{"id":14316,"date":"2025-01-27T15:57:57","date_gmt":"2025-01-27T15:57:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/01\/27\/canadian-ice-climbers-bring-thriving-sport-to-world-championship-in-edmonton\/"},"modified":"2025-01-27T15:57:57","modified_gmt":"2025-01-27T15:57:57","slug":"canadian-ice-climbers-bring-thriving-sport-to-world-championship-in-edmonton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/torontotribune.ca\/index.php\/2025\/01\/27\/canadian-ice-climbers-bring-thriving-sport-to-world-championship-in-edmonton\/","title":{"rendered":"Canadian ice climbers bring thriving sport to world championship in Edmonton"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Even with a torrent of blood flowing from his mouth, knowing several of his teeth were bent out of place, Gord McArthur believed he could get back on the wall.<\/p>\n

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Moments before, in the middle of a manoeuvre last February at the Ice Climbing World Cup<\/a> in Edmonton, the Canadian ice climber was holding an axe handle in his mouth when he fell.<\/p>\n

On the way down, one of his ropes caught the tool, driving it into his mouth, fracturing his jaw and displacing his bottom teeth.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was \u2026 like being curb-stomped by your tool,\u201d said the 45-year-old.<\/p>\n

But the pain hadn\u2019t kicked in when officials asked if he wanted to climb his second route. To show he could do it, he stuck his axe in his mouth again.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen it hit my teeth, I vomited and almost passed out.\u201d<\/p>\n

One year, 15 surgeries and some new teeth later, the ice climber from Cranbrook, B.C., is set to return to the world championship in Edmonton\u2019s river valley, where a 21-metre ice wall has been erected for this year\u2019s competition.<\/p>\n

The wall, first used for last year\u2019s World Cup but created three years earlier, is a logical choice for hosting the championship, said McArthur.<\/p>\n

He said the effort to bring the championships to Canada was spearheaded by Rob Adie, events co-ordinator for the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation.<\/p>\n

The World Cup, set to begin Feb. 27, features a lead-climbing competition, where climbers try making it as far as they can on a dry-surface course, often made of plywood with small, scattered holds.<\/p>\n

The lead races rarely end with climbers reaching the end of a course in the time allotted.<\/p>\n

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There are also speed-climbing competitions, where climbers with hooked axes and crampons race to the top of an ice wall.<\/p>\n

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A typical move for climbers involves hanging upside down with one leg hooked over an arm for stability, axe in mouth, reaching for the next hold \u2014 all while tethered to a ceiling with the point of a curved blade, applying the appropriate mix of force and tension.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYour mouth essentially acts as a third hand,\u201d said Sara Lilley, an ice climber from Canmore, Alta., who\u2019s in her second World Cup this year and her second-ever ice-climbing competition. She finished one spot from the semi-finals last year.<\/p>\n

Lilley said she\u2019s naturally drawn to lead climbing instead of speed climbing.<\/p>\n

Lead climbing can result in freak incidents like McArthur\u2019s, she said, but she sees small risks, like getting tangled in ropes or having hard falls.<\/p>\n

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