Sheet of ice breaks free as man scales wall

A UK man attempting to climb a wall of ice could only watch as an enormous sheet broke away, sending him flying.

The man was scaling the quarry wall in Weardale, England, as his mates filmed and gently ribbed him from below.

“We’ve got about 30 or 40 seconds of memory left, I think that should be enough,” the cameraman says jokingly, as his friend begins his ascent.

The climber hacks away at the wall with two small ice-axes, occasionally gaining purchase and making slow progress upward.

“Oh, here were go, that is a big bit of ice,” one of the men below says as the climber reaches a large, smooth sheet.

Suddenly, the sheet, which is bigger than the climber, breaks free.

The climber swings wildly in the air, but is luckily caught by his safety harness.

The climber appeared unharmed and managed to laugh off the accident.