Japan as a place to start ice climbing

When we instruct beginner ice climbing we teach it for real, as part of alpinism and mountaineering, something Japan is very good for. Whilst we rarely do single day beginner ice climbing, for climbers wanting to learn to climb ice we have a lot of places to choose from.

Many of our climbers learning to climb ice come from established climbing backgrounds, usually in rock, bouldering or 8000m, who want to expand their abilities. For this we can forgo the basics common to all climbing that are best instructed somewhere warm and without sharp equipment, so use easy ice so they can get straight onto the good stuff.

Though things like Youtube make ice climbing appear very heroic and acrobatic, there is a large gulf between learning and pulling hard moves onto hanging ice. Even high grade rock climbers find that the transition to ice can be complicated, as the dynamics are very different, as are the risks.

Ice climbing is best at the beginner phase on easy, fat ice, where the hours needed can be got rather than the fickle conditions of thin, steep stuff. Initially ice climbing needs a big upcurve in techniques which are not helped by scary, exposed and falling ice, so to get the time-on-tools needed we pull from many of Japans easier locations.

Learning ice is never a matter of bravado and being cavalier, and needs time spent being focused, experimenting and at a relaxed rate. Unlike rock where the risks involved are relatively low, ice is the real business, so needs locations that reduce that for instruction with good access and stable conditions.