades mean something entirely different. I have experience leading trad and sport climb outdoors… Depending on the ice climbing crampon you might be able to get away with it. Alpine climbs are longer, chossier, less protected, farther from rescue. Try to keep calm and relaxed the whole time and you'll have a great time. WI6) and the identical AI ("alpine ice") system (e. 1. External attachment for helmet, basic attachments for ice tools, external pocket where you can put crampons. Look at it positively, you might try climbs that you would've otherwise never jumped on. Roughly speaking, each successive grade is around twice as hard as the previous grade. Generally speaking, when you really start getting up into the grades the WI5/6 sections of a climb are viewed as the 'easy' parts relative to the rock bits. Both are great on mixed climbs, but I hate both of them on more slabby ice. Aug 30, 2021 路 Rock climbing grades can seem cryptic; we break down the most popular rating systems and explain a tradition that's existed since the 1890s. e. I am starting to learn lead climbing, but I want to try ice climbing and alpine climbing. Helmcken falls contains the only WI10+ routes so far, and the routes were graded with the mindset of "if this were a mixed route, what would it be?". I live in Europe, I started climbing in January 2019 (10 months). I've never ice climbed, but consider this. 7 grade) in boots and being comfortable climbing on steep firm snow and ice. 16 votes, 16 comments. Grades are based on how steep and sustained the ice typically is (which is more consistent year to year than you'd think) but this doesn't necessarily correlate with difficulty and the "chasing grades" mentality of rock climbing doesn't carry over well. 8A is font boulder grade. Climbing ice you have to know 100% that you are capable of climbing it before you lead it. I’m getting to a point where I don’t necessarily want to climb harder grades but longer and more committing technical climbs. Where it differs from trad climbing is that you have to be consistent and repetitive in your moves to keep a good flow going. We met Paulina at their HQ and had about a 15 minutes transfer via private super jeep to the glacier. Watching RR15 this weekend reminded me about how much I really loved ice climbing, but I am not 22 votes, 10 comments. Waterfall ice climber here. I would make a couple general comments: There is a big difference between a 3 and a 4, primarily due to steepness. My winter usually consists of some amateur downhill skiing, and some alpine mountaineering objectives. Annapurna's difficulty is also from both technical climbing and avalanche danger. There’s no magic number/grade that you should get to, but I would say that if you’re climbing 10b, you should be able to onsight most climbs at the grade (sport and I climb at one of the Climbing Hangar gyms (UK) and have never been able to get the grading system totally straight. I'd like to hear a second To get into leading ice, i. This allows you to exactly dial in the amount of weight that you are putting on your fingers and watch your progression systematically. I climb V3, and 5. Def recommend double 70s -- for super long pitches and raps in the alpine. I want to get into alpine climbing but am not sure where to start. Kind of like the difference between your alpine rock grade and your crag grade. If you were to try to figure out who was the best at every climbing discipline combined/averaged (Bouldering, Sport, Trad, Alpinism, Iced, Mixed), Ueli Steck would probably be up there. You have to know the ice, you have to know that the ice you are about to swing your pick into has all of the right properties to make it a safe move. (V11) E8 doesn't really translate all that well without Dave providing the tech grade although I haven't checked the article for this, but is anywhere from 7b to 8a+ in french sport. 7mm rope and am currently deciding between 60m and 70m versions. Ideally you can climb trad, but that isn't necessary. VIII is an ice climbing grade. M8), with other notable mixed grading systems including the Scottish Winter system (e. ice and dry-tool climbing) uses the M-grade system (e. 8 outdoors. The majority of the climbing was vertical with a platform before the Dec 2, 2010 路 Find rock climbing routes, photos, and guides for every state, along with experiences and advice from fellow climbers. If you are a real training nut the best way to perform the exercises is with a scale under your feet. Ice climbing ratings are highly variable by region and are still evolving. Grade six ice climbers at that or so they are telling others. These are averages as every climbing gym is different but I went to some major climbing gyms (Innsbruck). Specifically, how does weather affect it? Aspect? Recent Snow? I don't plan on leading for a while, but I would like to start learning things about screw placements, like how thick does the ice need to be? How do you evaluate it? Also, how thick does the ice usually have to be before you climb it If you're doing graded routes (scrambles/low grade winter climbing if you're a brit) you'll probably be happy on gentle ground anyway and the reduced weight and bulk makes for a much nicer carry in the hand. 