Some years ago now, members of the community got together and created an “Ice Climbing Responsibility Code.” Will Gadd posted it to his blog, and it has been re-posted in a few forms since then.
It’s a great set of guidelines, and I wanted to advocate for it and reproduce it here.
Ice Climbing Responsibility Code
- BE RESPECTFUL – Everyone deserves a safe and enjoyable experience. Educate others with respect, and be educated with grace. Engage in online forums as you would when face to face. Pack out trash, cigarette butts and excrement (bring a wag bag to popular venues). Urinate away from the base.
- LEAVE A NOTE – on your dashboard or in the dirt on your rear window, with route name, party size, and time, to aid others in their decision making at busy venues. Have a backup plan for when others are on your intended route, if it will not accommodate multiple parties.
- PARTIES AHEAD HAVE RIGHT OF WAY – It is your responsibility to steer clear of them. Do not climb beneath, or pass others, without clear communication and a plan to which all parties agree. Multipitch climbers have right of way over those only climbing the first pitch of established multipitch climbs.
- EXPECT FALLING ICE FROM OTHER CLIMBERS – Falling ice is inevitable. Climbing beneath others is dangerous to you, and compromises their security. Plan your movement and belay stances to maximize shelter from ice fall, which can bounce far, and in unexpected ways.
- AVALANCHE RESCUE EQUIPMENT – A transceiver, shovel and probe should be carried by all party members in avalanche terrain, when sufficient snow exists for an avalanche hazard to be present. This may be on the approach, the climb or the descent.
