Gear Girl: Gear Girl conquers the Ice Tower

UAF Outdoor Adventures - Ice Climbing Tower

I am climbing the ice tower at the University of Alaska Fairbanks for the first time and feel like a combination of Edward Scissorhands and Spiderman. The ice axes are light and quickly come to feel like an extension of my hands while the spiky metal crampons attached to the climbing boots work like magic Velcro to ice.

I am stuck in a sprawl against a tower of ice. I look down to see how far I’ve come and fight a wave of panic. I’m about halfway up, maybe 20 feet off the ground and I feel like I’m going to throw up the blueberries and kettle chips I snacked on before the climb. I tell myself it’s only the adrenaline flooding my body and that I must make a move.

My face is centimeters away from this giant mottled ice cube, and the coolness radiating from it calms my stomach. I take a deep breath and command myself to get a grip. The sun is setting pink on the horizon and, up this close, the ice reveals swirling patterns of blue and milky white. The fear fades, replaced by thrill as I reach my axe for the next crook in the ice’s façade and I patter my feet into new holds.

“Excellent pick,” yells Frank Olive, the assistant coordinator of UAF’s Outdoor Education Center and the most patient man on the face of the earth.

“Good job, mom,” comes from my 14-year-old. My husband and a friend are also cheering. I feel a little ridiculous but it helps. My inching gives way to a confident scamper.

As I pull myself up on the next move, the ice gives way and a chunk of it hits my helmet as I fall off the wall. Frank is holding the rope so tightly, it gives only a couple of inches and I realize I’m safe before I had time to be scared. I reach up again and find a better hole to latch my axe into and continue on.

Statistically, I am safer now than I was on the car ride over. I have an expert literally watching every move I make. I am in a climbing harness attached to a thick climbing rope looped to the top of the tower and back to the belay controlled by Frank on the ground. The Outdoor Ed Center supplied all the equipment and the instructors tie the knots, do the belaying and coach climbers along.

As I near the top, my hands and forearms start to cramp and I know I am making the rookie mistake of relying too much on my arms instead of my legs. Still, it is mentally difficult to relax the death grip I have on the axe handles. Before I started climbing, Frank told me the key to ice climbing is to keep the arms and feet arranged in a triangle so the legs are doing most of the climbing. I am able to get the feeling of this a couple of times on my way up and it does make it much easier.

When I reach the top, I shake out my arms and feel the elation of a kid at the top of a tree. Now I am having a seriously good time. Then I repel down and try a new route.

This is the most fun activity I've tried this winter and if you live in Fairbanks, you have to try it. The instructors give thorough directions, make you feel safe and help you to the top. Climbing the ice tower costs about as much as seeing a movie and has the benefits of a massive endorphin rush and a strength workout like no other.

The wall is open to the public Wednesday through Friday from 4 until 8, and Saturday from 12 to 4. ** See Spring Break hours below. Check in at the yurt next to the Student Rec Center and they will outfit you up. Dress as you would for a ski or run but bring a jacket for when you are waiting. Go soon because the wall closes when the temperature reaches 25 and above.

For more information, call (907) 474-6306 or check out the website: http://www.uaf.edu/draw/outdoor-ed-center/outdoor-ice/