Cinema Gully to Cauliflower, and REVIEW of EMS Packable Pack

February 2, 2015February 2, 2015 David Lottmann Gear Reviews, Ice Climbing, Mountaineering

Today was the perfect wrap up to a great three days in the mountains. Friday I had the opportunity to be the “turn-around guide” for a group heading to the Mount Washington Observatory for an overnight. Having an extra guide on these groups makes sense if someone isn’t feeling well during the ascent. At Lion’s Head everyone was feeling strong so I parted ways and made my way back down the mountain.

Yesterday I had a 3 person AMC group for a 101 Mountaineering Course. We worked on basics at the North End of Cathedral in pretty cold temps, and even worked in a hike to the top of Cathedral after a short lunch break.

AMC chillin' out on the North End Slab — AMC chillin’ out on the North End Slab

Today I met Seamus for a private day of ice climbing. Seamus had a fair amount of rock and ice climbing experience so we set our sights high and made our way to Mt. Willard. Before I get into the climb I want to mention a product I would like to review today. Earlier this season during internal guide training EMS Schools Manager Keith Moon suggested the use of the EMS Packable Pack inside a more substantial alpine pack like the EMS Prez Pack that I reviewed here.

The idea of carrying an ultra-light packable pack like this is excellent for a day of cragging where a large pack is comfortable to haul all your climbing gear to the destination but a bit too bulky once emptied of the rack, harness, and helmet. In these situations where you are returning to the ground an ultra-light pack would be ideal for keeping your “puffy” jacket, water bottle, first aid kit, and a couple snacks with you while you climb a couple pitches. Today I pushed the use of this pack a bit further by racking up at the car and leaving my alpine pack behind. More on this later…

We hiked in to the base of Cinema Gully (650 feet Grade 2) by about 10am. Lots of sluff piles reached the tracks before we reached the route and I spotted well known guide Marc Chauvin getting started with two clients on the first pitch.

The fall lines can be managed fairly well on this route and knowing Marc would cruise we decided to follow suit. The start was quite thin requiring a couple moves or two on rock before reaching decent ice 20 feet up, with the first screw going in around 50 feet from the start. As typical it was just shy of 200 feet to the steeper ice where we had a nice natural thread anchor backed up with a full length screw. The next pitch is kept short, just about 50 feet, to make the 3rd pitch “reachable”.

Looking down 2nd pitch — Looking down the 2nd pitch

Another 200 foot pitch from here brought us to the base of the last pitch. Marc’s team took the direct finish and I grabbed a shot of the father/son duo while I headed left up the traditional finish:

Cinema's Direct Finish — Cinema’s Direct Finish

After gaining the treed ledge we refueled and we started the uphill waist deep snow swim to the base of Cauliflower Gully. This was a full 40 minute all body work-out and I was quite happy Seamus offered to partake in some of this trail breaking.

Cauliflower Gully, 200 feet, Grade 2-3

This is a long-time favorite of mine. The setting is spectacular and the top out lands you about 200 feet from the well traveled and packed Mt. Willard trail which is an excellent descent after a full day of climbing. The climb was in typical condition, great ice down low, then a bit thinner but mellow, then the hollow-ish awkward-ish grade 3 crux, then fun swinging right up to the top.

We topped out right about 3pm and cruised down the packed Willard trail in 25 minutes. 850 feet of pitched climbing plus a few hundred feet of uphill tree swimming had built up quite an appetite for Super Bowl Appetizers and we drove back to North Conway with thoughts of good food & beer. Seamus has a few more days planned with us so I’m sure I’ll be seeing him in the mountains again soon!

To wrap up today’s post I want to finish my call out on this EMS Packable Pack. It’s almost Halftime so I will keep my thoughts short and to the point:

1) It weighs 9 ounces.

2) It can be stuffed into any large alpine pack with out notice

3) It has 1,500 cubic inches, so I carried: One puffy belay jacket, one very warm pair of Kincos Gloves, one first aid kit, one Petzl Myo Headlamp, one knife, one 32oz Nalgene bottle of water, 4 handwarmes (unused), a bunch of snacky food.

4) It only costs $40!

This gear doesn’t have a noticeable weight so lack of padding/suspension is not an issue.

OK, time to focus on the game. Pats are up 14/7. Alex will be drawing the ice screw winner during Half-Time show and I’ll announce the winner tomorrow on Facebook and NEClimbs & NEIce!

See you in the mountains!

-NEAlpineStart

First Ascent Gully & Pegasus Rock Finish

January 23, 2015 David Lottmann Ice Climbing, Mountaineering

I enjoyed a great day out today with my good friend Steve and sent a “new to me” climb I have thought about for years. Our original goal was Cocaine, one of the ephemeral South Face of Frankenstein Grade 4+’s that had seen quite a bit of traffic over the last couple weeks. Unfortunately when we got there it looked a bit like a giant slush puppy and we decided to fall back to plan B, First Ascent Gully.

