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Is ice climbing harder than rock climbing reddit. Conversely, there's that .
Is ice climbing harder than rock climbing reddit. Conditions switched up on us at different times and we had to keep reassessing the situation and our planning. Downsides were It made me feel dumber and was much harder to get going during other forms of exercise. V8 was a dream goal of mine for years, and seemed improbable, but now my goal is to flash that grade, and can get some of them in a session. 4M subscribers in the climbing community. 122 votes, 198 comments. Conversely, there's that 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. If you want to raise your sport grade I would suspect that sport climbing more would work better - projecting tension board V4 is wayyyyyy physically harder than 10a onsight/11b redpoint (when I was redpointing steep 12- and onsighting 11- tension board V4s were multi-session projects). Because lots of different factors come into play when assessing the difficulty of a given climb, and different systems consider different things, it's not always straightforward to convert between systems. Actually, I hated it. You use the muscles in your hand differently between standard rock climbing and ice climbing. Been pushing back into the V8 range after taking a year off of climbing during covid, which generally seems to be my plateau. It was incredible. Should help with reading/remembering sequences. Mainly because it's so pumpy and sustained overhanging. And yes we are scared of falling. But I also might take year to learn ice climbing and do alpine enduro climbing. g. The big mistake I made was trying to measure my general climbing progression on outdoor rock but I would rarely be able to get out. Then switch out to heavier gloves/mittens to belay/faf with. My worry is that they would not handle frozen/wet ropes well. 172K subscribers in the climbharder community. 7 grade) in boots and being comfortable climbing on steep firm snow and ice. Many. Those who do combine the sports, how do you segment your training throughout the week? Rock climbing is often physically harder because you have to account for a wider range of factors. 12s can have great nearly no hands rests in them. I suspect what is more true is that climbing outside is different. Big powerful moves are also super common In addition pick up a pair of the pur'ice picks for the iceclimbing and then use the standard ice picks for alpinism and mixed climbing. I am 27f and am summiting Mt. And even 5. Dedicated to increasing all our knowledge about how to better improve at our sport. . The places I climb outdoors tend to be vertical to less than vertical, with only short sections where you need to pull a bulge or small roof. My sphere was the arts—writing, illustration, art history—and I was wildly out of my element. Reply reply How come anchoring on 2 ice screws is considered acceptable, but 2 cams (in rock climbing) is often considered insufficiant? Don't they hole roughly the same? Outdoor climbing grades (like gym grades) vary, but folks tend to annotate and write up fewer easy boulders, so outdoor boulder grades trend harder than indoor ones, even comparing local gyms to boulders. With ice climbing, your hand holds are always axe handles and foot holds are always crampons, so what makes one climb harder than another? So you either have to find someone who climbs harder than you to lead it for you, or try and find top ropeable areas that are hopefully long enough and steep enough to prepare you? I'm new to ice climbing and know only a couple of other ice climbers, looking for some advice. You might be just as well served doing hangs from these as the movements of the sports can be different, but the handle is the main focus. Climber = rock climbing (no snow/ice) Alpinist = rock/ice/snow climbing, requiring a large range of skills (scrambling, ice climbing, aid climbing, rock climbing, glacier travel, camping, etc. 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, use a little crappy rock gear, a piton, a snow picket, run out long easy sections etc Climbers of reddit, what other sports do you enjoy that provide similar accounts of excitement and satisfaction? Blitzen Ridge, the route they were on, is technically not too hard and generally on good rock. For purely climbing ice why make it hard for yourself when you will have so much going on managing a new climbing environment. Spend as much time as possible challenging yourself in the outdoors, and focus heavily on how to manage the risks that come with it all. You nearly always need to scramble up some chossy shit to get to the actual climb. I know rock and ice climbing are different, but how should I go about being comfortable enough with myself to actually get a lot out of an ice class? These days there seem to be two logical divisons