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Ice Climbing History

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Ice climbing is a fairly new invention. Until the mid-20th century, ice used to be seen merely as an obstacle that needed to be overcome while attempting to climb to the top of mountains. However, two developments in technology changed this view.

The first development was crampons. Crampons are employed in numerous forms of mountaineering and are priceless devices to the alpinist. Non-climbers merely see crampons as huge metal spikes that get attached to the bottom of boots to permit secure traction on ice.

The second development was innovation. Ice climbing is what it is today because of the ice axe (typically called ice tools if they are specific to vertical ice). The ice axe is extremely lightweight with curved, jagged tips that bear a resemblance to a 5-inch metal claw. Both crampons and ice axes allow climbers to climb vertical ice with a simple kick of the boot and swing of the axe. These two simple movements allow a climber to do what in all other terms would seem impossible.

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