Ice climbing

In July 2008 I went on a hike with some friends and I made some really nice 'icy pictures'. During that freezing, snowy hike I learned that Paul and Bronwyn love ice climbing.



'Wauw' did I think back then. Since that time I've been dropping hints on how amazing that must be. I mean, ice climbing on a glacier: I have never been on a glacier before (when travelling around with Eefje last year, I saw it for the first time), let alone climb one...crampons, ice axes and just 'walk up' an ice wall...



So again, I was planning on having a cruizy weekend, but when Paul asked me whether I wanted to join them, I was totally excited to give it a go!



On Friday we took off to Franz Josef glacier, to climb it the next day. An hour walk to the glacier, and then an hour walking on the glacier to find that perfect first ice wall to climb. The walk itself was interesting enough: I love the ice (mind you: it is summer here!)



First climb was very interesting. Paul and Bronwyn explained to me what to do and off I went. First meter up was fine, and then adrenaline kicked in. Honestly? I haven't been that scared in a long time...I was just hammering those ice axes in, pulling myself up thinking '...must...get...up...there...'. Totally forgot about the technique, my feet, my hands etc: it was just purely using my arm power to get up.



Half way through I stopped to catch my breath and I thought about going down and never ever do it again or continue and do better next time. One guess what I did...However, not surprisingly that I was completely pumped when I finally reached the top.



Paul and Bronwyn must have giggled though...



So before the second climb I went through the technique again with Bronwyn and this time I absolutely loved it: it went great, I was thinking clearly and it was absolutely cool. I really liked it. When I got down, Bronwyn was smiling. Probably very satisfied.



No pictures of me climbing up the wall (will check with Katrina or Rebecca if they have any...)