TRUST THE ICE. This was the mantra my climbing instructor, Lani Chapko of Chicks with Picks (chickswithpicks.net), had encouraged me to repeat as I attempted to ascend a towering frozen waterfall. With my boots still firmly planted on the ground, this seemed like a reasonable statement. But at nine metres in the air, with nothing more than spiky crampons and a third-of-a-centimetre-wide steel point anchoring me to the side of a ravine, it sounded ludicrous.
In most parts of the country, ice climbing is considered a niche adventure sport. In Ouray,
