Ice axe breaking the ice
On February 21, 2014, Exum Mountain Guides held their 2014 Jackson Hole ice climbing competition at the Exum Ice Park just above Snow King resort. There were quite a few competitors who vied for top honors in both speed and efficiency.
As there were no other photographers at the event, I thought I would stop by and take some images for the climbers and make them available for sale. For all the years that I climbed, I have very few photographs of me in action. The nice part about ice climbing is there is the good chance that ice will go flying, as in the photo on the right, when a climber chisels in for a hold. It is very difficult to get anything other than “butt shots” when photographing climbers. As I did not want to get in the way of the climbers (and I did not have my helmet) , getting into a better position was a bit challenging. There was enough room that I was able to shoot more interesting side shots where I could see the climber’s face.
The weather wasn’t too bad for climbing, in the mid-20’s. It was cold enough that the ice did not turn to mush nor too cold that everyone standing around watching the event froze. Everyone had a very good attitude, it was a very sportsman-like event. The climbing area is extensive and makes good use out of an otherwise drab retaining wall above the Love Ridge Condominium complex. Exum brought out both a fire ring to provide everyone with a little warmth and a generator to light up the venue after dark. I thought it was fun to have a night time climbing event. It makes the wall look much more interesting. I’ll have to see if Exum would like some better art shots of their wall with climbers in action for promotional material.
For as much climbing as I’ve done, I have never tried ice climbing. As long as the weather holds up for a few more weeks, I’ll have to give it a spin. I spoke with Christian, an Exum guide leading the event, and he said it was very nice to have an ice climbing wall to work on. As he was from California as well, he understood my plight about having never been able to really try ice climbing in any practical form.
Click here to see the images from the 2014 Jackson Hole ice climbing competition. I’ve added a prints link and will begin expanding the photography for sale link on this site. I also have shots of the Jackson Hole 2013 marathon I’ll be posting shortly.
Who would have ever thought the sleepy little town I knew, would have something this fantastic!