Tips
Eight pieces of advice from the developer, offered in roughly the order the mountain will teach them to you anyway; this way just costs fewer hearts.
Plan the route before you jump
Every layer is a small puzzle. Look up, pick the platforms you actually want, and then move. Climbers who improvise mid-air tend to donate their hearts to the kill floor.
Treat ice like ice
Frostpeak hands you icy platforms immediately, and they are exactly as slippery as they look. Expect the slide: start your movements earlier, stop sooner than feels natural, and leave more landing room than you think you need.
Learn the icicles' timing
Icicles hang before they drop, and each one falls on a rhythm. Watch a full cycle from somewhere safe before you cross underneath. Waiting one beat below an icicle lane is always cheaper than a heart.
Keep the multiplier fed
Gems and money bags raise your score and your multiplier, and the multiplier is where big scores come from. Collect steadily (weave pickups into your natural route instead of sprinting past them) and the same climb is suddenly worth much more.
Don't get greedy either
A detour for a shiny pickup is great right up until it parks you under an icicle or in a critter's path. A heart is worth more than any single gem. If the route to a pickup looks expensive, it is.
Don't linger near the bottom
The red kill floor is patient, and you should not be. The lowest layers are for leaving. Climb out of the danger zone early rather than tidying up every last pickup down there.
Respect the critters' rhythm
Patrolling critters are predictable, and that is their whole weakness. Watch the patrol, find the gap, and cross behind one rather than racing its face. They never improvise; you should not have to either.
Let the demo teach you
The attract mode plays the game in front of you for free. Between runs, watch it for a minute; platform handling, icicle timing, and critter patterns all demonstrate themselves while your thumbs rest.