Mt Waddingtons Climbs Ice!

With a valley-bottom cold-snap of -20°C, my boss Sam suggested that we head out for a peoduct knowledge day in Hope. The goal was to check out "Mousetrap," the name for the ice climb up Flood Hope Falls when it freezes over.

I'd just purchased Petzl Sarken crampons and Scarpa mountain boots (Zodiac Techs... should've gotten a full shank pair of boots...), so I was pretty psyched to test them out.

We all piled into Sam's Tacoma and rumbled up Highway 1 towards Hope. It was bone chilling cold out, and we put on just about every layer we brought. On the hike, we discovered a group of climbers already starting at the base. Thankfully, they determined that the upper pitches weren't fully formed and rappelled.

Sam gave us a demo at the base of the climb, then proceeded to ramble up the ice. I was belaying, using a twin-rope system, which was new to me. Rope management was quite tricky, trying to make sure they didn't twist, and that I didn't step on the ropes with my sharp crampons. After a time, Sam arrived at a nice ledge, where he built a belay station.

The other climbers, from Washington

Dawson, Ashley, Kenrae, Casey, and Sam

Sam, demo time

Sam climbing, myself belaying

Bright ropes!

Looking up from the bottom

It was my turn first, and I set off up the frozen waterfall. Quickly, I settled into a rhythm of kicking my feet in, then swinging the ice tools, hanging on the tools, and repeating. I tended to be a little too delicate with my swings, acting more like a wood pecker than an ice climber. It felt quite weird to be climbing on a different medium than I was used to. Rock felt so much more permanent, and ice felt volatile and prone to shattering and maybe even collapsing! Despite my concerns, the ice stayed intact and I arrived at the belay station to a smiling Sam. I rappelled down, and my coworkers took turns climbing up the ice to Sam.

Getting read to climb

Dawson taking some professional photos

Sam snapping some action shots

At the belay! So fun

Rappelling down

A solid 35+ metres

Casey on his way up

Sam rappelling down.

Overall, I had a great time trying out ice climbing, and I learned some valuable lessons about technique to avoid getting fatigued. Importantly, I also realized that I needed warmer and stiffer boots if I was ever going to enjoy a longer day climbing ice, and I would need to get comfortable with long sections of run-out climbing with minimal protection. Afterall, the number one rule of ice climbing is that "the leader shall never fall."

Every time the Chilliwack gets a valley bottom freeze, I'm excited to try finding some new ice to climb with people like Sam!