Berghaus-sponsored climber Angelika Rainer has become the first woman to complete a line on Helmcken Falls in British Columbia, Canada.
Rainer made the second ascent of ‘Clash of the Titans’ last month after adverse weather conditions meant her primary target – the single pitch ice route ‘Wolverine’, thought to be the world’s hardest – was too dangerous to attempt.
Angelika said: ‘’Clash of the Titans is a really beautiful route. It’s the first time that I have climbed ice this difficult and initially I felt that it would break all the time. However, on my second attempt I realised that this wasn’t the case and started to gain familiarity with this particular type of climbing. Helmcken Falls still has lots of potential, but you have to be well prepared before you go. On warm days, the huge icicles continuously detach and fall onto the ground and this makes being there significantly more dangerous. In addition, finding the routes and freeing them from the hanging daggers is very difficult, sometimes even impossible, and this was the case with Wolverine.’’
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www.angelika-rainer.com