I have been looking at First Ascent Gully since I started climbing at Frankenstein 12 years ago. If you study the south face as you approach the parking lot from the south on Rt 302 you’ll easily recognize routes (from right to left) like The Fang, Wrath of Valkyrie, and Cocaine… If you look just a bit further to the left, around a large buttress, up in a drainage high above the rail road tracks, you’ll spot the top of First Ascent Gully. It is the farthest left ice climb in the guidebook at Frankenstein.

The approach currently is pretty straight forward. Leave the upper parking lot and walk north along the tracks for about 2 minutes. Take the first obvious trail up the slope you come to. A moderate pace will get you to the base of the south face in about 20-25 minutes. Traverse left following the path of least resistance through a nice open hardwood forest. Start working up hill as you enter a major drainage. You should be able to see the route through the trees within about 10 minutes of traversing from the Cocaine area.

We doubted we would run into anyone in this rarely visited area but wouldn’t you know we ran into our good friend Bob A. and his partner David just before reaching the route.

The climb has great belay spots on the right and a bit of a recessed cave on that side. The business starts right away with about a 30 foot grade 4 section before it eases up considerably.

Mike G. on the lead and his partner Bob A. belaying — David G. on the lead and his partner Bob A. belaying

Bob A. follows the first pitch... — Bob A. follows the first pitch…

Once Bob joined David at the top of the first pitch they waited while we got on route. The sticks were solid but the ice was a bit soft to the point where my feet did not feel quite as solid as I would have liked. Regardless I got through the business without any shenanigans and enjoyed the mellower terrain above reaching the birch tree anchor 100 feet up on the left and joining Bob & David. They decided they would rap and explore the area a bit more so down they went, then I belayed Steve on up.

My partner Steve follows the 1st pitch... — My partner Steve follows the 1st pitch…

From this anchor we could have just barely rapped with our 60m rope, but I had an assumption that the Frankenstein Cliff Trail, a usually well packed hiking trail, would not be far from the top out. A quick check on my iPhone Topo App seemed to confirm that a horrendous bushwhack did not await us, so Steve took off up the 140 foot “2nd pitch” which was pretty much Class 3 “steep tree swimming”. I followed with just one axe hooking from tree to tree, and when I arrived at his selected anchor I spotted a mileage trail sign only 50 feet away.

We coiled our rope and checked the trail, which was packed and not slick, so off came the crampons and down we hustled out to a few very nice outlooks and then into the Amphitheater. While we were not “running” per say we were moving at a good clip, and I was stoked to see we could make it from our top-out to the bottom of the Amphitheater in just 20 minutes!

Steve had not lead the Pegasus ice finish before, so we went over to look at that. It was fat, but was also extremely wet, soft, and “showery”. We opted for the Rock Finish via the beginning of a much drier Hobbit Couliour.

Starting the Rock Finish on Pegasus — Steve starting the Rock Finish on Pegasus

Some of the coolest rock climbing in ice gear I have ever done... — Some of the coolest rock climbing in ice gear I have ever done…

After topping out we headed back down the descent trail and saw a couple guys climbing the upper pitch of Hard Rain. The first pitch was not in so they had moved into it from Chia.

We got back to the car at 3pm, 5.5 hours from when we left. Felt like a pretty solid day so we were off to the Moat for those ridiculous Longhorn Nachos and a pint of Imperial Stout.

Days like this, moving through the mountains in fair weather with good friends around… well… we all need more of days like this!

Hope you got out today or have plans to get out this weekend!

See you in the mountains,

NEAlpineStart

P.S. 9 more days left to enter the contest to win two brand new ice screws. One entry for liking North East Alpine Start on Facebook, and one entry for following/subscribing to the blog (link at the top right of website)

Multi-Pitch Ice, Another Avalanche Course, and Private Ice Climbing

January 22, 2015January 22, 2015 David Lottmann Avalanche Courses, Backcountry Skiing, Ice Climbing, Mountaineering ice climbing

It’s been another busy 5 days of winter fun in Mount Washington Valley and I’m just now getting a moment to recollect some of the fun this past holiday weekend has brought. It started last Thursday when I had the opportunity to take a few of the motivated Catskills Hiker Group, Team Danger Girl, up a very fat & plastic Willey’s Slide as part of their 3 Day Accelerated Mountaineering Course.

EMS Climbing School Guide Cheyenne styles up the center of Willey's Slide with two guest below... — EMS Climbing School Guide Cheyenne styles up the center of Willey’s Slide with two guests below…

Looking back down the route our two rope teams await their turn... — Looking back down the route our two rope teams await their turn…

Dorcinda picks the steeper, somewhat wetter, line through the bulges... — Dorcinda picks the steeper, somewhat wetter, line through the bulges with Mt. Willard in the background…

Back at the bottom of the 700 foot slide this tight group poses for a pic... — Back at the bottom of the 700 foot slide this tight group poses for a pic…

I wasn’t with this group on their Mt. Washington Summit attempt the next day but it sounds like they had quite the experience up there with hurricane force winds and wind chills below -40!

