
Cold snap good news for huge ice wall being built in Edmonton
An ice climbing wall being built in Edmonton will get a little help from the incoming cold weather
A towering ice climbing wall is on the rise in Edmonton’s picturesque river valley.
Dozens of metres of scaffolding, plywood and burlap are in place in Louise McKinney Riverfront Park. They’ll provide the structure for a 21-meter tall ice wall that will offer months of outdoor adventure and ice climbing competition in Edmonton this winter.
The only missing ingredients are some water, and the cold.

The ice wall built for the winter of 2024 is seen in downtown Edmonton. (Image courtesy: Climb YEG/YEG Ice Wall)
Thankfully for its builders, the latter is set to arrive in earnest this week. A surge of frigid air is en route from the territories and is set to blanket the Western Prairies as we head into the new year.
“The ideal temperature is below minus 15. You can do it warmer than that but you’ll lose a lot of water,” said Adam Luciuk, owner of Offbeat Entertainment which is behind the construction of ClimbYEG, formerly known as the YEG Ice Wall.
“It all depends on weather. That’s our biggest factor here.”
Temperatures will struggle to rise above minus-20 in Edmonton this week, with several days of daytime highs in the mid-to-high minus-teens in the forecast - certainly good news for all ice wall builders, enthusiasts and first-timer climbers.
It should allow the ice wall engineers to get the most ice out of any water used.
There are a variety of methods that can be used to build a waterfall-style wall of ice. One involves freezing blocks of ice and stacking them on top of each other. Another involves packing a snowy slush into wooden frames and spraying it down with water.
You can also set up hoses at the top of the support structure and simply let them drip.
The method Luciuk and his team plan to use, though, takes full advantage of Edmonton’s famously cold winter weather.

Burlap is hung from the scaffolding and soaked with a fine mist over a number of days to build the wall. Very cold temperatures are needed to minimize water loss for efficient construction. (Image courtesy: Climb YEG/YEG Ice Wall)
SEE ALSO: Rare frost flowers turn icy landscapes into beautiful gardens
“The method we’ve traditionally used is we basically use a garden hose in the misting setting, and we hang some burlap and spray the wall,” Luciuk explained.
“It takes about ten days in minus-15 temperatures to build a wall. Once it’s done it will support itself, while the scaffolding provides support and safety for the climbers.”
Luciuk hopes to have the ice wall complete and open to the public (complete with equipment rentals) by mid-January.
This is the fifth rendition of the ice wall. During the first three years, it was located at the Edmonton Ski Club. In 2024, the wall moved to Edmonton’s Ice District to host the Ice Climbing World Championships.
A similar competition, the Ice Climbing World Cup, is set to return to Edmonton this year from February 27 to March 2, although the athletes won’t actually be climbing ice alone.

A waterfall-style ice wall is being built in the centre of the structure. On either side that ice will be flanked with drytooling walls more closely resembling the walls of an indoor climbing centre. (Image courtesy: Connor O'Donovan)
As Luciuk explains, traditional waterfall ice would be too easy to climb for the pros, so the main ice wall will be flanked by two other structures that will more closely resemble a traditional rock climbing facade. In a discipline known as dry tooling, the competitors will hook tools like ice axes and crampons into special holds bolted into plywood, while navigating between, over and around features like hanging blocks of ice.
“It’s a bit of a niche activity but we’ll find out this year if it becomes an Olympic sport in the 2030 Olympics so you may be seeing more of this sport,” he said, adding that the facility will offer introductory courses for newcomers.
“We’re trying to take the outdoor adventure experience and bring it into Edmonton’s river valley in an accessible way.”

An athlete transitions from ice to a dry climbing feature during the 2024 Ice Climbing World Championship in Edmonton. (Image courtesy: Climb YEG/YEG Ice Wall)
Ice climbing should be available until at least mid-March. Luciuk added that he plans to keep the facility open year-round for rock climbing and dry tooling.
Keep checking The Weather Network for more weather updates across Alberta.