Training in my back yard and around St.Catharines is all well and good, but it leaves out two very important elements, elevation and actually cimbing inthe cold. Not to mention the lack of access to many difficult drytooling routes.
So here I am in Calgary at a friend's place waiting for himto wake up for day two. Yesterday started in St.Cath. but I was still able to get a little iceclimbing in. The cliff we went to was alittle more casual than I would normally pick, but we found enough stuff to make an interesting first day back on ice.
Route one I just meant to climb part way and down climb, but it felt good and was very easy so it wasn't long before I was at the top waiting on Grant who was coming up withe the ropeto rappel on.
Route two I actually brought some gear with. The ice was thin and had been further thinnedby the over exuberant hacking by the party before us. A lot of dripping water had my gloves soaked in no time while trying to get in the first ice screw. A bit of sketchy climbing with frozen hands and I was at the top in a hurry to get down before my hands actually started to warm up and the barfies set in. Back on the ground I had one of the worst cases of screaming barfies I can recall. No barfing, but much screaming and cursing followed as my fingers felt like they were being smashed with a hammer.
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