Valdez Ice Climbing Festival
Climbers dwarfed by the massive landscape in Keystone Canyon. Photo by Amanda Jones
March 3, 2023
Amanda Jones - Staff Writer
On February 17, 18, and 19, the nonprofit Valdez Adventure Alliance hosted the annual Valdez Ice Climbing Festival in Keystone Canyon. The event attracts participants and spectators from across the globe and is made possible largely by volunteers in the area.
Devin Wilson, head of safety for the event, estimated that there were upwards of 200 participants this year either taking one of the clinics offered by ten instructors or coming to use the climbing ropes set by the safety team. Most of the 200 visitors are staying at local hotels and nightly rentals in Valdez, with a few car camping during the event.
The safety team’s job, according to Wilson, was to set, inspect, and take down all 27 top rope routes the festival used over the three days. They set anchors and ensured their safety daily. Each night the ropes were retrieved. Early the next morning, the safety team, composed of about 18 people this year, reset the ropes and checked route safety again.
2023 marked Wilson’s fourth year being involved with the ice climbing festival and second year in charge of the safety team. He lives in Anchorage and shared that “The Valdez Ice Festival is definitely one of a kind because nowhere else will you find such huge ice, and so much ice, so close to the road.”
Though there was a light snowfall on Saturday during the bulk of the clinics, Wilson and Caleb Metroka, head of all the volunteers for the event, said it was a really idyllic day for ice climbing in Keystone Canyon.
“Sometimes the wind can get bottle-necked in the canyon coming down the pass. It can really rip through in big gusts, making climbing difficult and very, very cold,” Wilson explained. Calm winds and 30-degree temperatures provided ideal climbing conditions on Saturday.
Metroka, a local Valdez resident, was in charge of the 30+ volunteers for the events. He shared that the Valdez Ice Climbing Festival is also unique in that it is mostly run by volunteers and not a for-profit event. Very few people involved in the organization and running of the festival are paid. The safety team and clinic instructors are the only paid positions. Volunteers donate their time to help with guest registration and gear check out at the Valdez Airport, as well as acting as belayers for those on open ropes or taking clinics.
Guests paid a $45 registration fee to participate, which included gear rental for the weekend. You could then pay a $50 fee for open climbing on ropes set by the safety team or choose to climb as part of a small group clinic with an instructor. Clinic prices ranged from $75-150 and were anywhere between a half-day or full-day course.
The atmosphere and culture created by event organizers, volunteers, and participants was very welcoming. If you arrived in the early afternoon at the base of the climb “Keystone Green Steps,” you were greeted by Liam Drayer, a Valdez local, who was cooking hot dogs on a camp chef set in the snow and offering them to passers-by, no questions asked. “Hot dog? They’re nice and hot.”
Liam Drayer serves hot dogs to the masses during the Ice Climbing Festival. Photo by Amanda Jones
Liam explained the ice climbing rating system, which is different from the rock climbing rating system. Climbs in the canyon are mostly rated with a WI (water/ice) designation from 1-6. The bigger the number, the harder the climb. The two most visible climbs on the east side of the canyon, “Keystone Green Steps” and “Bridal Veil Falls,” are rated as a WI 4 or 5.
Liam explained, “Not only the steepness and length of the climb determines the rating, but also the quality of the ice. Sometimes you can have good quality ice that’s softer, and your ice tool goes in nicely on the first swing. That makes the climb easier. But if the ice has been stressed, there are a lot of fractures through it. It will either be really hard, or it will flake off a lot, meaning it takes multiple swings with your tool to get a good hold. That makes it more difficult.”
The 27 set ropes included routes of all difficulty ranges and types of climbing. Several routes were even set in the old railroad tunnel for participants to practice mixed climbing on rock and ice.
Beyond open ropes and climbing clinics, the festival also included clinics on safety and rescue, expedition reports from the Dolomites in Italy, and a no-cover dance at Valdez’s Fat Mermaid restaurant featuring DJ High Tide. There was also a memorial tribute to Brian Teale, local Valdez climber and founder of the Valdez Ice Climbing Festival, who passed away last year.
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