Bill and two of his sons and two friends are heading to Denali in Spring 2010. This trip was in preparation of that endeavor.
Was I in for a good two days with this group!
Getting some paperwork and preparation out of the way in the morning...
A short walk from the car we gear up...
Instruction starts with learning how to walk with crampons on...
and progresses to learning how to use the axes...
Bill prepares for the steeps...
"sending it"
We finished Day 1 by rappelling from the top...
Day 2 we met up at Pinkham Notch for an attempt on Mt. Washington… The forecast was for 65-85 mph winds, -30 degrees with the windchill, and 50 foot visibility…
Final preparations are made in the pack room...
Early in the trip we stop and practice "Self Arrest", the ability to stop oneself from sliding down a mountain with their ice axe...
Here’s a couple shot videos of the action!
Back on the trail...
It starts to get steeper... and steeper...
A nice spot for a breather...
Above tree-line I am expecting some strong winds, as most parties ahead of us have turned around and headed down…
Surprised to find that we are still quite protected from the Northwest winds here...
A quick break at Split Rock and the summit seems attainable today... only .4 miles to go!
Once we reach the parking lot we feel the full force of the NW wind… I guess it is steady 70 with higher gusts. It’s a bit of a fight to cover the last 200 yards to the true summit, but we did it!
Of course the summit is really only half way there… we still must go down;
A good reason for a "White-out Navigation Plan"
Pink gloves and chocolate? Well, it is Valentine's Day... As we descend below Lion's Head the sun peaks out...
Thank you Bill, Bret, Alex, Sawyer, and Krvyl for an excellent two days in the mountains! Best of luck on your Denali adventure, I can’t wait to hear about it!
I’ld heard “Way in the Wilderness” was in good shape, so good friend and climbing partner Bob and I decided to take a walk out there to attempt it. I had climbed this route a few years back as one of my first Grade 5 leads and was excited to get back to it.
As we started gearing up the sun really started to shine…
While Bob was racking up bits of chandelier ice starting coming down from above, indicating the effects of solar radiation on fragile ice… The crux looked pretty tricky, and with the added worry of something larger breaking off in the warm temps we decided it was not to be… we decided instead to explore some of the ice to the left of this route, closer to the Rainbow Slabs area…
We rigged a top-rope on this 100 foot climb. It started with a thin sun-baked slab and ended with this great 40 foot steep curtain that was a bit thin in places but great fun to climb! I will add a time lapse video later once I get the new iMovie!
Feeling good after a few laps on this we moved further left and found this great little route:
This short grade 3ish start lead to 200 feet of fun grade 2 with a little bulge near the top and great views of Rainbow Slabs all the way to the Covered Bridge…
Bob topping out the 150 foot section of neve-like climbing...
A rope stretching 200 foot rappel got us to the ground, where we packed up and headed for the car (and ultimately the Moat Brewery of course).
While we didn’t get our ideal climb in, we enjoyed the exploring and time spent in a beautiful place, and who knows, winter is not over yet!
Good friend and regular client John D. came up for a long weekend of climbing with some friends from CT. I was lucky to get John to myself for Sunday. We didn’t get too many pictures because we were too busy climbing most of the plastic routes in the Amphitheater but here’s some of what we did…
John topping out on Chia
John with an organized belay on Hobbit Couloir
It was a great day considering it was during the Ice Fest, which usually means big crowds and long lines on popular routes. We also got a slightly earlier start than usual, meeting at 7:30 to beat the crowds, despite the morning rain. The ice on everything was plastic and we enjoyed Bob’s Delight, 3 variations of the Cave Route, Chia, and the 1st pitch of Hobbit Couloir before calling it quits. It’s nice to hit the Moat Mtn. Brewery after 600 feet of vertical ice at 4pm isn’t it?
Here’s a vid of me leading Bob’s Delight and John climbing Cave Route;
Before you watch it, be warned with no dedicated camera man you are destined for one non-changing view and a semi-bland video experience…
John eyeing pitch 2 of the Hobbit...
John, as always, thank you for an awesome day in an awesome place. Climbing with you is always fun and enjoyable! To the next climb!
Hello friends, family, acquaintances, previous clients and strangers. Here begins my personal guiding blog with this post about a great day with four EMS clients on Cathedral Ledge in New Hampshire. Hope you enjoy some of the pictures and are out challenging yourselves today!
Cathedral Ledge, Echo Lake State Park, White Mountains, New Hampshire
During the hike in we noticed some climbers up high on “Diagonal”.
Can you see them?
After a few minutes of walking on the unplowed road we reached the North End and started to gear up.
Crampons onRandy makes some last minute adjustments
Amanda and Randy review their knot tying skills...
Shane and Michael review their belaying skills...
Shane takes his first few swings while Michael manages the rope...Amanda gets some good "sticks"Amanda keeps her heels low and weight over her feet...Randy below the North End PillarsRandy on the steeps...Randy closes in on the top...Shane on attentive belay duty...Shane, kick kick, swing swing...
I want to thank Amanda, Randy, Michael, and Shane for a great day in the mountains. You were a fun group to teach and I hope to see you at the EMS Climbing School again some day!
