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Ask this question of any winter climber and you will receive a variety of answers. Whatever the rationale it will be given in an enthusiastic and animated manner with a feverish, almost maniacal glint, in the respondent's eyes. Winter climbing means many things to many climbers, but the constant is the intenseness and immediacy of the experience it can provide.
Whilst rock climbing tends to be about grace and fluidity on sun-warmed rock, winter climbing is a visceral surge of activity coupled with long lonely cold periods of inactivity punctuated with short sharp moments of terror.
Whilst the rock climber moves with grace and elegance, unfettered by too much equipment, the winter climber tends to clank and clink with the weight of the equipment, intrinsic to the activity, they carry.
Whilst rock climbing is generally undertaken in clement weather conditions, winter climbing is usually done in bad weather, blowing snow, the threat of avalanche, falling ice, short daylight and difficult descents.
As this elemental experience is played out in an ever changing, and potentially hostile environment, success is never a foregone conclusion. Thus winter climbing is an adventure in every sense of the word and success is a shouted, whooping, joyous affair.
Once you become addicted to this level of endorphins you begin to see why the winter climber has that feverish glint in their eyes. They are a winter addict and can't wait to get their next fix.
Technique and Equipment
All the clanking and clinking gear that the winter climber drags around with them is intrinsic to winter climbing. Some of the key items of kit such as ropes, harness, protection equipment etc are similar to that used by the summer rock climber. Other items such as ice screws, pegs, ice tools and crampons are not.
In winter climbing falling debris, such as fragments of ice, are very real and constant dangers; usually coming from the tool placements of the leader above you, so wearing a helmet is a must.
In addition to all the technical kit you can add layers of warm clothing, belay jackets, food, drink, emergency kit and you soon see that the weight of your winter climbing sac is going to be a wee bit different from that of your summer sac.
Where the rock climber uses their fingers, and feet to facilitate upward movement; the winter climber uses ice tools and crampons to move upwards (although there are some situations where the winter climber may also use their hands for upwards movement such as in mixed climbing).
This upward progress, at a basic level, involves whacking the picks of the ice axes into the snow and ice, kicking the front points of the crampons into the same material then standing up. You then repeat the process. This technique is usually referred to as 'front pointing'. In reality the process is a bit more complicated than this, and rather than being a thuggish affair does actually involve a degree of finesse. Although the more scared you become the less finesse there generally is.
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Winter climbing can be generally divided into several distinctive "styles", although it should be borne in mind that at times the boundaries between the different styles can be arbitrary particularly on some long mountain routes where you could find yourself having to deal with them all.
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