in climbing with Alpinism/Ice/Alpine Rock in one grouping and Bouldering/Sport/Single Pitch Trad in another. I had only gone rock climbing a handful of times and came from an unathletic background in Washington, D. Volume at V8 makes the V9’s happen faster, and the experience on more V9’s make V10 feel more probable. It takes a lot of time to transition to Climbing outdoors, and I found it anxiety inducing and stressful. What are budget friendly ways to learn mountaineering, ice climbing, and rock climbing? I understand this is an expensive sport (s), but for example, an ice climbing class for a beginner is in the ballpark range of $300-$500 and that is just the beginner class. Dedicated to increasing all our knowledge about how to… The thin socks have no impact on climbing ability, but the thicker ones will reduce your feel of the rock and overall control slightly (but it's better than having numb toes). I am primarily doing it to build a base for ice climbing in the future, and to manage on any scrambling or mixed ice/rock routes I may come across in the future. Their day passes ($20) were less expensive than the indoor rock climbing gym in my city. To a first approximation, every climbing nation set up their own system. 96 votes, 101 comments. You burn energy and squeeze the blood out of your hands trying to grip through insulation. It gives a good amount of solid rock climbing info from technique to pro and everything else you need to build a good foundation for yourself. Check out the difference between climbing and bouldering grades here. In terms of technical ability, how good is good enough on rock to have the base and mixed-climbing skills needed for alpinism? 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. Jul 25, 2025 · The most important rule with ice climbing is don't fall on lead! This should be obvious with all the sharp pointy things strapped onto your body, but it bears repetition: leading ice is different than leading rock! On many rock climbs falls are "clean" and usually result in no injury, especially when the grades get harder and climbs get steeper. It's definitely more technical than ice climbing and probably always will be. Now, even as I type this, I know that some people are getting prepared to argue against it. Hi there, so I'm based in the alps (Switzerland) and my rock climbing season is coming to an end. I think the grading just has to do with how cold your hands get on a route. I see some intersections between rock climbing and mountaineering. Ice climbing while snowing? Beginner in ice here, coming from trad. CMV: Everyone who is physically capable should try rock climbing at least one, if not more than once. A lot more mental game. While this did initially take time away from climbing, it meant I could focus more on building up muscle groups that were more neglected by climbing alone and over time allowed me to start climbing longer and feeling less sore after. Mittens are warmer than gloves but you lose mobility, so wear liner gloves in mittens for the best of both world. However, it’s quite easy to get off route the first time you do it as there’s a few short sections that can lead you slightly off route onto harder terrain with loose rock. I just started rock climbing and am improving steadily and am trying to make the jump to 5. When you climb switch to thin palmed work gloves. Ice climbing isn't "hard", at least not in the same sense that rock climbing is hard. ), but it should all start from a solid base of scrambling. For harder climbs, it will force you to pay more attention to the hard moves you'll have to downclimb. My friend and I are looking into more activities during winter and thought about starting ice climbing / north-face climbing. Then Ouray, Estes, and much of Colorado has Ice that is at least as good as New England. I wouldnt drive in just to do that but if you were already in the area its a decent option. Suddenly, you don’t just have to content with rockfall and the occasional sketchy piece of protection. Then over mitts for standing around. Going from the way you asked your question, I think the reason you find outdoor climbs harder is because you are more used to climbing indoors. The harder part for Hood is the last section. 