I'm sorry, but what is Iceman doing?

I started reading original X-Man comics, and this is the first page. Absolutely love it already, though apart from first question, second one aroused as well: where does the pole of Iceman start from?

I started reading original X-Man comics, and this is the first page. Absolutely love it already, though apart from first question, second one aroused as well: where does the pole of Iceman start from?