Dry-tooling is a form of mixed climbing that is performed on bare, ice-free, and snow-free, routes. As with mixed climbing, the climber uses ice axes and crampons to ascend the route, but uses only rock climbing equipment for protection; many modern dry-tooling routes are now fully bolted like sport climbing routes. Indoor ice climbing competitions are held on non-ice surfaces and are effectively dry-tooling events.
Climber doing a dry-tooling figure-four move and undercling pull at the 2016 UIAA Ice Climbing World Cup
Jeff Mercier [fr] in the final of a DTS Tour event, 2014
Mixed climbing is a climbing discipline used on routes that do have not enough ice to be pure ice climbs, but are also not dry enough to be pure rock climbs. To ascend the route, the mixed climber uses ice climbing tools, but to protect the route, they use traditional or sport rock climbing tools. Mixed climbing can vary from routes with sections of thick layers of ice and sections of bare rock to routes that are mainly bare rock but which is “iced-up”.
Team on Flauto Magico (130-metres, WI5+, M9, 4-pitches) in the Vallunga Valley, Dolomites, Italy
Silent Memories (WI6, M9), Italy.
French Reality (WI6+, M7-), Canada.
North West Passage (M11), Montana.