Even with a torrent of blood flowing from his mouth, knowing that several of his teeth were bent out of place, Gord McArthur believed he could return to the wall.
Moments earlier, in the middle of a maneuver last February at the Ice Climbing World Cup in Edmonton, the Canadian ice climber was holding an ax in his mouth when he fell.
On the way down, one of his ropes caught the tool, bringing it to his mouth, fracturing his jaw and displacing the teeth in his feet.
“It was… like being curbsided by your tool,” the 45-year-old said.
But the pain had not kicked in when officials asked him if he wanted to climb his second route. To show that he could do it, he put the ax in his mouth again.
“When it hit my teeth, I vomited and almost passed out.”
One year, 15 surgeries and some new teeth later, the ice climber from Cranbrook, BC, will return to the world championships in Edmonton’s river valley, where a 21-metre ice wall has been erected for this year’s competition .
The wall, first used for last year’s World Cup but created three years earlier, is a logical choice for hosting the championship, McArthur said.
He said the effort to bring the championships to Canada was spearheaded by Rob Adie, events coordinator for the International Climbing and Mountaineing Federation.
Carving a new sport
The World Cup, which will begin on February 27, features a lead climbing competition, where climbers try to go as far as they can on a dry surface course, often made of plywood with small holds scattered around.
Major races rarely end with climbers reaching the end of a course in the allotted time.
There are also speed climbing contests, where climbers with hooked axes and crampons race to the top of an ice wall.
A typical move for climbers involves hanging upside down with one leg hooked over an arm for stability, ax in mouth, reaching for the next hold, all while tied to a ceiling with the point of a curved blade, applying the appropriate combination of force and tension.
“Your mouth essentially acts as a third hand,” said Sara Lilley, an ice climber from Canmore, Alta., who is in her second World Cup this year and her second ice-cutting competition. He finished a place in the semifinals last year.
Lilley said she is drawn to climbing rather than speed climbing.
Lead climbing can result in strange incidents like McArthur’s, he said, but he sees small risks, such as getting tangled in ropes or taking hard falls.
She said there is a genuine risk in speed climbing, where climbers have been known to stab themselves in the forearm or thigh with their choices during the frantic climb to the top.
“The incidence of people stabbing themselves was more than I think I even realized,” he said.
The Alpine Club of Canada has erected a massive ice climbing wall right in the heart of the city, which will host the UIAA World Ice Climbing Championships in February. Host Mark Connolly ready to try it.
The relatively nascent sport is still trying to lock itself into the mainstream.
It hasn’t enjoyed the same explosion of popularity as rock climbing, a star among post-pandemic hobbies that have gained traction in recent years. But athletes in ice climbing have felt a surge of interest.
Will Gadd, who won the first lead climbing championship in 2000 and is one of Canada’s most prolific ice climbers, said the sport has gained traction with events like the World Cup in public spaces.
Canadian climbers at this year’s World Cup will include McArthur and Lilley, along with others regularly on the professional circuit. More recently, a Canadian team has been formalized under the Alpine Club of Canada, which McArthur said has injected momentum into the sport at the national level, allowing it to hold training camps and trials.
‘Lighter and faster’
McArthur, meanwhile, is entering the championship in the midst of what he feels is a career renaissance.
“I’ve never experienced anything as dark as that injury,” he said.
In his recovery, he spent more time than ever running, a sport he used to hate, and mountain biking more frequently. Now fully healed, after competing in ice climbing for 15 years, McArthur said he has never felt in better shape.
“I’m easily the strongest I’ve ever been.”
The new training stimulus could be a factor, he said. But he thinks it’s something more.
“The mental weight that I’ve been able to work through, through the injury, has made me lighter and faster.”
