Hi all,
Currently trying to work out a grade for a pitch of water ice that I climbed up the other day (am in the southern hemisphere so in the depths of winter here!).
I've been looking at the grade explanations on the alpinist website and the pitch doesn't quite fit in to a category neatly, so I thought I would consult the UKC collective.
So the pitch is about 60° of ice that has frozen onto a buttress with some steeper bulges. It is thick enough to take an axe and crampons but not a screw. Bits of the ice are poorly bonded and came away with a gentle tap. It then tops out into some frozen vegetation.
Looking at the description for grades the angle would suggest a WI2 but there is a lack of protection, would that be sufficient to know it up to a 3?
Appreciate that is probably quite vague and the proof of the pudding is in the eating (or climbing in this case) but it is more for my own education than anything else (doubt there will be a massive rush to climb an obscure route in the Falkland Islands)
TIA