Canadian ice climbers to converge on downtown Edmonton for world championship

Even with a torrent of blood flowing from his mouth, knowing several of his teeth were bent out of place, Gord McArthur believed he could get back on the wall.

Moments before, in the middle of a manoeuvre last February at the Ice Climbing World Cup in Edmonton, the Canadian ice climber was holding an axe handle in his mouth when he fell.

On the way down, one of his ropes caught the tool, driving it into his mouth, fracturing his jaw and displacing his bottom teeth.

"It was ... like being curb-stomped by your tool," said the 45-year-old.

But the pain hadn't kicked in when officials asked if he wanted to climb his second route. To show he could do it, he stuck his axe in his mouth again.

"When it hit my teeth, I vomited and almost passed out."

One year, 15 surgeries and some new teeth later, the ice climber from Cranbrook, B.C., is set to return to the world championship in Edmonton's river valley, where a 21-metre ice wall has been erected for this year's competition.

The wall, first used for last year's World Cup but created three years earlier, is a logical choice for hosting the championship, said McArthur.

He said the effort to bring the championships to Canada was spearheaded by Rob Adie, events co-ordinator for the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation.

The World Cup, set to begin Feb. 27, features a lead-climbing competition, where climbers try making it as far as they can on a dry-surface course, often made of plywood with small, scattered holds.

The lead races rarely end with climbers reaching the end of a course in the time allotted.

There are also speed-climbing competitions, where climbers with hooked axes and crampons race to the top of an ice wall.

A typical move for climbers involves hanging