13) is the optimized point where you get the upsides of climbing harder, without too many of the downsides. Strength is important to ice climbing as you get better but most of the time I'd say endurance is more important. Gannett is a significant increase in approach length though. Hood in May. Like if you have an ice axe and crampons, and have planned for your safety, you could just hike up it a ways to get an idea of what its like or to practice skills. None of the mountaineering courses require climbing experience, and they do not teach rock climbing. It's a fairly common ice climbing technique, but almost entirely useless in rock climbing. I'm not familiar with mountains in/near Finland but hopefully you can find some goals there. MembersOnline • Carpantar ADMIN I want to get more into ice climbing and also alpine climbing on 50-60° ice/snow faces (e. much easier to just change picks than trying to keep the ice-picks sharp while also using them on rock (they will also last way longer if you are not filling them constantly). They're different styles. Along with the technical level, summit day on the Eiger is an extremely physical day requiring climbers to be in excellent physical condition. But seriously, finding someone to drag you up whatever freezing cold pile of frozen water is critical. Learning to ice climb is more about learning how to kick your feet in and swing an axe and trust the sharp things barely in the ice. Trail running, but you’re hungover. Really agree with the above comments about aiming for volume rather than a single big tick. Learn to ice climb. Wait, but no. I’m not saying that’s what happened here, just that it’s a possibility when soloing this route and what I found to be While New England does have good Ice, it has nowhere near the concentration of Ice as Hyalite, which alone has more climbs than all of New England, I'd bet. I hike often, usually choosing hard hikes, I go to the gym and rock climb, and I walk after work about 10 miles 4 times a week. 107 votes, 81 comments. Fall danger is where the really big difference lies. Placing a screw in a strenuous stance is legitimately more difficult/exhausting than climbing through a steep section, so sometimes (especially in shit ice) running it out is the "safe" option. Keto - lost weight, felt light while climbing no negative effects in terms of climbing performance or recovery. I think rock climbing helped me notice some lack of my balance, weak legs, or even foot placement. In this case the climber could chill on a screw and get picked off by the OP. Nov 8, 2023 · Some of the main types of rock climbing include top rope, sport climbing, trad climbing, alpine climbing, deep water soloing, ice climbing, and free soloing. This climb requires climbers to have previous experience rock climbing (5. Also it's ice climbing not rock You're climbing hard enough to get away from the gumby hoardes, but not so hard to be in the lonely position of being the only one in your area climbing your grade. The climbers I know that have gone ice climbing seemed like they just did it because ice axes look cool Reddit's rock climbing training community. So my question is, does anybody have experience using Nomics/Tech Machines/X-Dreams in alpine use and on low angle routes? TL;DR: Do any of you train climbing, long distance running, and weightlifting simultaneously? I have found many resources for training both distance running and weightlifting, but not many for training both with climbing. Been climbing for about 8 years now, primarily indoor bouldering with some occasional trad/sport and bouldering outdoors. After many years of using an ATC I finally switched over to a GriGri for rock climbing. 10+) alpine climbs like the harder routes on longs peak, that is alpine rock climbing more than mountaineering. Also What makes soloing ice easier is the ability to toss in a screw and chill at anytime and then v-thread off. I have a feeling that improving all of these things could be very helpful in mountaineering, especially in higher mountains. Jul 30, 2022 · Is ice climbing safer than rock climbing? Ice climbing is, flat out, more dangerous than rock climbing. (Didn’t sleep well, altitude, etc. Sport climbing is all about pulling as little as absolutely necessary to do the move. ago Correct, rather than an ice climbing pov, this is a "hovering formlessly like some kind of spectre 2 feet above the head of an ice climber pov" SolidMeltsAirAndSoOn • 3 mo. You get better at what you practice and worse at what you don't. I send harder outdoors than I do indoors, probably because I climb more outdoors than I do indoors. I mean I don't know shit about any of them but I would argue ice climbing is easier than rock climbing no? Just literally chopchopchop don't even have to look for any holds or anything Reply reply chris_rage_ • Yeah but if you've ever shoveled snow or chopped ice you know that it breaks in weird ways Reply reply Crzykupcake930 • Ive been climbing 20 or so years and I definitely think that my built was advantageous up to about 5. Hey I’m a new climber and I was wondering if people had some wisdom to share and what you wish you knew when you started… Posted by u/white_goblin_ - 1 vote and no comments 133 votes, 52 comments. I would say once people seek hard (5. And the Rock Warrior's Way is just one way to look at climbing, and really it has more to do with Buddhist ego-denial than rock climbing (it just happens that a rock climber wrote the book, so he put it in the context