It’s the end of July. Typically by this time of year I’ve got my rock climbing projects lined up and I hope to tick most of them off in the next three months. This year I’ve got nothing, nothing except calluses and peeling fingers. I’m in training.
Synchronized climbers at the speed event.
Last December we went to Bozeman Montana. We went for the ice climbing festival there, my husband Nathan specifically planned to participate in ice climbing competition. This competition was kind of a big thing as it was the first UIAA sanctioned event in North America. The UIAA is the organizing body for the Ice Climbing World Cup, which is a series of events held through Europe and Asia. This was a good step to bringing an official World Cup event to North America.
In the hotel room Nathan was finishing up some final registration details.
“You should sign up and compete!”
No way. I’ve seen the people who are competing, they’re good! I’ve also climbed with Nathan enough to know that he’s in a different league than me. Nathan had competed in the Ice Climbing World Cup the previous year overseas and had won the Elite Mixed Comp at Ouray the year before that. Myself, I had just started getting comfortable leading bolted mixed lines, having done my first mixed lead the previous winter
But still, I liked the idea of competing, so I made a compromise. The lead comp was the main event; I figured the sideshow of the speed comp would be enough to give me a taste of comp climbing with a lot less intimidation.
Straits of Gibraltar
Having arrived a week early we spent most of out time before the Ice Fest climbing at the Bingo Cave in Hyalite Canyon. Most routes here were way too hard for me, but I hopped on Straits of Gibraltar. On paper this route was too hard for me, but as I worked it I felt I could redpoint it if I had more than a couple of days. It was a bit of an eye opener of what I might be capable of.
I also started a search for some comp (fruit) boots. These are ice boots with integrated crampons which make them lighter and more agile. Unfortunately, these boots have fallen out of favour in North America and can be hard to find. I was able to try on other people’s boots to get an idea of what was out there, but in the end I borrowed a pair from Lowa for a couple of days to see how I liked them. It was exciting; I had never worn comp boots before.
Finally it was competition day for Nathan. After a week of thinking I wasn’t good enough for the lead comp I actually got to see what was involved. Heck, the two preliminary routes didn’t look that bad….I could probably even make it a good ways on the second and harder prelim route. That’s not to say it looked easy. I still marveled at the competitors as they figured 4 across the final traverse to the finish.
Nathan on the second Prelim route.
Rebecca on the speed comp route.
The last day of the festival was the speed comp. We used the same wall that the lead comp was held on instead of the spray ice wall usually used in World Cup competition. Nathan gave me some pointers, I practiced kicking my front points into plywood for the first time and then time to compete! I did okay the first round, but I was quickly bumped out by more experienced climbers. I still placed 5th out of the small pool of ladies who competed and was pleased by my performance.
Most importantly it gave me a chance to shake off my stigma that competition climbing was only for the most elite out there. After this experience I was convinced to try Ice World Cup, but was a little late for the 2014 competitions. I now have my sights sets on the 2015 season. I’m still a little nervous, but I have a great training partner in Nathan and I plan to be ready by the time next December hits!
Mixed Progression 