Ice Climbing

Climb frozen waterfalls, alpine ice and mixed rock-and-ice terrain with crampons and specialised axes.

👥1 per team🌤outdoor

What is Ice Climbing?

Ice climbing is the discipline of climbing frozen waterfalls, alpine glaciers and mixed rock-and-ice pitches using crampons on the feet and short curved technical axes in the hands. Competition disciplines are lead (highest point on a set route) and speed (fastest to the top of a set line), both contested on the UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup.

Quick facts

Category

Winter Sports

Type

Individual

Players

1 per team

Where played

outdoor

Country of origin

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Estimated origin

Late 1800s Alpine mountaineering; UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup since 2002

Olympic

No

Popularity

major

Sources & provenance

Last verified 2026-08-20.verified