5) • It appears these boots were molded to fit darts perfectly • Even with cranked boa/strap no . But also, whooosh. It’s colour coded but with no reference at all to any of the more formal grading scales. Additionally, there is around a 30% fatality rate on K2. I’m very new to ice climbing too, but I’m just here to say that I’m fortunate enough to live within driving distance of an outdoor ice climbing facility near Ann Arbor, MI. 10 level indoors and 5. I'm in the market for my first twin/double rope that will be used for all of mine alpine adventures around central Europe. Hey friends, I'm new to the scene and have a question on grading a route - My project this winter was to learn to ice climb and then tackle Decew Falls (20m, Ontario, Canada). I found a great deal on Petzl Paso Guide 7. Personally, I think my gym sets pretty stiff. At what grade does an ice axe become mandatory, like WI3? WI4? We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. most serious climbers at my gym can climb 5-8. Hey guys, new to ice climbing, I avidly refresh this subreddit at least five times a day and have devoured through the back-pages of threads. Oct 5, 2022 路 What are ice climbing grades? Ice climbing grades, or ratings, are used to assess the difficulty level of a route. Climbing grades are inherently subjective [1] - they are the opinion of one or a few climbers, often the first ascentionist or the author (s) of a guidebook. After a few hours of google searching I wasn't able to find a grade for the route. You know the feeling your hands get climbing when you have to deal with similar So with rock climbing, the quality of the hand holds and foot holds primarily determines the difficult of the climb. Everyone says falling when ice climbing is very dangerous for lots of reasons, and I believe it. Climbing some rock climbs with picks and crampons can damage the rock. A better breakdown would be: Snow climbing Ice climbing Rock climbing Mixed climbing (two or more of the above three on the same route) The term ‘alpine-style’ was introduced in contrast to ‘expedition-style’ to describe fast ascents of mountains without relying heavily on fixed ropes or seige tactics, and generally not using oxygen. that it wouldn't be close if you K2 you have technical, difficult ice and mixed climbing. You have to set screws into ice in safe spots so that when you fall the screws stay in and you can fall relatively safely. Do you mind sharing your experience with different gloves and what you liked the most about them? Getting close to leading some grade 2-3 stuff, have a couple BD turbos, but torn between buying nice ulta light screws, or being new getting more turbos assuming i'll dull them up screwing into rock. Learn about the Yosemite and French grading systems and how the two compare. My arms were noodles the next day. It feels like I've opened a whole new chapter of climbing and I couldn't be more excited Share Add a Comment Sort by: Top Open comment sort options Best Top New Controversial Old Q&A Sixgun217 • Hey everyone! I'm a freshman in college who's been rock climbing about 5 years now, my friends and I just got into trad and crack climbing this past summer. I'm looking for something that wouldn't impede dexterity too much and would be water resistant as much as possible. But I also might take year to learn ice climbing and do alpine enduro climbing. How do you push yourself to climb harder when ice climbing is an inherently much more dangerous sport than rock climbing? In rock climbing if you're trying to break into the next grade you can simply throw yourself at it taking whipper after whipper. Reply reply [deleted] • May 31, 2020 路 Everything you need to know about climbing grades in one place. Sport climbing is all about pulling as little as absolutely necessary to do the move. 2 21cm screws, one for v-threads and one for general purpose, 4 16s, 4 13s, and 1 10cm for good luck. So rock climbers will get all butt hurt if anyone climbs ice near their climbs. You can pair it with a single climbing axe (like a Quark) too for easier roped-up routes. For fans of ice climbing. With ice climbing, your hand holds are always axe handles and foot holds are always crampons, so what makes one climb harder than another? Posted by u/white_goblin_ - 1 vote and no comments In addition, there are separate grading systems for ice climbing, mixed climbing, drytooling, aid climbing, scrambling, bouldering and so on - it's a mess. g. Short hike to the base of the ice, gear up, safety review, the we start looking for the first wall the scale. i can only climb up to a 5 though since i haven’t been climbing for long Climbing experience: • Easily crank down boa right before tying in • Easily Undo boa through my softshells • No heel lift after cinching down shin strap and boa (coming from gnarly heel lift in my trango towers, which may be too big at 42. 