First Ice Lead

Two days ago, I went ice climbing.  This should be considered a feat in itself for those of you who know me.  I am first and foremost a skier in the winter months (and sometimes in the summer too), and I find it difficult to split my energy into two different disciplines.

Anyway, so I found myself sitting in a craig called King Creek the other day...  I should point out that probably the only reason I found myself ice climbing was because my touring bindings broke, once again, and I was waiting for a replacement.  Having said that, I did enjoy my time swinging at frozen waterfalls.



After a few toprope sessions I felt good, solid enough to think about leading something easy.  We had eyed up this kind of chimney route earlier, towards the far end of the craig, and then Ryan, as he's tying in says "ok, I think I'm good... Unless you wanted to lead this?" I was jonesing for a challenge, some adventure after far too much sitting around and eating over the holidays, so Ryan gives me a crash course on leading ice, screw placement etc.

I think I held my head pretty well.  Definitely need some serious practice; every time I stopped to put in a screw my calves started to burn!  I also had a minor freak out when I reached a completely vertical section of the ice.  Not wanting to ever have to take a fall on an ice screw, I was a bit nervous...  This was my second day ever ice climbing, and I was beginning to think that I had pushed the envelope a bit too far.

But the climb definitely made it into the adventure category, and needless to say I was glad to reach the top alive.  This experience was a good for me to test my boundaries, and good because I know that I can trust my judgement and intuition to keep me safe.

I am continually amazed at the role intuition has to play in the backcountry.  So much of what we do is not the result of numerous observations, but the result of our inner self trying to align with the pull of the universe.  After all, we must all listen to our inner stinkies.

~Yuri