Skip to content

Ice Climbing Under the Northern Lights

General News

Suggested topics


  • Ice Climbing Competition: A Team Sport

    General News climbing
    1
    0 Votes
    1 Posts
    20 Views
    American Alpine ClubA
    The intense winter sun bore down on Longmont's Ice Climbing World Cup stage in Colorado on February 22-23. For the first time since 2019, the United States hosted a UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup. The USA Ice Climbing athletes showed off figure fours and nines (similar to a figure four, but the climber wraps their leg over the same arm instead of the opposite), epic dynos into hanging hoops, and celebrated wins with views of Long's Peak in the background. The warm weather led to thin ice, and an ice pick punctured a pipe, destroying one of the speed climbing walls Saturday night during the speed finals. As a result the format was changed from duel climbing to single. USA Ice climbing athletes Sam Serra and Catalina Shirley podiumed in speed despite the challenging ice conditions. Shirley took silver in speed with a time of 13.64. Serra won his first-ever UIAA Ice climbing medal at Longmont, taking the bronze with a time of 9.07. Making the podium in speed was a "soft" goal for Serra in the Longmont World Cup. "It's just been a steady progress all season," said Serra. During the France World Cup, which was held from January 29 through February 1, Serra's left hand slipped, and he stabbed his thigh with his ice tool, needing three stitches. The past three weeks leading up to Longmont he was mainly focused on recovering in time for the competition. Thanks to the Longmont Climbing Collective building a competition wall for the World Cup, the USA Ice Climbing team has been able to train all season in Longmont. Serra ran a weekly speed training night every Monday. "I think everyone saw a lot of progress, and it's really rewarding to see that pay off, and everyone is performing super well this weekend and in the past World Cups," said Serra. Donned in glitter, Sam Castro, Joann Dyer, Jessica Perez, and Alex Rudow bring their own personal style to competing. "Glitter really makes me send hard," said Jessica Perez with a laugh. This is her third season on the USA Ice Climbing Team. She saw athletes competing in the World Cup in Denver in 2019 and dove into competition ice climbing headfirst. Although doused in the same glitter, the four athletes had different goals for their seasons. "It was my first season, so honestly, my only goal was not having a false start for speed and not stabbing myself, which I was very happy about," said Sam Castro. She achieved her goals this season. "My goal is to enjoy the process and see how far I can test and push my limits and climb with confidence," said Jessica Perez. Each athlete competes individually on the wall, but the USA Ice Climbing team is so tight-knit and supportive that it's almost a team sport. "[Ice climbing competition] is so supportive, too, and it's like such a niche sport, I think. And it's growing. It's cool to be a part of a growing community and see the youth get really into it," said Joann Dyer. Alex Rudow said, "I try to be supportive. The community is already so supportive. I have mainly competed in team sports, and this is probably my first individual sport. But despite that, you spend like nine times out of ten cheering on your teammates. It's awesome to see just how supportive everyone is." This is Rudow's first season on the ice team. In the competitive world, mindset is everything. Seasoned competitor Ryan McCauley made a big mindset change this season. She went into the season wanting to be more playful and present on the wall. "I think that in the past, I've tended to be really rigid and structured with my training. I've told myself this narrative: I just want to train really hard and get really strong, and then it can be really playful during competition season. And then I get there, and I'm like, why doesn't this feel playful? It's because I've related to it for months in a militant way," said McCauley. Her main goal for the Ouray competition was to be more present, and it paid off when she podiumed and took third place. For logistical and financial reasons, McCauley decided to focus on the three competitions in North America: Ouray, Longmont, and Edmonton. At Longmont, McCauley fell early in qualifiers. She sees it as a testament to the finickiness... https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2025/4/2/ice-climbing-competition-a-team-sport
  • 0 Votes
    1 Posts
    22 Views
    climber-magazineC
    Austrian climber, Nicolia Uznik, has made the first ascent of Mount Doom (Font 9A) in Maltatal, Austria. https://www.climber.co.uk/news/nicolai-uznik-gets-first-ascent-of-mount-doom-font-9a/
  • Your Quarterly Message From AAC Leadership