3M subscribers in the climbing community. I have a wonderful gym near me and I have been progressing at a decent rate. I usually wear thin linners underneath. The steeper grade of a WI4 makes them a lot more physical, because you have to hang for an extended period Mountaineering ice axes vs ice tool grades I'm looking to get into ice climbing but only have a straight shaft ice axe for mountaineering/ski touring. Indeed, as there are many climbing styles, many grading systems have emerged throughout climbing history to cover the different types of movement and technologies climbers use to ascend varied terrains like rock, ice, and snow. com Jul 5, 2025 路 Ice is an ephemeral medium, so ice climbing grades can vary widely from the grades given for the climb & the actual climbing experience. 10s are rare, there’s usually only one in the gym at a time since not many people can climb the. It was such a great way to learn and try it out, and it was really affordable. What do you guys recommend starting off, go for top of the line screws or get heavier rack and then upgrade to lights couple seasons later? 8a is french sport grade. Vail is fine, but unless you go to pump house, fire house or spiral staircase the amphitheater is not geared towards beginners-- don't get me wrong, its fantastic if you climb the higher grades and like mixed. Their day passes ($20) were less expensive than the indoor rock climbing gym in my city. Generally WI7 means committed WI6 (or unprotectable WI6). After climbing them it occurred to me that there are four to five hundred climbers out there occupying the adult waterhole attracting my potential conquest calling themselves ice climbers. AI6). I've been climbing for years, but I only just learned how to lead climb. Ice climbing in Canada Hi everyone, I'm planning for a trip to Canada, probably Canmore for Dec, Jan, Feb of 24-25 winter and was wondering if anyone here has info on logistics in Canada as I've never been. (depends on the rock). The Petzl Luna was a strong contender until I realized that the new iteration doesn't have ice clipper slots anymore. The colors are nice because they tell you how the free climbing grades roughly correspond to the bouldering grades below. It would be pretty hard for a rock climber to damage a mixed/dry route. The thing about ice climbing is that you have to think of it like crack climbing, it's an endurance sport. Plus Ouray has a ton of guide services for ice climbing because it is the mecca. Most 3's have lots of rest stances, you can place screws with 2 hands, etc. Ice climbing takes place on bodies of frozen water, such as glaciers and waterfalls, and as such, a particular route can change from season to season, day to day, and even disappear from one day to the next! As others in this thread have pointed out, for ice climbing that generally means getting stronger/fitter so you don't get pumped out. Steck has sent 5. So if you're comparing new school sport to old school trad grades, the trad climbing is likely to be noticeably harder than the sport climbing before you even start to factor in trad gear management skills. This changes the character of what the grades mean. Will that be ok? Or is a dry rope c/o Schweizer Alpen-Club SAC Monbijoustrasse 61, Postfach CH-3000, Bern 14, Switzerland Grades really don't mean a whole lot--indoors or out. V3s outside feel easier generally than a v3 inside. Im curious what everyone’s climbing progression/timeline has been like? How quickly did you progress from V1 to V2, and then V2 to V3 etc (not limited to bouldering grades). The other day I was watching a video of Conrad Anker doing some mixed climbing and the first section was graded 5. While grades are usually applied fairly consistently across a climbing area, there are often perceived differences between grading at different climbing areas. This climb requires climbers to have previous experience rock climbing (5. Mar 19, 2025 路 Nine different climbers tell us where they want to climb most in 2025. 9 pretty much anywhere else. I did a weekend ice climbing trip through my high school (in Colorado) last year and I really had a blast wanted to get into ice climbing. A lot more mental game. For the average recreational climber it’s not really used. Mixed climbing is a discipline where you use both dry rock and ice to climb a route, relying on your crampons and ice tools to gain purchase on either surface. And there have been routes in ridicules grades like WI11 and more. Hello! I recently (in the last month and a half) got EXTREMELY into climbing. 129 votes, 26 comments. You can transition to ice climbing immediately, but it’s a lot easier to dial in your systems by climbing year round. See full list on ascentionism. Huber Brothers in the conversation as well. I've been ice climbing for 4 years, and last season (season 3) I started leading 4's consistently. In ice climbing, the most widely used grading system is the WI ("water ice") system (e. The quotes in the URL are fucking up reddit's hyperlinking so just copy and paste. Individual climbing areas can be sandbagged or soft. Depending on the climb I may carry my 19cm screws adding on the rack or replacing some. Have necessary climbing Ice fishing is the practice of catching fish with lines and fish hooks through an opening in the ice on a frozen body of water. 2) Ice climbing crampons don’t always have balling systems for shedding snow. I'm a newbie when it comes to ice climbing, and I'm trying to learn more about ice conditions. Dec 9, 2024 路 Ice climbing doesn’t have to be scary. 