The Activity
Guided Ice Climbing · Provo Canyon, Utah
You can climb ice on your first day.
Most people don’t believe that.
What you pay
Half day or full day · price for your group
| Group | Half day | Full day |
|---|---|---|
| 1 climber | $395 | $550 |
| 2 climbers | $250 each ($500) | $375 each ($750) |
Half day is about 4 hours; full day about 7–8 hours. All technical gear provided. Inclusions and cancellation terms are in the Rates & Booking tab.
Ice climbing looks like the hardest thing in the mountains. It photographs like an expert sport, and almost everyone assumes there’s a long apprenticeship before they’d be allowed near it.
Then they try it, and find out the tools do most of the work. The real skill is learning to stand on your feet instead of hanging off your arms—and that is teachable in a morning.
We provide everything technical: ice tools, crampons, harness, helmet, ropes, and hardware. You bring warm clothes and stiff boots. There is nothing to buy before you find out whether you like it.
Closer than you think
Provo Canyon holds some of Utah’s most reliable ice—a concentration of routes across a range of grades, close to the road.
Little Cottonwood Canyon, Maple Canyon, and other Wasatch venues come in through the winter depending on temperature and water flow.
Your guide picks the venue based on what has actually formed and what is holding.
If it’s your first time on ice
You will spend the first part of the day learning to use your feet.
That sounds underwhelming, and it is the whole thing. New ice climbers overgrip, hang off their arms, and are exhausted within twenty minutes. Climbers who learn to trust their crampon points keep climbing all day.
We work on footwork, tool placement, and reading the ice—how to tell good ice from ice that only looks good.
Then you climb on a top rope, as much as your arms allow. Your guide adjusts the terrain as you tire, so the last climb of the day is still a good one.
If you’ve climbed ice before
Bring us an objective, or tell us what you want to work on.
- Steeper ice
- Efficiency and pacing
- Multi-pitch systems
- Screw placement and ice anchors
- Building toward leading
Your guide will find the terrain to match and tell you honestly where you are.
Small teams
Maximum two climbers per guide.
On ice, that matters. Your guide can watch every placement, manage the rope system closely, and keep you moving instead of waiting in the cold.
Where this leads
Ice is the bridge between rock climbing and alpine climbing.
Moving on steep ice, placing protection in it, and managing cold and time are the same skills that carry into Wasatch Ski Mountaineering — Classic Lines, the Wasatch Everest Prep course, Mount Baker, and the Alaska Range.
Thinking about it?
Tell us whether you have climbed before and what you would like from the day. We will tell you what is in condition and what makes sense.
Operated and guided by Wasatch Mountain Guides (WMG). BBE is the referral and sales partner; reservations, payments and required forms are handled directly by WMG.
Questions before you book?
We answer every inquiry personally.
