Glory of conquering ice mountain
Print Edition
While many of us headed to the sunny shores and beaches of the South in the winter, the WISS Rock Climbing Club went in the opposite direction — North, to the cold, to experience ice climbing a frozen waterfall near Beijing.
Students Madison and Noah St George reveal all about their yet exhilarating experience.
Madison: I was interested in joining the trip because I am in the rock-climbing club, despite never having been on a rock climbing trip before. Ice climbing seemed like it would be an exciting and fun experience. My parents told me that I could only attend one of the three rock climbing trips that are being offered this year. Out of the three options, I was most interested in the ice climbing trip because it was the only trip in which you would be given the opportunity to climb a frozen waterfall. I’ve climbed rock before, but never ice. I felt that this could be a once in lifetime experience. I love adventure and trying new things, so you can only imagine how the thought of being able to climb with crampons and ice axes sparked my interest. I feel extremely lucky and grateful to have been given the opportunity to participate in something that many people will only ever dream of.
Noah: The climbing was in the Baihe area of Beijing. We traveled to Beijing on a train and after we arrived at the train station, we took a one-and-a-half-hour bus ride to the hotel, which was near the climbing area. Traveling to Beijing turned out to be quite the adventure. Our train was cancelled on the first day and then delayed for over five hours the second time. We ended up arriving very, very late. The next morning, we had breakfast, collected our gear, attended a “safety and technique” briefing, and took off. We had an actual ice climbing activity on the first day, a trekking activity on a remote area of the Great Wall on the second day, and then a Grade 4 ice climbing activity (vertical with slight overhang) on the third and final day.
Madison: Before the climb, I was quite excited and slightly nervous. During the climb, I was not as nervous as I was before the climb, I was having an absolute blast. After climbing for a while, my arms started to ache and it became difficult to grip the ice axes which made it much harder and more stressful. Also, it can be a little nerve racking when the ice breaks, but you know you cannot fall more than a couple of feet because you are safely in a harness with a professional climber on the other end. I would say that the ice climbing trip was an all-around exciting and enjoyable experience.
Noah: I think that the IB Profile I most exhibited is Risk-Taker. Why? Because I willingly accepted a new challenge. I used strategies shared by Ola, the climbing leader, and worked hard to succeed at something I was unfamiliar with.
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