9 instead of M-something. Anything in your guidebook with a WI, M, or D, grade will be for ice climbing/mixed climbing/dry We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. Mixed Climbing To understand the grading system, it’s important to first understand what mixed climbing is. Therefore, climbing V10 is around 2 4 times harder than climbing V6. Along with the technical level, summit day on the Eiger is an extremely physical day requiring climbers to be in excellent physical condition. It is also further North than Everest, resulting in more unpredictable weather. climbing without setting up a rope in advance you need to have a solid background in lead climbing outdoors and in gyms. Just compare a 5. Otherwise Ouray Ice Park is great for having a ton of routes available once it officially opens (it is a managed area, not backcountry), including a lot of beginner-friendly top roping that allows you to get a lot of practice quickly. Explore top routes, essential gear, safety tips, and expert advice to make your ice climbing experience unforgettable. After all my research, it turns out a lot of brands just don't think girls (esp with size Small harnesses) need gear loop space (cough cough Edelrid Autana). For brevity sake I'll post this like a list rather than paragraph Experience: -From Utah USA and have climbed the major peaks on the wasatch front in addition to many others. The home of Climbing on reddit. For most folks, their once-a-week grade 4 ice day ain't going to get them leading grade 5. I think they set pretty difficult holds and moves The only times I’ve seen it used ice climbing is at the competitive and very high level, like in videos of pros climbing ice caves or stuff like that. 13 trad, and then his ice climbing/alpinism skills are so stratospherically beyond Ondra/Megos/etc. Grade 1 can take few weeks and grade 2 can take around 4-8 weeks. The Eiger is a technical alpine rock and snow/ice climb. Bouldering grade VS Sport Grade (and what to expect) Stumbled across this article and found it quite useful/interesting as I'm a sport climber who basically uses bouldering as a tool to get stronger. Here’s our guide on some gear, basic techniques, and body positioning to help make your time on the ice rewarding. The related sport of mixed climbing (i. Hey all - beginner ice guy trying to get into the sport without spending my entire paycheck. here in the northeast there are some ice routes that have sections of rock that are given a YDS grade (ie 5. 10b on top rope. Well, safe-to-say everything went according to plan and I sent it. we have a pretty balanced number of grades, and most of them are a 3-8. WI 6 is like WI 5 but longer sustained vertical ice with no rest, ice quality can be tricky (cauliflours), sometimes climbing can be quite 3 dimensional (ice pillars), possible short sections of overhanging ice. I want to use them both on ice and mixed climbing in lower grades and also as single ice axe for skitouring, i prefer something lighter even at the cost of durability, since i wont be using them that many times in a sesons, alason something less curved and technical than nomics. Another way to think about this is that there are around 16 times as many V6 climbers as there are V10 climbers. This is an issue when climbing steep snow. This means snow can accumulate on the bottom and cause a slip. While you will get your normal deviation around a grade, it can feel vastly different between two people. climbing & bouldering scale converter for trad grade, uiaa, french sport grade, american scale. 8+ in the Gunks to a 5. I'm doing some guided outings this winter As others have said, rock climbing is an essential skill to have if you’re interested in alpine climbing. 3) They’re usually heavier Grade Comparison Table Climb De Rock Ice Climbing Grades Comparison This chart is designed to be used with the american alpine journal to help decipher the. Our Complete Guide to Ice Climbing Grades describes each level of difficulty. If you're doing graded routes (scrambles/low grade winter climbing if you're a brit) you'll probably be happy on gentle ground anyway and the reduced weight and bulk makes for a much nicer carry in the hand. I did a combined glacier hike and ice climbing at Solheimajökull called Blue Ice with Arctic Adventures with 3 other friends and it was a lot of fun! It was an 8 or 10 person group (can't remember) and we had some practice ice climbing before being dropped into a crevice and climbing out. Ice climbing is foundational to traditional mixed, a little less so for bolted drytooling routes but still pretty damn important. And then to climb V14 is a further 16 times less common than V10. Reddit's rock climbing training community. Will these be ok to start out on? I feel like I only see vertical points when looking at climbing pictures… Also - I mostly do rock climbing, so I have a non-treated rope. Thanks in advance 11K subscribers in the iceclimbing community. Something to secure a rope is probably the main lacking thing. 14 sport and 5. I would like to start training and potentially go on my first alpine in The climbing was extremely tiresome and after 6 trips down and climbing back out I was beat. vudygimv bfhg gpn jmff vwwzz ihanvrn yofck zvcu tskbpd eynfsh