For many of us, the idea of ice climbing probably sends a chill down your spine—and not because of the cold.
It carries the same implied risks as ordinary mountain climbing, and presumably a whole host of other potential dangers, too.
But is ice climbing really dangerous?
Let’s find out.
Yes, by any measure, ice climbing is definitely dangerous. Falling is much more dangerous in ice climbing, to the point that you need to completely confident you won’t fall in order to do it. Any fall can lead to broken bones or other serious injury. Death is also always a risk.
So, yes, by any standard, ice climbing is very dangerous.
Without a lot of experience and confidence, as well as a natural ability to keep your cool, there are countless possible dangers associated with climbing ice.
Even for the most experienced ice climber, the danger is never fully gone.
Let’s find out more.
Is ice climbing safer than rock climbing?
No, it isn’t, is the short answer.
Neither of these are exactly safe activities, but there are certainly unique dangers associated with ice climbing.
These start with the added dangers of the terrain itself, but there are many others, too.
If you are leading while ice climbing, then the big problem comes with any falls.
In ordinary rock climbing, falls are a totally normal and expected part of the process.
You can fall without it being of much consequence. In ice climbing, this is not the case.
You can control your fall, creating distance between yourself and the rock face.
But because of the crampons on your feet which keep your feet in the ice while climbing, you will stick to the wall during a fall.
This ends up putting enormous stress on your ankles and knees.
You can easily break any part of your leg during an ice-climbing fall.
You can get tangled in the rope on the way down. Ice climbing means you need to be pretty much certain of your confidence in not falling.
At best, a fall during an ice climb will result in a broken leg, ankle, or worse your pelvis, neck, even back—or all of the above.
Beyond that, though, there are also added risks associated with the weather.
Frostbite is a common issue and can creep up on you faster than you might realize.
Ice climbing is a tremendously dangerous activity, and certainly far more dangerous than rock climbing.
Can ice screws hold a fall?
Yes, some ice screws can hold a lead fall.
It often depends on who you ask.
There are certain situations where a fall can be held and no one breaks anything from the fall, thanks to the ice screws.
But having the right ice screws in itself isn’t going to be enough to prevent a fall.
Preventing a seriously detrimental fall during an ice climb relies on getting just about everything right.
From the placement of the screws to the technique when climbing and the reaction to the fall, everything must be done perfectly in order to avoid serious injury from the fall.
You shouldn’t rely on even the best ice screws to prevent a lead fall.
If you are on a lead climb on the ice, you do, as I said, need to be pretty much fully confident that you won’t fall.
Obviously, this can’t stop you from falling 100% of the time, but your own confidence and experience is where you need to start.
How do ice climbers get down?
Getting down from ice climbing is much the same as getting down from rock climbing, most of the time.
You just use a belay to repel down, after drilling a fixed anchor in the surface at the top.
Again, you will need specialized ice climbing anchors and rope that won’t absorb moisture from the air, but the action is usually the same.
Obviously, on certain alpine climbs, repelling back the way you came isn’t the only option.
You might be continuing the climb from there, in which case you may have a different route to get back down.
The methods can be different depending on the size of the wall and other factors, but mostly, getting down from an ice climb is no different than any climb.
How many people die while ice climbing?
The numbers aren’t all that easy to bring together.
Firstly, it’s worth mentioning that not a huge number of ice climbers die if only because a very small number of people do it in the first place.
That said, there are proportionate deaths associated with ice climbing.
Studies based on data from the International Alpine Trauma Registry report that less than 1% of mountain climbing accidents are actually fatal.
That’s mountain climbing as a whole, with ice climbing being a still smaller percentage of that.
So, fortunately, most ice climbers are more than experienced and responsible enough to make sure they don’t fall during climbs, and if they do, they don’t die.
The injuries can still be nasty, of course, but deaths are actually a lot rarer than you might expect.
So, while it can be done safely, there are always dangers with ice climbing.
Rock climbing in general is already a very dangerous activity, and ice climbing makes that a lot more dangerous.
Extreme sports are largely defined by their relationship to risk, and ice climbing is considered a more dangerous version of another extreme sport.
There’s no denying the dangers.