    General News climbing
    1
    0 Votes
    1 Posts
    21 Views
    American Alpine ClubA
    Originally published in Guidebook XIII Dear AAC Members, Thank you for taking the time to dive into this second edition of the AAC’s quarterly Guidebook. A lot of things are changing at the AAC, and we are energized by the new opportunities that these changes afford. We are re-envisioning our measurable impact and excited to further support our members in a way only the AAC can. This Guidebook is just that—your guide to the work that you make possible through your membership. When you read these stories— from celebrating volunteers like Maurice Chen, who is bringing our much-beloved Accidents in North American Climbing to international audiences (which you can read about in “Found in Translation”), or the shattering finding of member Eric Gilbertson that Rainier’s summit is shrinking ( in “The Height of Mountains”), to all the world-class climbing you can find at our cozy lodging facility at the New River Gorge, as well as the profound impact our grants program has on our members (as seen in “Sea to Summit” and “Life: An Objective Hazard”)—you’re seeing the AAC’s mission at work: the advancement of knowledge, inspiration, and advocacy. While we’re excited to share these stories with you, there is also a lot going on behind the scenes that hasn’t made it into a full-fledged story yet. Many of these happenings you can find highlighted in our “AAC Updates” section that follows. As we kick off this new year, we are also excited about ongoing projects that will shape the future of the AAC, like developing a new website, which will make it easier for our members to take advantage of their benefits. Finally, I want to take a moment to celebrate the impressive advocacy success that the AAC helped make possible at the end of 2024. The unanimous passage of the EXPLORE Act is a historic moment for recreationists, and as law, it will significantly expand access to our nation’s public lands and protect climbing in our beloved Wilderness areas. In December, the National Park Service also announced that they are discontinuing their proposed fixed anchor guidance; the AAC thanks the NPS for sensing the need to reevaluate the proposed regulations and looks forward to collaborating with them in the future on fixed anchor guidance. Looking forward, we are equipped to adapt our tactics to future challenges in order to advocate for the needs of our members, and all climbers. At the AAC, we’re pulled together by our passion for climbing, and that passion is woven throughout these pages. Our expansive grants, affordable lodging, significant research findings, impactful advocacy work, and more are only possible because of your membership, donations, and commitment to climbing. Nina Williams AAC Board President Operations and Governance Lodging Advocacy Education https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2025/2/10/ewld060rs1z9w881oz4awfrbwbiqmj
  • Brooke Raboutou Does Spectre V13

    General News climbing
    1
    1 Votes
    1 Posts
    17 Views
    GrippedG
    The Team USA Olympic silver medalist just added another hard classic to her ticklist The post Brooke Raboutou Does Spectre V13 appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/brooke-raboutou-does-spectre-v13/
  • 22 of Connor Herson’s Hardest Rock Climbs

    General News climbing
    1
    0 Votes
    1 Posts
    29 Views
    GrippedG
    Few climbers have amassed such a long list of difficult trad routes in such a short time The post 22 of Connor Herson’s Hardest Rock Climbs appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/profiles/22-of-connor-hersons-hardest-rock-climbs/
  • 0 Votes
    1 Posts
    29 Views
    UK ClimbingU
    Over the past couple of weeks, Jacopo Larcher and Babsi Zangerl have made multiple multi-pitch ascents at 8c in the Rtikon mountain range, in the Central Eastern Alps. https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=774733
  • Could You Climb This Scary Yosemite Pitch?

    General News climbing
    1
    0 Votes
    1 Posts
    50 Views
    GrippedG
    https://gripped.com/news/could-you-climb-this-scary-yosemite-pitch/
  • 0 Votes
    1 Posts
    36 Views
    EpicTVE
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7Fqvz6BUxE