Utah is home to two new World Champion youth ice climbers, and the ice climbing wall at Millcreek Common is getting credit for helping them win.
Matthias Olsen and Conner Bailey, members of the Youth National Ice Climbing Team, took home gold medals on January 31 at the UIAA Ice Climbing World Youth Championships in Lichtenstein, Germany. Olsen won the gold in Speed Climbing and Bailey won in Lead Climbing. The same weekend, three Utah adults attended the Ice Climbing World Cup in Saas-Fee, Switzerland.
Olsen says the newly converted ice climbing wall in Millcreek Common helped him and his teammate win. “The wall’s been pretty useful,” says Olsen, 14, a Millcreek resident. He and his teammates train at the Scratch Pad in Ogden, one of only two dedicated ice climbing gyms in the country, but saw massive gains over their competition since training on the Millcreek wall, which was converted for ice climbing in November.
The 65-foot climbing wall is the tallest in the country, but sat unused in cold weather when rock climbers move to indoor gyms. Enter Alex Rudow, a member of the women’s USA Ice Climbing Team who competed in the recent World Cup event. Rudow lives in Millcreek and realized the potential for ice climbing in her neighborhood. She approached the city about converting the wall for winter use.
“You never know if a city will be open to trying new things,” Rudow says, but Millcreek was enthusiastic about the proposal.
Rudow saw that the Millcreek wall would be a perfect setting for both competitive ice climbing disciplines, speed and lead, one on each side of the wall. She submitted a formal proposal to temporarily convert the Millcreek wall, which passed. Millcreek City agreed to pay for plywood which to entirely clad the structure, and the Scratch Pad would supply the holds, gear and instruction. Installation and route setting would be done by volunteers largely sourced from the ice climbing community and Millcreek locals.
The task of gathering volunteers fell to Lex Border, a member of the men’s team. Border, who has a construction background and has built climbing walls professionally, brought his skill and experience to the task. On build days, he dangled from his harness on a fixed rope while other volunteers used a pulley system to haul the heavy pieces of plywood up to his position, which he says was a good challenge for an ice climber, noting, “You’re pinning it into place, drilling it, and placing screws while hovering in the air.”
On the speed side of the wall, full sheets of plywood were applied, but on the lead side, variations in geometry and angle required each piece of plywood to be custom fit. They were measured, cut, hauled up, and sometimes sent back down for refining.
While the sport is called ice climbing, there is no ice on the wall. Athletes are actually “dry tooling,” a training method where climbers use ice axes and crampons on their boots on a dry plywood wall. Ice climbers actually do a lot of dry tooling in competitions, where iced sections on manmade walls alternate with dry plywood sections.
At his regular gym, Olsen gets great training and coaching, but must climb on low walls and can’t “kick in” with his crampons, as that would damage the facilities. He feels that kicking in on the plywood and being able to climb the Millcreek wall’s tremendous 65 feet helped him perfectly simulate the competition experience in both lead and speed and was essential to his world championship victory.
Due to the popular Millcreek Common skating rink, the area is always busy, and people wander over to the ice climbing wall to ask questions. Many are rock climbers who have never considered ice climbing or dry-tooling.
Rudow’s first exposure to ice climbing was on a guided trip, climbing natural features like waterfalls. That’s picturesque, but requires an experienced guide and can be pricey. The Millcreek wall offers an alternative. “This is a very affordable way to try it out in a very safe environment,” she says. “It’s also a great way for kids to get involved.”
A new crop of youth ice climbers will become increasingly important as the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation works with the International Olympic Committee in the hopes of bringing ice climbing to the 2030 Olympics. The sport’s first Olympians will likely be chosen from among the 11 members of the current Youth National Ice Climbing Team. More than half are Utah residents.
As part of Rudow’s proposal, youth and adult teams were assigned private practice days on the Millcreek wall, while the facility is open to the public on weekends for a low price. Gear rentals are available on-site. Professionals and members of the USA Ice Climbing Team are offering clinics, and in March, a national competition will be held on the wall as a season-finale.
“A lot of people have come over and watched and asked questions. They’re all excited about it,” says Kody Olsen, one of the team parents. “I think just having [the wall] there has brought a lot of attention, not only to the wall, but to the sport of ice climbing.”
Feature Image: Lex Border and Alex Rudow, members of the USA Ice Climbing National Adult Team, in front of the Millcreek Ice climbing wall. Photo by Bianca Dumas.