of his sports passion). What is a reasonable snow intensity to climb ice in, like 10cm/24hrs? I've never climbed in snow, it seems to be warmer but I don't know if it causes other problems. Essentially, saying that V8 (or mid 5. The home of Climbing on reddit. Ondra is doubtlessly the greatest sport climber/boulderer ever. For you this means you need dry if you're a guide or going ice climbing/mountaineering, because normal people and climbing- you just stop climbing when it's wet out. You’re basically stacking an entire additional set of risks (ice fall, avalanche, crevasse fall, even higher altitude vulnerability) onto the already fairly risky sport of climbing in general with its risks (human error, rock fall, equipment failure, etc). This made me think about mountaineering in general. There’s also the ice, the belayer risk, the temperature, and most of all, the fall danger. So with rock climbing, the quality of the hand holds and foot holds primarily determines the difficult of the climb. Really, mountaineering is the culmination of many many different mountain skills (rock climbing, trad anchors, rope skills, ice climbing, hiking, etc. I had no idea what I was doing. Dedicated to increasing all our… Started rock climbing just 6 months ago and decided to try ice climbing at the Ouray Ice Park. Usually, a pair is made up of one axe with an adze, one with a hammer, but they are interchangeable and the tip is replaceable as well. 11 and definitely has made it harder past that. Highly It's more about the grip strength. Lenzspitz Northface, Lyskamm Nrothface etc. Reddit's rock climbing training community. As I said above, make sure you go regularly. ) "Mountain climber" could be anything. Same, I love indoor bouldering, but indoor lead climbing is harder for me than outdoors. Is Outdoor Bouldering Harder than Indoor Bouldering? TOPICS Amazing Animals & Pets Cringe & Facepalm Funny Interesting Memes Oddly Satisfying Reddit Meta Wholesome & Heartwarming RESOURCES Go to iceclimbing r/iceclimbing r/iceclimbing My dad desperately wants me to take an ice climbing class in NH. Technically enough to go ice climbing, but not too climbing specific, so you can also use it for "normal" mountaineering. 1. The problem equating the two (rock and ice pro) is that placing a screw requires much more time and energy (and is way more suspect) than plugging in a cam or nut. Plan to move into outdoor trad climbing. C. However, in ice climbing, falling on lead can mean broken ankles, knees, or worse. I enjoy ice and mixed climbing though, it's the rock climbing where I have a lot of fear. Also, watch how women climb (just not in a creepy leering way) - their technique is often better than most men, because they usually don't have the same size or upper body strength. The climbing you do see in the alpine is more “long section of chossy 5. It took a few I disagree with the premise of the question. Just like with rock climbing, there are features and some are easier to stand on and some take better sticks with your axes, and some features just fall apart when you hit them. I got up my first… Ice climbing can go back and forth between warm climbing in the sun to freezing your butt off standing in the shade waiting. 167K subscribers in the climbharder community. Nov 17, 2021 · To find ice climbing areas near you, websites like Mountain Project let you filter routes by type—rock, ice, mixed—and location. I have, at times, climbed 5. I am in my early 50s, been climbing for about 40 years but only recently started trying to climb harder. It stretches out, but not back while wet. 9 right now. Indoors you have bright, obvious holds, but limited choices for feet (This really changes how technical climbing works). Some of them teach pitched climbing on snow and ice, short pitching and roping on rock, and general rock and rope skills, but nowhere does it seem like climbing is necessary. 7” and less 5. But there is a hugely increased mental strain involved with ice climbing, largely due to the fact that you cannot fall. The thing about ice climbing is that you have to think of it like crack climbing, it's an endurance sport. Mar 1, 2025 · I went ice climbing for the first time at Ouray Ice Park in 2008. ago that's why ice climbing is so hard. It was such a great way to learn and try it out, and it was really affordable. When you got a good level of (rock) climbing experience and move over to ice- and mixed-climbing, you won’t face too much fear, though keep in mind that most people don’t ice- / mixed-climb at their absolute limit like we are used to seeing with boulderers / sports climbers. ago Yeah I'm a rock climber and love snow activities, but ice climbing just seems like a more dangerous and less fun variant of rock climbing. 