Please feel free to reach out with any questions or observations from the field. I’m happy to share them in the interests of growing the community and encouraging folks to make the effort to enjoy the everything Ontario has to offer! The following personal and friends’ notes, accounts and observations are from across Southern Ontario, or from travels further abroad. Please remember, however: climbing is dangerous; ice/mixed climbing is more complex than summer rock climbing; conditions can deteriorate quickly; don’t blindly follow/trust others; make your own assessments! You, and you alone, are responsible for your decisions.
Happy and Safe Climbing - Andriy
Early Season Notes
Every year it takes a few days to get back in the swing of things. Early season “tips” on various websites are too rudimentary, and don’t capture the small details, we’ve worked hard to learn last winter, but may have forgotten over the warmer season. To complement all the material out on the web, here are a few tidbits, in no particular order. Updated: Jan 10th":
Take a moment to remind yourself of your system, and reflect on last year’s epics. Is there a better way of doing things? There is no one right system or way, and plenty of ways of doing it wrong. Take a moment, think it through and be deliberate. (E.g. tying shoelaces, racking screws, slings and rock pro, best way to carry a puffy’n’gloves to the top of a pitch).
Learn. Reflect. Apply.
Complacency kills. Literally. Just because you had a strong summer, and took whips on your proj, doesn’t mean you can do the same in winter. Any of those sharp thing you’re wielding can lead to getting hurt, or worse.
Separate from the above, DON’T UNDERESTIMATE your “warm-ups” just because you’ve done them plenty of times before, and can curl more #s than ever!
Road cyclists, fearful of getting mowed down while practising their craft, have resorted to ID bracelets. Keep contact deets of loved ones, OHIP info, etc nearby. www.RoadID.com
A perfect swing is a life-long pursuit. Take it easy and get a feel for the optimum penetration angle: over lumps and bumps, in front of you, off to your side, across your body. Falling is no good, a good swing helps avoid that.
Your summer gear and ways of doing things may be a bit different than your winter SOPs. Refresh your Alpine-Butterfly Knot, Munter Hitch, V-Threading, anchor-building.
Unlike the summer climbing on our home limestone, angle changes dramatically between easy and hard climbing. Be mindful when arranging protection and brush up on your trigonometry: place screws at the base of ice pillars (not so much as to avoid tumbling all the way back to the belay, but to prevent the “hypotenuse rope stretching”, which can have you facing a ground fall from 40 feet up with a screw at your waist. (To get psyched watch some hard-grit videos where belayers where golf cleats).
Dust off hexes and nuts. Passive gear often works better than cams in icy conditions. Tricams’ stinger can dig through lichen… just don’t count on miracles.
An insulated cooler works well in the winter too - to keep drinks from freezing. Frozen Gatorade is hard to drink while driving.
Winter driving in Southern Ontario can get sloppy. On top of the standard items (winter tires, windshield washer fluid, snow shovel kitty-litter, candle/blanket, fresh battery) get yourself a dynamic tow-strap and shackle. If you pull-off the road in an over-zealous attempt to scope out a climb and up with even one wheel in a ditch, even a light car can boink you out. (There are special hazards when it comes to this, so do your own research.) Dress, so that you’re ready to tackle adversity, when you least expect it.
Bring many gloves: approach gloves, belay gloves, climbing gloves, and more climbing gloves. The best way to get screaming barfies is to start up a pitch with damp gloves.
Don’t start climbing if your hands are cold. They won’t magically warm up while you’re swinging tools over your head.
Tuck hand-warmers under your sleeves so you can climb wearing thinner gloves. With thinner gloves, you won’t overgrip your tools. Without overgripping your tools you won’t get screaming barfies. And as an added bonus, you’ll place screws faster and are less likely to drop screws (which always lands in deep snow).
Stay dry, and you’ll stay warm. Admit that you’ll sweat on the approach, and bring a spare top. Get changed while you’re still hot. And then put on your belay coast asap. It’s better than it sounds.
Winter is a favourite season because we can indulge in foods that would otherwise see our waistlines expanding before our very eyes. A hearty breakfast and slow burning fuels (i.e. fats) will help keep you toasty.
Prep your breakfast the night in advance (so you’re not banging around in the kitchen - sorry Lisa)
Take more snacks than you think you’ll need. (So you can feed hangry partners.) Nuts, halva, peperonni, cheese sticks…
Check out your gear before you head out. Amazing how connector bars may have moved over the summer - best to get it sorted in the warmth of your home, instead of in the snow. While you’re at it, sharpen your picks, check your screw tips and carefully inspect your gear (e.g. toe bails) for signs of wear/cracks. They’ll break in the most untimely of situations, when you’ve placed your last screw and decided to gun it for the trees. (Don’t do that btw. Have an escape plan.)
Belay pants are gold. Check them, and gators too, for cuts and tears which make it easier to trip on your crampons. Patch’em up with nylon repair tape (works better than duct tape).
Check the weather and plan accordingly. Wind direction. humidity, cloud cover, precip amounts all matter. Equally as important is comparing a few forecasts. (Don’t forget to check points along the way, so whiteout conditions don’t catch you off-guard in Orillia).
And courtesy of the Ontario Alliance of Climbers: Get a Mentor, Be a Mentor. Be better, help others be better - we all win, stay safe, build community and protect access to the places we love.
