Canadian Boyz Videos
Videos by Canadian Boyz. Canadian Ice Climber and Insurance Broker
Let me share a near-death story with you guys so we can all hopefully learn from it and you don't make the same stupid mistakes I've made and luckily lived to tell the tale.
A few years back a buddy and I climbed Murchison Falls (WI4, 200M) up in the Columbia Icefields. We got up the first pitch of rambly ice and I built an anchor for Matt and proceeded to completely solo the first 70M pitch. At this point, Matt was in a little cave about 60M off the ground.
Once he came up to the belay and gave the usual follower kudos for not placing any gear and leading the pitch I felt my ego burst through my chest and knew I wanted to solo the entire climb. I had Matt on a 2 screw anchor in semi-decent ice and ventured off to lead the 3rd most technical pitch.
I did end up putting in 2 screws as the route weaved left and right and I had to put in some directionals to manage the rope. However, right at the very top of the route I encountered some ice crust over snow, and as you saw in the video I completely separated a piece where both my tools were dug in. By the luck of God, I stayed on my feet.
My last screw was at least 25-30M below me, and if I fell it probably would have taken Matt and myself along with it.
In the moment you don't think about these events too much, but in the days after I was haunted by it and still am.
Lessons Learned...
1. If you want to f**king solo, just go solo. Don't unnecessarily put your friend's life in danger for your own ego and selfishness. You put protection in for both of you.
2. Watch out for sh*tty weird ice crust layers over snow.
P.S. Matt if you're reading this, I'm incredibly sorry buddy. Love you.
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Let me share a near-death story with you guys so we can all hopefully learn from it and you don't make the same stupid mistakes I've made and luckily lived to tell the tale. A few years back a buddy and I climbed Murchison Falls (WI4, 200M) up in the Columbia Icefields. We got up the first pitch of rambly ice and I built an anchor for Matt and proceeded to completely solo the first 70M pitch. At this point, Matt was in a little cave about 60M off the ground. Once he came up to the belay and gave the usual follower kudos for not placing any gear and leading the pitch I felt my ego burst through my chest and knew I wanted to solo the entire climb. I had Matt on a 2 screw anchor in semi-decent ice and ventured off to lead the 3rd most technical pitch. I did end up putting in 2 screws as the route weaved left and right and I had to put in some directionals to manage the rope. However, right at the very top of the route I encountered some ice crust over snow, and as you saw in the video I completely separated a piece where both my tools were dug in. By the luck of God, I stayed on my feet. My last screw was at least 25-30M below me, and if I fell it probably would have taken Matt and myself along with it. In the moment you don't think about these events too much, but in the days after I was haunted by it and still am. Lessons Learned... 1. If you want to f**king solo, just go solo. Don't unnecessarily put your friend's life in danger for your own ego and selfishness. You put protection in for both of you. 2. Watch out for sh*tty weird ice crust layers over snow. P.S. Matt if you're reading this, I'm incredibly sorry buddy. Love you.
What did I do wrong here and would could I have done differently? Rewatching this footage some things that I can see are a problem is making sure that you know what you're swinging into and you're not blindly trusting the ice beneath the snow. Construction criticism is welcome.