Sunday 18 August 2013

Chamonix - Ice climbing

On the 4th day we went walking on the glacier and did some ice climbing

Looks like a bit of a dirty road, but thats the start of the glacier.



 There were a lot of ladders that needed to be climbed down to get to the glacier. I seemed to be the only one in the group who used the sides to hold onto instead of the rungs, as that way you are holding on at all times - not sure what traditional ladder technique dictates!

 Don't fall!



 Bernard and I



 Walking on the ice - the ice was covered with lots of little stones, which helped a bit qith the slippery factor.





 


 Arriving at the climbing section


 Screwing some bolts into the ice to abseil and climb with.

 Impromptu seat

 Some climbing pics - ice climbing is pretty tricky, because if you re walking or traversing on a slope, you always need to face down the slope, and make sure your feet are facing downhill, even if you are walking horizontally. So you have to use some weird kick to did the crampon skipes in, and then do some odd stepover - it all feels a bit wrong!

 Ian in action


 Trying out the weird downhill walking technique.


 Pausing to dig a pick axe into Sandra's  head!



 ready to climb! check out the icy puddle on the right - brrrr!




 Myburghian leaps with crampons on - tricky!
 

1 comment:

Graeme said...

Very cool. I did this in Chile and it was lots of fun. You wouldn't have seen me going up those ladders though!!!