11 crimpy sport climb. bartjblett • 3 mo. In rock climbing, it's a bail when it rains. BUT! What makes this so rad is for the entire mixed section the climber is 100% committed to real mixed (imo harder than rock). Camp in the winter. What helmets do people recommend for year round usage, from summer climbing to winter mountaineering and climbing? The atmosphere of psyche and trying hard with a group that's better than you makes it impossible not to improve at much greater speed than climbing with people that are at or below your level. People consistently claim that climbing outdoors is harder. 13. Nov 29, 2012 · Ice is not a perfectly flat uniform surface either. Dry treatment is a good upgrade for your first rope, especially dry sheath, it'll stay nicer, longer. trueI was in a similar boat for a while - what helped me actually was incorporating more strength training into my schedule. Now that ice season is here I am wondering if people use them to belay in the winter. Hey all. Wear a good, sweat-wicking base layer top and bottom, warm socks, and bring a thick puffy, water-proof layers top and bottom, a couple mid-layer options, and ideally two pairs of gloves - one slightly thinner and more 38 votes, 93 comments. Ice climbing, once you have the requisite calf and forearm strength, can be more of a simple affair. The skills don't perfectly translate. ). In addition, there are separate grading systems for ice climbing, mixed climbing, drytooling, aid climbing Yooooouuuu! Right there with you guys, started rock climbing within the past year and saw an ice climb guided trip advertised at the gym. Reply 3LD_ • Additional A few I can think of: Requires good attention to foot placement, improving the skill for normal climbing. The top of the line ergo ice tools make climbing so much easier, you can take your time and have fun without fighting for every placement. Have fun! 273 votes, 31 comments. I've climbed maybe a hundred thousand boulder problems and have never encountered a forced figure 4. What do you think? Closed• total votes GriGri's are safe to use in icy conditions GriGri's are an accident waiting to happen in icy conditions Voting For example, climbing statically is more "inefficient" in terms of energy used compared to climbing dynamically because of momentum. I have summited Mt St Helen’s 6 times, and Mt Adams once. Try to keep calm and relaxed the whole time and you'll have a great time. Due to financial reasons we prefer not to get a mountain guide or visit a course (if possible). I'm in the brown shirt. you try astral projecting above your partner's shoulder every pitch jedi_trey • 3 mo. The key to sending hard seems to be a lot of hard climbing (but slightly sub maximal). 3M subscribers in the climbing community. You might find along the way that what you really love is rock climbing, or ice climbing, or skiing, or whatnot. Nov 22, 2021 · Is rock climbing or ice climbing harder? So, which is harder between ice climbing and rock climbing? Rock climbing is physically more difficult, but the mental challenges surrounding ice climbing make it a harder sport overall. I love the winter so that’s right up my ally, have already gone a bunch of time this year! Can’t wait to start following and eventually leading harder climbs Climbing at the gym is a great place to start and learn technique, but Alpinism is about sooooo much more than just technique. I have good circulation so I could do the harder grades no problem. Gives you a deeper pump (more difficult than up-climbing/increased duration). If you find that you like climbing, I'd recommend picking up The Self-Coached Climber for tips/lessons. I’m getting to a point where I don’t necessarily want to climb harder grades but longer and more committing technical climbs. I consider myself very experienced and have climbed various alpine peaks (ice, rock, glaciers) and I still think my Hood attempt was one of the harder climbs I’ve done. It also includes information about other types of climbing (Rock, Ice, alpine, mixed, and mountaineering) and outdoor skills that will overlap with climbing if you stick with it long enough. The Eiger is a technical alpine rock and snow/ice climb. Needless to say, I didn’t really like ice climbing. Even being scared while climbing is better than sitting on the couch or any other boring thing like running or lifting or whatever. However, maybe the move is a low percentage move and you actually have to do a hard, slow lockoff to make the move. St Helen’s was not hard for me, Mt Adams was definitely challenging, mostly because I was sick when we woke up to do the summit after camping at Lunch Counter 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. Most routes on Gannett have significantly less rock and technical climbing than the grand even the more difficult lines. Where it differs from trad climbing is that you have to be consistent and repetitive in your moves to keep a good flow going. dxqgfwnvufdwldzyqvccrvudlmkqkaaqbvzppfmtsjfrord