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Ice Climbing |
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"But it's not for everyone..." cautions Dale Diduck, a veteran local climber and owner of Gravity Gear, Jasper's ice-climbing outfitting store. "It can be quite dangerous." Those dangers include falling ice and self-injury with the sharp tools required for climbing - and, of course, falling. But for those that dare, ice climbing is an exhilarating sport - if you can call it that. "There's more to it than a game," says Diduck. "It's an experience, I guess.
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Some
people come out to Jasper to look at the frozen beauty of the park's
waterways in the winter. Others see an adrenaline-pumping climb up an
icy canyon as a great way to spend a winter afternoon in Jasper. 
"
Ice climbing has grown in popularity in recent years along with
summer climbing, where most ice climbers start out. "It's
amazing how many ice climbers are coming out of the woodwork,"
Diduck says. And while ice-climbing may be for the hard-core, that doesn't
necessarily mean it's just for the young. "I met a guy of
65 out there on hard ice. I was just floored," Diduck recalls.
Jasper hot-spots for ice climbs include Maligne Canyon and the famous
"Weeping Wall" on the Icefields Parkway south of Saskatchewan
River Crossing. Store such as Gravity Gear rent ice-climbing equipment
as a try-before-you-buy venture. Guiding is also available and
recommended: Gravity Gear offers referrals to local guides certified
by the Association of Canadian Mountain Guides (ACMG).
