Rockies Ice Specialists

I showed up at Whiteman’s the other day knowingly “late” and found myself and my partner dodging shrapnel while waiting to climb. There were six people there. We had worked hard to get there, and we were reluctant to turn around. This is a common experience ice climbing in the rockies. Conditions often dictate where you can climb and most people with a good head on their shoulders end up at the same playgrounds on any given day. For example, you can beat the crowds on Bourgeaus Left right now when the avalanche conditions are super unstable, but there is a reason why nobody else is there. And maybe risking life and limb to avoid another party is taking it a bit too far.

So, I have come up with a few simple methods of avoiding major face laceration.
1: Wear full body armor. This can be heavy though, so only advised for short approaches.
2: Act like you just got hit with a huge piece of ice and are majorly bleeding. Hopefully, they will all rappel to help leaving the climb open for your ascent. Beware, this might cause people with sharp points to become angry. Which is never fun.
3: Pretend that you are French- and cannot understand when they yell at you to not pass.
4: Climb harder thus transcending all of the busy climbs.
5: Don’t go climbing. Its dangerous.
6: Convince others not to go climbing. Its dangerous.

Really, it is always important to relinquish attachment to climbing anything on any given day. Just head out there and have an adventure. And stay away from climbers above!