This post is long overdue, nine years you could say. Back when I was a new climber I was lucky enough to meet Steven on rec.climbing. He not only showed me around the Gunks and introduced me to a lot of great people I’m still friends with today but also gave me my first taste of ice climbing.

I’ve since been told that we were climbing with some real hard men that day he took me to the Catskills in rented crampons and a hodge-podge of recently-purchased clothes, but I was new and didn’t know anybody from anybody so I wasn’t impressed by the crowd. I was impressed by the guy leading a mixed climb. It was a long, slow lead and I felt sorry for his belayer anchored to an ice screw on a cold day, but I was fascinated by his moves. I didn’t write up anything about that trip but I did post on rec.climbing that I needed to find a boyfriend who led mixed climbs.

Nine years later no one has taken me up on that yet, but I’m one step closer: I’m dating an ice climber. Steve’s been trying to drag me into all his endeavors so I borrowed my friend Lisa’s ice gear and we spent a day at a spot in Thomaston just off the road where the ice was short but steep.

There was a lot of ice, but it was hard and shattered when forecfully poked. Steve semi-shook his way up his first lead and didn’t place enough protection (in my newbie ice opinion) to protect the top out. By the time he was off belay, I was in tears. It’s always hard to watch someone you care about in a precarious position and I knew enough about the physics of climbing to see that he’d hit the ground if he fell without knowing enough about ice climbing to judge how likely a fall was.

Steve set up a TR and lowered off. Once I’d regained my composure, I followed the short climb. Kick, kick, thwack, thwack, as I refer to ice climbing technique. I fell off immediately (so had he) but the ice improved once I was a few feet off the ground and I was able to make it to the top.

Ice climbing is a new skill and tough, but, just as I did nine years ago, I enjoyed it more than I expected to. This time around I had more endurance and forearm strength, which unquestionably helped. The frustrating part was how hard mundane climbing tasks were. I know how to tie in and clean gear, but with gloves on these simple chores were an awkward impossibility. I couldn’t clean the anchor because I couldn’t be trusted to walk off, and even lowering was a frightening ordeal: I was surrounded by pointy bits trying to snag and spear me.

But my biggest concern about ice climbing is learning to lead. I know me, and I know that if I keep ice climbing I won’t satisfied with following for long. So there’s a slope in front of me and, being covered in ice, you know it’s slippery. I’d like to leave the ice climbing to Steve and stick to skiing and tango lessons and ultra-marathons, but what he has, he has to share.

To be continued . . .