You've dismissed (or are perhaps not aware of) a substantial chunk of winter climbing with this analysis: so-called "water ice" (as opposed to "alpine ice") cli

You've dismissed (or are perhaps not aware of) a substantial chunk of winter climbing with this analysis: so-called "water ice" (as opposed to "alpine ice") climbing. Waterfalls. Approaches for winter day climbs involve skiing or snowshoeing. The calculus of avalanche risk is part of the game for climbers too else, as you put it, we'd also be limited to some pretty boring climbing.