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free hanging ice: how to evaluate, climb and protect
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I'm wondering how people evaluate whether a free hanging dagger or curtain is safe to climb and how people go about protecting these features. How much do you consider the temps, the thickness of the feature, its overall weight, do you change your swinging/kicking style when climbing them, where do you decide it's safe to place screws, etc. This seems like a kind of dark art, similar to nailing, and probably for good reason, but wondering if anybody has tips for how to break into this style of climbing all the same. This kind of overlaps with free standing pillars, particularly when they're just touched down (so no longer a dagger) but are not yet fully formed (so may still have some risk of collapse). Thanks |
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this falls into the category “ if you have to ask “ you probably should not but here goes don’t place any pro in the dagger kick and swing like Staz! ( you tube his channel) YGD PS: I’ve been climbing ice for over 3 decades and I have never climbed a dagger… I don’t like standing under them either! be safe out there |
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Ice climbing is governed by fracture toughness, the energy required to propagate cracks. The internal stress state of hanging ice is (mainly) tension; the weight of the hanging ice reduces the energy necessary to propagate cracks. Essentially, the ice is already pulling itself apart, so it's easier for you to be the straw that breaks the camel's back and pulls the whole thing down. Everything you know about when not to climb ice is exacerbated (sudden temperature swings, extreme cold, baking in the sun...). As a corollary, don't expect ice screws on the shoulder of a hanging dagger to be full strength; the ice here is still prone to being stressed in tension. Place ice screws where the ice is in compression--helping to pinch any wanna-be propagating cracks closed. Consider using an ice screw to make some nice holes for your picks and crampon points to daintily hook your way up. Oh. Never mind. That would be direct aid... https://assets.bergundsteigen.com/2021/08/72-75-eiswissen.pdf https://assets.bergundsteigen.com/2021/08/84-87ism-ice-selection-method.pdf https://assets.bergundsteigen.com/2021/08/74-77-knack-da-geht-die-saeule-ab.pdf |
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The Art of Ice Climbing-Blue Ice Pick up that book. Worth every penny. |
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if is glued to rock u can trust. if hanging off rock half trusty at most |
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Nick Goldsmithwrote: We have mutual acquaintances. His experience is partially what inspired this. No disrespect to Pete, but it was a pretty obviously a high hazard day. It was -8F in the lot that morning with a >20F diurnal temperature swings on both sides. I assume he knew what he was getting into, but there's no question in my mind that it was a bad day for me to be learning the tools of the trade. I backed off two other routes due to questions about structural integrity (the source of the rest of my inspiration for this post), but the reality is I'm unable to commit to free hanging features even on the best of days, which is more what I'm trying to work through. Baby steps. Thanks all for the feedback. Jon, you're the second person in as many days to recommend that book to me. Going to get myself a copy. |
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The beauty of being old and weak is I am not tempted to climb those things.. though I will say that looking at the photos of the broken pillar it looked like it was prime to be climbed. The part that wanted to fall off is gone. Get up behind that thing and get a pin or two in swing out on to it, pull the roof and solo another 10ft. You should be above the attachment point and fire in a screw.. |
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"Get your friend to climb it. Did he suffer a minor inconvenience of going from living to not living? If the answer is no, it’s good to go. |
