Climbers Travel Hours For Frozen Waterfall Challenge In Sussex

Walking a kilometre off-road carrying heavy equipment to climb a frozen waterfall sounds challenging, but climber Heidi MacLeod said that’s part of the fun.

“People who suffer together tend to bond,” she said during an ice-climbing event at Parlee Brook, N.B., on Saturday. “Type 2 fun … it means there’s a little bit of suffering involved.”

MacLeod said she regularly travels to New Brunswick from her home in P.E.I. for outdoor activities since the island’s few sandstone cliffs aren’t “stable enough” for climbing.

“There is no climbing on P.E.I,” she said.

At the base of a frozen waterfall, several people dressed in winter gear prepare for a snowy climb to the top. — After a long day of climbing, climbers had a campfire and pizza. (Victoria Walton/CBC)

MacLeod goes to Ascent N.B. Ice Festival every year. This year, several climbers made the trek to climb a frozen waterfall in the Sussex area.

She loves climbing for the adrenaline rush it gives her. But she has another, specific favourite feature of the sport — the sound of her axe.

A woman dressed in a purple winter coat and an orange helmet stands smiling outside in the snowy woods. — Heidi MacLeod travels most weekends to New Brunswick from her home in P.E.I. to climb. (Victoria Walton/CBC)

“There’s a specific sound your axe makes when it lands, and it’s solid, and it’s just this thunk. It’s super satisfying,” she said. “That always brings me a little bit of joy.”

She also enjoys building trust with a climbing partner, something so important to her that she says there are some people she will never climb with, while there are others she’s been climbing with for years.

A handful of people dressed in winter gear use rope and ice picks to climb a frozen waterfall in the snowy woods. — ‘The waterfalls, they’re so beautiful,’ said MacLeod. ‘They’re places you wouldn’t normally get to see unless you did something like this.’ (Victoria Walton/CBC)

Climbing also holds a special place in MacLeod’s heart because after a back injury took away her freedom of movement, she used climbing to teach herself how to walk again, because it’s “basically vertical climbing.”

“Climbing is very much a mental game.It’s good practice for me, for real life, for facing challenges and overcoming things I don’t think I can do,” she said.

An elderly man wearing a blue coat and a blue hat stands outside in the snowy woods. — Sandy Briggs, 71, drove nearly three hours from his home in Woodstock for Saturday’s ice-climbing challenge. (Victoria Walton/CBC)

Sandy Briggs, 71, drove nearly three hours from his home near Woodstock to climb the frozen waterfall on Saturday.

Briggs has been climbing and mountaineering most of his life, living in Scotland and B.C. before retiring in New Brunswick.

A person dressed in winter gear uses rope to climb a large, frozen waterfall. — Climbers made the one-kilometre trek off-road to tackle this frozen waterfall at Parlee Brook. (Victoria Walton/CBC)

Saturday was his first time participating in the annual event, coming out of a period of physical limitation.

“Heck, I’m 71, I got a hip replacement, so I’m pretty happy just to be here and participate,” he said.

“Being out in nature and outdoors with friends and enjoying the view, enjoying the exercise of skills, taking responsibility for your actions, is great.”

#Climbers #travel #hours #frozen #waterfall #challenge #Sussex