CHERRY VALLEY-There are practical uses to the ice wall in Tim Horvath's backyard, but he also admits it is akin to a big kid's swingset.

The wall is seven feet wide and 30 feet high, and exactly what one might expect in the backyard of the most accomplished mountaineer in the area.

"It helps me with my climbing technique," said Horvath on Monday afternoon while giving a short demonstration on the wall. "I'm willing to give beginners a chance to climb on it, and I've had friends come over and try it."

To make the wall, Horvath hung two 4X8 sheets of plywood between two telephone poles, and ran a hose from his house to a galvanized pipe that ran the length of one pole.

The water runs up the pole to a tray, made of 2x6's, on top of the wall which dispenses the water to the front and back of the wall. To keep the water from freezing, Horvath lined the pipe with heating tape.

Horvath said there is also a snow fence in between the sheets of plywood, so in the summer he can use it as a rock climbing wall. The back of the wall has a roof, which helps form huge icicles that are excellent for practicing different climbing maneuvers, Horvath said.

Horvath, who two years ago summited at Mt. Aconquaga, the highest peak in South America, is planning a trip to Denali, formerly known as Mt. McKinley, this spring.

"I went there in 1995, but we hit three straight weeks of storms, so obviously couldn't summit," Horvath said. "I'm really looking forward to going back."

Horvath said he will be the leader of a group of 4-6 people who will attempt to summit Denali, probably sometime in mid-May or June.