Sunday 13 November and 17 December – Jeff Ingman and Tim Sellears

Climbing outside in November? Climbing outside in December? ……regardless of
the weather?
It can only mean one thing……dry tooling.
To my knowledge this is the first time that the Oread will be meeting for dry
tooling, a specific niche activity for developing skills and strength for winter
climbing. It involves using ice tools and crampons to climb rock, sometimes on
natural pick placements but often on drilled slots and pockets.
Yes, it’s true, the rock gets scratched, hammered and battered. The venues for
this activity are chosen by consensus for their lack of suitability for conventional
rock climbing, mostly due to a high “choss” factor and the steepness of the rock.
The big cave at Masson Lees is perfect on both counts.
It’s very popular in the Autumn and Winter months with the great and good of
the winter climbing scene, who claim that tooling is the key activity to train for
hard ice and mixed. For the rest of us the benefits are quickly won and
profound, just ask Tim. He went from novice to a high level of competency in just
a few weeks during the second lockdown, when this form of climbing was the
only thing available during wet and cold weather. You just need to wrap up
warm.
Equipment
Bring your ice tools, helmet, boots and crampons. Ice tools should have the adze
removed if possible or padded with foam and tape if it’s not possible to take it off.
This should prevent a trip to the infirmary if your axe pops out backwards.
Crampons should be mono-point if possible. You can use two front points but
you will be making life very difficult for yourself. If you have fruit boots (yeah…

right) then bring them along, this is what they were made for. If you’re inquisitive
and want a look see then bring a helmet, especially useful when hanging around
at the bottom of the crag. Also, safety specs are a good idea when climbing.
The “warm up” at Masson Lees always provided a spicy intro to this niche activity
– easier options are now available.
The routes are well bolted with many of the quickdraws in place, which makes
leading, clipping, stripping and failing very easy. If you have a sport climbing
belay device for single rope then bring it along.
I have asked Neil Blake to join us, and he’s accepted. Neil is the coach for the
British Ice Climbing team and an expert dry tooler. He has been a regular on the
ice climbing competition scene for several years and now develops the young
British talent for international competition. He’s easy company, passing on his
knowledge and wisdom with humour and goodwill.
Please let Tim or I know if you intend to join us for either of these meets so that
we can plan a suitable itinerary.

Jeff Ingman