It was day 6 and the last day of our course. It was a beautiful morning with a clear sky. Lucky for us, it was the perfect weather for us to get out there get the most out of the remaining time we have in the mountains and our guides.
We packed our packs with all the gear that we have and roped up in our usual pairs and headed down the glacier. Failed to learn from my mistakes, I put on one too many layers to keep myself warm as we bid our farewell to the Tasman Saddle Hut. Within 20 mins of hiking down the snow slopes, my back was covered in sweat and had to stop and take some layers off. Paul (our guide) reminded us that we should start getting used to starting our day cold so we don’t need to stop every 30 mins and fiddle with our clothing. (#1 rule of mountaineering, always keep moving!)
We got to the base of some ice cliff and were told to to put down our packs and start flaking the rope. The group split into pairs and the guides gave us a quick run down on the type of snow anchors that we could build given the environment that we were in. Since we had a good freeze overnight and the snow was relatively hard, a simple top-clip snow anchor was sufficient.
Ice-climbing in some ways are pretty similar to trad climbing. As you go up the wall (ice in this case), you place protection along the way that would catch you if you fall. In trad, we place nuts, cams or even hexes (ew! I know!). In ice-climbing, the type of gear are ice-screws. Similar to a normal screw, you screw the ice-screw into the ice and put a quick draw on it. The longer the screw (given that it is fully screwed into the ice and the ice quality is good), the more bomber the placement! Stephen and I did several round up the same ice route to practice.
Picture a pair of crampons, when you put them on, they become part of your feet. When you are ice-climbing, you are standing the front points of the crampons and you are constantly pushing up with your calves. Imagine being on tiptoes with only two toes and they are about an inch further out from your shoe. On top of that, the only thing stopping you from pealing off the wall are your ice-axes. Within minutes, its pump city everywhere. To quote Eminem, “palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy”.
Despite the pump and suffering, this was definitely a highlight of the course for me. Ice-climbing has been something that I wanted to get into and the experience certainly did not disappoint. For those who are interested, there is an Ice and Mixed climbing festival and the Remarkables in Queenstown every year around August. For all the adrenaline junkies out there, this is definitely something to look into. (https://www.iceandmixedfestival.co.nz/).