Skip to content
OpenBeta Forum

OpenBeta Forums
  1. Home
  2. Categories
  3. General News
  4. Ice Climbing Competition: A Team Sport

Ice Climbing Competition: A Team Sport

General News
1 1 194 1
  • 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...

    Link Preview Image
    Ice Climbing Competition: A Team Sport — American Alpine Club

    Photos and Story by Sierra McGivney

    favicon

    American Alpine Club (americanalpineclub.org)

    0

Suggested topics

  • American Alpine ClubA

    The 2025 Annual Benefit Gala: Celebrating the Climbing Life

    General News climbing
    1
    0 Votes
    1 Posts
    51 Views
    American Alpine ClubA
    This event was supported by Vibram, Adidas FiveTen, and First Western Trust.  At this year's AAC Gala, the energy for celebrating climbing was unprecedented. Three hundred sixteen climbers from all over the country gathered in Denver, CO, including longtime members, athletes, awardees, and climbing legends. The night was filled with bold stories of climbing, community, and history. There was a thread connecting them all: the American Alpine Club. “The AAC is a people-first organization,” Nina Williams remarked in her opening speech. She noted that the AAC’s grants, lodging, events, advocacy, library and archives, volunteers, and membership all bring people together.  AAC Executive Director Ben Gabriel noted that climbing isn’t only about the summits we reach but the partnerships we build, and as the AAC looks towards the future, we are stronger together.  As one way to celebrate the richness of the people that make up the AAC, the 2025 awards were given out for accomplishments in climbing, advocacy, literacy, and volunteerism. French Groupe Militaire de Haute Montagne of Chamonix received the David A. Sowles Memorial Award. Other award winners included Michael Wejchert for the H. Adams Carter Literary Award, Brooke Raboutou for the Robert Hicks Bates Award, Rick Wilcox for the Angelo Heilprin Citation, and Outdoor Alliance for the David R. Brower Conservation Award. Later, Jack Tackle accepted the Honorary Membership award, and Kelly Cordes accepted the Pinnacle Award during their speeches.  Recipient of multiple AAC grants, AAC member Zach Clanton told the story of his most recent climb on the Southeast Face of The Trickster in Alaska, where he and Matt Kilgerman put up The Raven-Wolf Route (5.10 C2). It was the second ascent the mountain had seen. John Svenson had first climbed it 42 years ago. “This summer, we pulled off a 6,000-foot pure rock climb on a mountain with all the mysteries intact. This was high adventure at its finest,” said Clanton.  During this climb, Clanton felt connected to past generations of Alaskan adventurers like Svenson, an Alaskan artist and climber, whose art was included in the Gala auction. The climb inspired Clanton to connect to his artistic side. Clanton went on to reflect on how the Trickster ascent represented how all of those AAC grants over the years had literally changed his life’s trajectory. When former AAJ editor and Pinnacle Award winner Kelly Cordes took the stage, we learned he was a super fan of Jack Tackle when he was a young climber in the 90s. When Tackle visited Missoula, Montana, where Cordes was living at the time, Cordes went to hear him speak. After Tackle was done speaking, Cordes got the courage to go up to Tackle.  “Jack gave me the gift of his attention and his presence, and I came away feeling not that I can be him—we all know there’s only one Jack f***ing Tackle—but deeply inspired as a person beyond the super hero I thought he was and who I now know him to be,” said Cordes.  Cordes went on to describe his inspiration drawn from the AAJ—”it was, and it still is, like the Bible to me”—and his many adventures as an alpinist.  After all this talk about Jack Tackle, Tackle himself finally took to the stage and imposed wisdom on the room.  “The three tenets I came up with as my mantra for alpinism were first, commitment. Commitment to the goal, to yourself, and to your partners. Vision, the second one, was the ability to see what is possible and make a plan to achieve it. And the last was trust. Trust in yourself and trust in your partners,” said Tackle.  Much like the chatter around a campfire after a long day of climbing, this Gala was full of high energy, sharing stories and laughter. The celebration of our climbing history and the push to pave the way for the future of climbing were inspiring. With all the laughter and catching up with old friends, there was an undertone of passion—passion for what we want to see next, passion for the importance of storytelling, and passion for uplifting one another. When climbers come together through the AAC, we make an impact.  The money raised through the liv... https://americanalpineclub.org/news/2025/10/23/the-2025-annual-benefit-gala-celebrating-the-climbing-life
  • GrippedG

    Three Big Sends in Three Days for Jorge Díaz-Rullo

    General News climbing
    1
    0 Votes
    1 Posts
    62 Views
    GrippedG
    The Spanish climber continues his very sendy Fall season The post Three Big Sends in Three Days for Jorge Díaz-Rullo appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/three-big-sends-in-three-days-for-jorge-diaz-rullo/
  • HowNOT2H

    I 3D Printed Carabiners

    Videos climbing hownot2
    1
    0 Votes
    1 Posts
    94 Views
    HowNOT2H
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6EhzJGCA_s
  • UK ClimbingU

    MADE IN BRITAIN - Rockcity Climbing Holds, is now bringing production back to the

    General News climbing
    1
    0 Votes
    1 Posts
    102 Views
    UK ClimbingU
    Rockcity ClimbingHolds has joined the Made in Britain movement, bringing UK climbing hold manufacturing back to its site in Hull. https://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=780299
  • HowNOT2H

    Pinch Rub Test

    Videos climbing hownot2
    1
    0 Votes
    1 Posts
    86 Views
    HowNOT2H
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzXz62GeFBY
  • GrippedG

    Katie Lamb Completes a Yosemite V14

    General News climbing
    1
    0 Votes
    1 Posts
    126 Views
    GrippedG
    The top American boulderer topped Carlo Traversi's The Rookery late last year The post Katie Lamb Completes a Yosemite V14 appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/katie-lamb-completes-a-yosemite-v14/
  • GrippedG

    Rare Ascent of a Japanese V16

    General News climbing
    1
    1 Votes
    1 Posts
    86 Views
    GrippedG
    Daisuke Ichimiya had a smooth third ascent of Ryuichi Murai's United V16 The post Rare Ascent of a Japanese V16 appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/rare-ascent-of-a-japanese-v16/
  • GrippedG

    The 70 Most Significant Alpine Climbs of 2023

    General News climbing
    1
    0 Votes
    1 Posts
    115 Views
    GrippedG
    The Piolet d'Or just released this list of climbs from the past year which will be considered to receive awards in December The post The 70 Most Significant Alpine Climbs of 2023 appeared first on Gripped Magazine. https://gripped.com/news/the-70-most-significant-alpine-climbs-of-2023/