A HowNOT2 Course
Intro to Ice Climbing
We have 4 glacier guides in Iceland introducing you to Ice Climbing. This was going to be 3 episodes of Gear, Anchors, and Technique but we were able to smash it all cohesively into the one video you see above. Naturally, as this was filmed in Iceland by Iceland guides, this is taught on glacial ice. Waterfall ice climbing is a bit different but many of the things shared here cross over super good enough at the beginning level.
This is intended to read and watch before you go ice climbing with someone who knows what they are doing, so you can absorb things a lot faster. It would have been super helpful to have seen this before going ourselves instead of showing up "cold turkey". Please don't watch an hour-long video on youtube of people you don't know and then put knives on your feet and sharp axes in your hands and try this stuff on your own. There is no way all the nuances of your context can be covered and you don't know what you don't know and could get hurt as a result.
Your Ice Guides
Mike Reid is originally from the USA and imported a surplus of stoke when he moved there in 2018 so he could ice climb... all day baby! He also is an AIMG certified glacier guide and also owns and operates his own private company, ICE PIC JOURNEYS, for ice tours, adventures, and pics.
Ásgeir Már is from Iceland and has been an AIMG certified glacier guide since 2015. He has a lot of experience with waterfall ice as well as he has traveled through the Alps, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand exploring mountains.
Žaneta Bartoňová is originally from the Czech Republic and she has been an AIMG glacier guide for 3 years and is an avid rock climber. She's ice climbing in Antarctica at the moment so she can't finish filling out her bio yet!
Stephan Mantler is originally from Austria and has been climbing the European mountains and Iceland's glaciers for over 30 years. He is an AIMG certified glacier and mountain guide, member of the Icelandic search and rescue team. He owns and operates his own private tour company, STEPMAN, where you can see Ice Caves or summit the highest mountains in Iceland. His guesthouse, Dynjandi, was very nice and comfortable and we recommend it if you visit that area.