CEDAR FALLS - Here in Iowa, we don't have mountains.

But we have an extreme amount of corn, and with that an extreme amount of silos.

Some Iowans are extremely creative, and some of those are extremely adventurous.

All that brings us to an extreme sporting event that will take place on a farm five miles west of Cedar Falls today. It brings competitors from seven states and Canada.

They come for ice silo climbing, an offbeat competition for people in mountaineering gear to attempt to scale a silo covered in irregular, jagged ice faster than anyone else.

The silos rise behind Jim Budlong's farmhouse. For the past five years, University of Northern Iowa outdoor pursuits teacher Don Briggs has been icing down four silos for the purpose of climbing.

The largest ice wall stretches 68 feet from the ground, while two others top out at 55 feet.

Tonight, the climbers will scale the towers in timed events. For most of the participants, it will be their first time in competition.

"Everyone cheers each other on. It's more climbers against the ice than against each other," Briggs said.

The UNI group hosts the event for the third consecutive year. It will be the second year under the sponsorship of Red Bull energy drinks.

Josh Dubois, Leslie Mitchell and Evan Jones packed into a Honda Accord Thursday morning to drive from Briercrest College in Saskatchewan province in Canada to Cedar Falls. It made for a trip of around 900 miles, or 1,400 to 1,500 kilometers for the Canadians.

Dubois has plenty of ice climbing experience, he had done it for two years. Mitchell and Jones had just taken up the sport a month ago, specifically so they could compete in the Red Bull Silo Summit.

"I love an adventure," Mitchell said.

All three Briercrest students are enrolled in an outdoor adventure recreation program at their school. Many of the other competitors are in similar programs at their respective schools.

Back home in Canada, they climb an ice wall. It's 20 feet shorter than the medium silo used this weekend, and much smoother.

"I've never climbed a silo before. It's really different ice. Our wall back home is just flat. This is a bit more technical, more brittle," Jones said.

On his first practice run Friday, Jones struggled on the first half, twice getting bad plants with his ice axe and falling, with Mitchell acting as belayer and holding him aloft. After the halfway point, Jones found his groove and made it to the top.

"It's tough when you haven't climbed for two weeks," he said.

The weekend turned out near optimal for climbing. If it's too cold, it's difficult to get the ice axes into position to climb. On the other end of the spectrum, too warm, and the ice surface become unsafe to climb.

The event was originally scheduled for last Saturday, but temperatures in the 50s caused it to be postponed. It was a good call, as the ice from the highest silo broke away that day in one large chunk.

Briggs hooked UNI student Andy Rowland on ice climbing a year ago.

"I've been addicted ever since. I help out here all the time in the winter. I went to Colorado over Christmas to climb," Rowland said.

Rowland will help out with the competition this weekend. He loves meeting other climbers from all over the Midwest.

"Everyone's laid back. We just hang out and talk to each other about climbing," Rowland said.

Jon Ericson can be reached at (319) 291-1402 or at jonathan.ericson@wcfcourier.com.