Watch these ice climbers scale Hamilton’s Tiffany Falls

With its links to the Bruce Trail and relatively accessible walk from parking lot to waterfall, Tiffany Falls Conservation Area is a popular spot for tourists and hikers alike. And when temperatures plunge to the double negatives, the west Hamilton spot becomes popular with a different group: ice climbers.

The Hamilton Conservation Authority permits two organizations to climb the waterfall. One of them, Muskoka Mountainworks, just started working there, taking a group climbing at Tiffany Falls for the first time on Jan. 26.

Hamilton and much of southern Ontario had just been through a snow storm and the scene was “beautiful,” instructor Jonathan Nunes told CBC Hamilton. 

“The entire area was filled with fresh powder. The ice was nice and solid,” Nunes said. And in a couple spots, “you could hear water running as you climbed.”

When you’re in the forest around the waterfall, you can hardly tell you’re in a city, he added.

Terry Wilson, 67, is one of the climbers who joined Nunes that day. The resident of Sarnia, Ont.’s Brights Grove area, has been climbing for about 12 years. 

Wilson told CBC Hamilton he started because he wanted an activity for his kids that wasn’t the movies. “I wanted to do adventure-y stuff.”

He “always wanted to climb Tiffany Falls,” making last week’s outing special.

Clare Wark, 30, always wanted to climb Tiffany Falls since growing up in Hamilton and visiting the conservation area. Now a resident of Collingwood, Ont., Wark said last week was finally her opportunity to do it. 

“It was really amazing,” Wark said, noting the waterfall was taller than other ice she’s climbed, making it more fun but also more challenging. 

“It’s just a really magical way to get out and enjoy nature and winter,” she said, adding she hopes to be back at Tiffany Falls next year.

Wilson said that although “the highway was a little rough getting there,” his climb was also worth the wait.

Climbing waterfalls has a “calming down effect,” Wilson said, and it’s a good workout. 

Nunes, who lives near Blue Mountain, Ont., and near Port Severn, Ont., leads climbing groups year-round across Ontario. In the winter, he switches to ice climbing from rock climbing.