23rd January 2012 - Ice Wall Induction at the Ice Factor

Jamie B gives a demo on foot and crampon placements

The clients have a go at a low level traverse. Harder than you think!

Preparing to tackle the Big Wall...

Jamie advising on the ideal body position whilst ice climbing

Today after collecting the car from the garage (again...) I headed down to the Ice Factor to meet up with Jamie B so that I could shadow one of his indoor ice wall sessions. The idea is that I can then come in occasionally and pick up some freelance work in the centre, which is awesome.

We had three clients, a father and son team and a lad from the Guardian who is doing a piece on the Ice Factor amongst other things. Jamie started by showing me the lie of the land, where things were and what to prep before the clients come in. With this done, we went through introductions and kitted up before heading into the freezer...After a brief from Jamie on safety, he got the guys into using their crampons and feet properly and effectively, with demos on how to front point properly, the science behind the techniques and overcoming the psychological barrier which makes using crampons properly feel so alien.

After the lads had got the hang of moving on ice with only their front points, we introduced ice axes to the equation, and as Jamie promised, everything that the guys had learnt regarding footwork disappeared as hey directed all of their focus on bashing the ice to pieces to get the ultimate hold...Jamie got them all back on track easily, and gave a good demo on how to swing the axe, why to swing it this way, and tell-take signs that your swinging the axe wrongly for future reference.

It was then time to rope up and put all of the skills together to climb one of the many varied routes in the freezer. I belayed one of the clients, and then Jamie gave me a belay while I tried out my new boots on the hard stuff, and they felt amazing, much more supportive than my old ones (which you would hope for nigh on £400!). After coming to terms on the short practice wall, we let the guys have a bash at the 13 metre wall, and they all did really well considering how sustained and steep the climbing is, and for first time goers!

I had a great session, it was awesome shadowing Jamie and getting a bit of feedback along with insightful hints and tips about running the session. Hoping to get back in on Saturday to shadow another session with the view of hopefully running my own sessions there in the near future! Big thanks to Jamie for the opportunity and support :)