Our expedition company owed us a day´s activity so we chose their ice climbing on the Viedma glaciar.
We set off on to the glaciar with a rather large group of mainly "older" folk. Now, I know there are many brilliant older climbers but these people just didn´t really look like your climber types, too much make up, polished nails and pristine clothes, (unable to walk in a straight line over rough ground, Phil). So, we thought that if the climbing trip was sold to these folk then it wasn´t going to be all that exciting.
We were then delighted to find out that most of our group were also horrified to find they were in for a day of climbing when what they expected was a bit of a trek on the glaciar. So, they all went off for a walk leaving around 6 of us monkeys to have a go at ice climbing.
We started off with easy climbs (although hanging from two ice axes can never really be described as easy) and then after lunch did some steeper and more difficult climbs.
Anyhow, as the afternoon progressed our techniques improved and at the end Phil managed to twist himself into some technical climbing moves. (I said it´s hard to lift yourself over the overhang on your arms and then find a way to put all the weight on one axe while moving the other. The guide said there was a way and demonstrated the arm over leg technique. So I copied. He lied, it´s not easier, brute force and ignorance for me in future, forget all the technical leg over arm thing, Phil)
We set off on to the glaciar with a rather large group of mainly "older" folk. Now, I know there are many brilliant older climbers but these people just didn´t really look like your climber types, too much make up, polished nails and pristine clothes, (unable to walk in a straight line over rough ground, Phil). So, we thought that if the climbing trip was sold to these folk then it wasn´t going to be all that exciting.
We were then delighted to find out that most of our group were also horrified to find they were in for a day of climbing when what they expected was a bit of a trek on the glaciar. So, they all went off for a walk leaving around 6 of us monkeys to have a go at ice climbing.
We started off with easy climbs (although hanging from two ice axes can never really be described as easy) and then after lunch did some steeper and more difficult climbs.
Not being so far removed from the apes Phil was able to climb to the top of both the afternoon routes although the steeper section was very tough on his arms. My delicate arms couldn´t quite take me to the top and at one point I pulled a dramatic movie scene kind of move and managed to swing round on the one axe left in the wall. I decided to come down after swinging my face into my own axe leaving my jaw line with a nice scratch and bruise (can´t really blame that one on phil unfortunately).
Anyhow, as the afternoon progressed our techniques improved and at the end Phil managed to twist himself into some technical climbing moves. (I said it´s hard to lift yourself over the overhang on your arms and then find a way to put all the weight on one axe while moving the other. The guide said there was a way and demonstrated the arm over leg technique. So I copied. He lied, it´s not easier, brute force and ignorance for me in future, forget all the technical leg over arm thing, Phil)
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