Frozen waterfalls are a sight to behold, but instead of admiring them from afar, one adventurous Tasmanian couple recently strapped on a harness to climb them.
Experienced rock climbers Phillip Kapudija and Tionne Hilder trekked for hours through snow to reach the icy waterfalls at the southern end of Ben Lomond in northern Tasmania.
"They'd been rumoured to be out there," Mr Kapudija said.
"I'd seen photos of them online and I've heard stories that there was actually waterfall ice out there.
"I saw that and thought it would be amazing if those conditions would ever return some day."
The couple had wanted to take on the challenge of climbing an ice waterfall for two years but were waiting for the right conditions.
After a cold snap in Tasmania, the couple's dream was realised.
The wait for the right conditions was worth it for the 30-year-old and 29-year-old from Launceston.
"[It was] absolutely incredible," Mr Kapudija said.
"We came from underneath the crag and I just couldn't believe it.
"All of a sudden there's this rock wall in the shadows that looks like a photo from Canada.
"It was just absolutely stunning to see that and incredible to have it in Tasmania. You would never have thought it."
Climbing partner Tionne Hilder was just as overwhelmed.
"It was honestly pretty astonishing," she said.
"We weren't sure if we'd get any ice at all, those conditions are relatively rare in Tasmania. So, you really just to go out and hope you find something and be prepared to turn around if you don't.
"And we turn this corner and we just saw this wall of ice, like hanging waterfall ice and we were like, 'Wow'."
Their attention then turned to how to climb the icy waterfall.
The experienced rock climbers used special ice-climbing equipment, including traction devices attached to climbing footwear, ice axes and ice screws.
They employed extra safety measures, including using a second rope and putting anchor points in rock, not ice.
Measuring the depth of the ice was key.
"You kind of have to look at it and judge [whether] it's thick enough for whatever screw selection you get," Mr Kapudija said.
"You need to judge the ice quality, which is the more difficult part of that sport, and I'm in no way an expert at all in this area."
They learned from online blogs, scientific journals, information from other climbers and years' worth of climbing experience.
In other countries, ice climbing is a sport in which athletes climb vertical ice formations, including frozen waterfalls or cliffs covered with ice.
Mr Kapudija, a paramedic, said icy conditions had to be just right to climb the waterfalls.
"You really need to get this golden temperature, not just at the time you're there but as it forms and the way that you can judge its quality is generally off its colour," he said.
"In this case, it was more clear, which has got fewer particulates in it which makes it a lot safer."
It was a special experience for the keen climbers.
"Coming back up the ice was amazing," Ms Hilder said.
"It was such a new skill to learn and I was doing it in 30-year-old crampons, so trying to make those work into the ice and being able to stand up and use my feet and practise a skill that, up until that point I'd only ever read about, was something quite phenomenal."
It is a hazardous and extreme activity, but the duo thoroughly assessed the risks.
"[It was] a little bit unnerving just because we'd never done anything like that before so there was a lot we had to do to mitigate the risk before we even touched the ice," Ms Hilder said.
Fortunately, the pair did not have any close calls.
"If we'd had any scary moments, if we'd even been approaching a scary moment, we'd have turned around," she said.
"It is extremely dangerous and there was a lot of risk mitigation that went into it.
"It's something that you shouldn't really do unless you already know what you're doing."
