Canadian ice climbers to converge on downtown Edmonton for world championship [Video]

Even with a torrent of blood flowing from his mouth, knowing several of his teeth were bent out of place, Gord McArthur believed he could get back on the wall.

Moments before, in the middle of a manoeuvre last February at the Ice Climbing World Cup in Edmonton, the Canadian ice climber was holding an axe handle in his mouth when he fell.

On the way down, one of his ropes caught the tool, driving it into his mouth, fracturing his jaw and displacing his bottom teeth.

“It was … like being curb-stomped by your tool,” said the 45-year-old.

But the pain hadn’t kicked in when officials asked if he wanted to climb his second route. To show he could do it, he stuck his axe in his mouth again.

“When it hit my teeth, I vomited and almost passed out.”

One year, 15 surgeries and some new teeth later, …