Ice Climbing

	The retarded firemen.
	Simon hooked in on our first ever ice climb.
	Our super-chill instructor, Rob, setting up a toprope.
	Me climbing our first ~80 foot route. The rope got snagged around the rock to the left, and meant that when I fell, I dropped 20 feet and got whipped into the perpendicular rockface.
	Simon and I standing in the middle of Lake Rosseau, talking to a local ice-fisherman.
	Me belaying at the pituresque falls in Hamilton.
	I've just finished my first lead, traversing across the bottom of the wall.
	A climber from outside the group climbing the pillar.

Our first ice climbing experience started in at some falls near Huntsville, called Paul's Falls after the owner of Equinox Adventures (the company instructing us) found the falls 15-odd years ago. At the chilly temperature of about -40! Our instructor, Rob, kitted us out with boots, crampons and ice tools (the gear for each of us was worth around $2000). Had a quick go at using the axes, before trying some 5 metre top-roped routes. After finishing up, Simon, determined to not miss out on the ice-fishing experience, had us out on Lake Rosseau, chatting to a couple of locals who were ice fishing.
Next day Rob set up routes to the top of the cliff. Unfortunately the one I first climbed snagged the rope in such a way that I couldn't unhook it, and when I fell, I dropped 20 feet (the ledge below was about 30 feet away) and swung into a perpendicular rockface, hard. What a rush! (but very ouch). At the end of this day, there were a couple of fishing huts on Lake Rosseau that we walked out to.

The second weekend had enough cold weather that we got to go to a falls in the Hamilton Convervation Area. Beautiful falls there. Paul and Kurt were instructing this time, and Paul's emphasis on safety early on had us worried about the fun element of the weekend, but as we proved ourselves, he both relaxed around us and showed us some very interesting techniques of ice climbing and mountaineering, including single long-axe ascents, leading, rappelling, using happy hands (Dave's term, I don't know what they're really called) for self-belay, and muntner hitches. A great learning experience.