A Day on the Ice: Ice Climbing the Matanuska Glacier, Alaska

Posted on Sep 9, 2011 in Adventure Travel, Alaska, Cold Places by Quiet Wanderings 8 Comments

 

Taking a well-rounded spirit of adventure and cranking it up to the next level is always a fun thing to do – and ice climbing fits that bill perfectly. I have to admit, I think I am addicted.

All I’ve thought about since our day on the ice is….when am I going to do this again? I’ve even googled potential ice climbing hot spots back home in Australia. So, you have been warned: ice climbing can be seriously addictive.  But, for even the slightly adventurous at heart, what trip to Alaska would be complete without it?

 

 

The Matanuska Glacier along the Glenn Highway in Alaska is a massive 27 mile long river of ice flowing from the Chugach Mountains and reaches 4 miles at its widest point. T

The guys at Mica Guides will fit out with all you need for a day on the ice – boots, crampons, wet weather gear, helmet etc – until you look as ridiculous, I mean as awesome, as we did. And the experienced guides will (ahem) show you the ropes

 

If you can climb a ladder, you can ice climb.

We began about 10am by by trekking out across the glacier until we reached a beginner-friendly wall of ice which I must say seemed awfully vertical at first glance. But amazingly, after a few swift kicks of the crampons and some semi-coordinated swings of the ice picks we were at the top. After a few more attempts we had it down.

Hmm, that was easier than I imagined…What can we try next?

 

Of course, in true Aussie style, we took a shortcut, skipped a step or two and moved straight from the beginners climb to the advanced. And yes, this one actually was vertical, much higher and looked kind of daunting. It required a different climbing technique and was more intense…but also way more fun!

It is such an exhilarating feeling reaching the top, looking down to see how far you’ve climbed and just hanging there for a while taking in the miles and miles of ice.

 

 

No one in our group of six had ice climbed before and everyone worked their way up to doing the advanced climb. We finished early so one the guides was kind enough to take us for a walk to a different part of the glacier. This is what we found…

 

 

Thanks so much to Rich, Ellis and Geoff for taking us out on the ice and especially Rich for going the extra mile to make sure we got some killer photos.

 

Tags: adventure, alaska, climbing, cold places, ice climbing, Matanuska, travel, USA

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  MissPrissy Sep 9 2011 - 8:15 am Reply

  Thank you for an awesome article. I’ve always wanted to ice-climb but have been too afraid. I don’t know anything about ice-climbing … but now I’d like to give it a shot !!!

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  tim Sep 9 2011 - 9:20 pm Reply

  wow Cher
  respect and massive jealousy. Boy would I like to be there too!

  xoxoxo

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    quietwanderings Sep 13 2011 - 7:47 pm Reply

    Thanks, Tim. You would LOVE it here!

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  Linda Mestrovic via Facebook Sep 12 2011 - 4:29 am Reply

  Can’t wait for the next installment!! xx

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  Annie Sep 12 2011 - 10:32 am Reply

  Wow! Looks like you guys are having such an AWSOME time!!
  xx

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  Sherry Sep 15 2011 - 4:59 pm Reply

  Oh, wow! Impressive that you went from beginner straight to advance. Looks like a fun experience for a day and you sounded as if you thoroughly enjoyed it completely. That’s always a sign of a good activity to try. Plus, I am envious that you got to see those views of the glacier. But alas, I’m not an ice person. Can one who can barely even walk on ice do such a climb? Seems so fun, that either way, I’d like to try once I get to Alaska… someday.
  Sherry recently posted..TRAVEL PHOTO: “The Rise of China’s Largest City”

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  NvGtravels Sep 19 2011 - 2:30 am Reply

  You go girl! I’ve done a bit of ice climbing but not sure there’s any in Australia…

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  Nomadic Samuel Dec 29 2011 - 1:15 am Reply

  Wow! You really captured the experience. With some of these photos it makes me feel like I’m right there.
  Nomadic Samuel recently posted..Hello world!