John belaying Joe, our guide. And yes, despite this being a lead belay, you are supposed to stand this far from the base of the climb, to keep out of the constant shower of ice - some pieces the size of dinner plates. It turns out, in ice climbing, the risk of falling on lead is lower (you essentially have two self-belays - your ice tools) but the risks of falling on lead are higher (Joe our guide with 20+ years of experience has never fallen on lead while ice climbing. And he said that were one to fall on something that was not vertical, he would almost certainly break a leg. Comforting that he was the one leading.)