Ice Climbing World Championships to be held in Edmonton despite warm winter

Edmonton is set to host the UIAA Ice Climbing World Championships in Feburary. The ice wall was supposed to be up and running prior to the New Year, but because of warm weather, it’s still not up.

Now that temperatures are dropping to seasonal, organizers say it should take ten days to build.

“We don’t actually need that long to make the ice. We only need about ten days. And it looks like in the forecast we’re going to get that,” explained Joseph Banks, the Operations Manager of YEG ACC Ice Wall.

Some people who were out skating at Victoria Park on Wednesday say they’ve enjoyed the warm weather but are prepared for the cold spell to hit.

That included Canadian Football Hall of Famer Brian Kelly, who is no stranger to cold temperatures. Having lived in Edmonton for much of his life, he says there were other activities that kept him busy over this warmer-than-average winter.

“Well, my main activity is I do triathlons, so I can swim inside. But this has been great for running. And even more amazing, I’ve been able to get on my bike outdoors and find some routes that have no ice on them,” said Kelly.

The ice climbing world championships are set to start on February 16th and will run through the 19th, and for people excited that winter is finally here, they should be able to try out the ice wall as early as next Friday, if everything goes as planned.

“Yea I mean those temperatures we can still easily form ice. It just presents more challenges if something goes wrong it creates a lot more work for us,” said Carla Ramsay, Communications with YEG ACC Ice Wall.