Friday I enjoyed a day off and took advantage of the nice valley weather for a quick climb of Goofer’s Delight with EMS Climbing School Guide Mike Lackman. The route was in excellent shape, but this photo does not do it justice. It’s 180 feet of some of the best Grade 3+ ice around IMO, a great moderate classic!

Saturday started our 3rd AIARE 1 Avalanche Course of the season. As with all our avalanche courses this season we were booked with 12 students and despite a bit of rain during our 2nd Day Observational Outing we had fantastic snow conditions for learning about avalanche danger.

Mike demonstrates his Mammut Pulse Air Bag

Our group descends our test slope on Day 2 to learn about Snowpack Observations

The group practices some Hand Shear tests on our approach to the Little Headwall

With a Considerable Rated avalanche bulletin with plenty of new reactive wind slab potential along with some existing Persistent Slabs, and a fresh natural avalanche in the Lower Snowfields, the class had much to look at. I won’t upload my field notes from the day but here is the techno-babble gist for my previous students to see if this doesn’t get an eyebrow raise;

Small natural slab in Lower Snowfields, shooting crack on Little Headwall, CTE Q1 x 2 at 40cm & 90cm, ECTP24, and RB2 WB!

Layman’s terms, there was some really cool reactive snow to look at which re-enforced the groups decision to not travel into Tuckerman Ravine that day!

After the course ended on Monday I had one more day of work ahead. Julie had booked me for a private ice climbing lesson as a surprise birthday present for Ben. Off to the North End for their first ice climbing experience!

Looking down a beautiful blue North End Slab

Ben going over the edge while rappelling the North End Pillars

Julie surmounts the first bulge... — Julie surmounts the first bulge…

Introducing Ben & Julie to ice climbing was a great wrap up to a very busy 5 days. Today was laundry, dump, and swim lessons with my 3 year old son. Tomorrow will find me swinging tools at Frankenstein. I hope you are all staying busy and enjoying the winter climbing & skiing season so far… while we could definitely use some more snow the ice climbing is excellent right now!

See you on the mountain,

P.S. That contest for 2 free ice screws ends in 10 Days. Get 1 entry for liking North East Alpine Start on Facebook, and another for subscribing/following this blog! The link to do so is at the top right of this page!

Washington, Willard, Washington, Cathedral, and nights thinking about avalanches…

January 13, 2015 David Lottmann Avalanche Courses, Backcountry Skiing, Ice Climbing, Mountaineering AIARE, American Institute of Avalanche Research and Education, avalanche accident, avalanche courses, avalanche education, avalanche safety, eastern mountain sports schools, EMS Climbing School, ice climbing, mountaineering

It’s been a fun filled 4 days with two ascents of Mount Washington, a multi-pitch ice climbing day at Willard, and a half-day of ice climbing with the excellent kids of Brooks School from North Andover, MA at the North End of Cathedral. Winter is in full swing and I have a day off tomorrow to attend to the less exciting things in life like laundry & dump runs but I’m looking forward to some multi-pitch ice on Thursday and a booked avalanche course for Sat-Sun-Mon.

Lately every day brings another couple inches of snow to Washington and we have an excellent outdoor classroom to run a course right now. Given the latest headline news of a couple young US Ski Team hopefuls (one quite local) losing their lives in an avalanche last week in Austria and another recent fatality in Silverton, CO I’ve been thinking a lot about the White Mountain Avalanche Fund set up by the US Forest Service and how I might be able to liaison between EMS Schools and this fund to get some potential “at-risk” high-school students into an AIARE 1 course next winter. Juniors & Seniors at high-schools with strong ski teams are the most likely to be entering avalanche terrain soon after High School and establishing some solid decision making skills at this critical age could hopefully help prevent some of these tragedy’s in the future.

EMS Schools Management is behind the idea so my next step is to find point of contacts at regional high-schools with strong ski programs. Kennett & Fryeburg Acadamy are most local, but the abundance of private high-schools with great ski programs in NH is quite long, and it will take some research to make sure the right people are aware of this educational, potentially life saving, opportunity. My goal right now is to have at-least 1 AIARE Course next winter comprised of 12 high-school students most likely to ski in avalanche terrain in the years following their graduations.

So far this year we have had 4 in country avalanche fatalities, plus the 2 out of county, compared to 5 in country this time last year. The more sobering statistic is we had 35 fatalities last season… there is a lot of winter left! If anyone reading this has the names or email addresses of High School Ski Program Directors in NH/ME/VT please let me know, this recent tragedy can be turned into a catalyst of preventive education if we can connect the right people to the right resources…

See you in the mountains,

NEAlpineStart

P.S. Contest running until 1/31/15 for two brand new ice screws. Simple to enter. Like North East Alpine Start on Facebook for 1 entry, follow/subscribe to this blog for a second entry (link is top right). Winner announced on 2/2/15.

Mt. Willard Multi-Pitch Ice Climbing

January 8, 2015January 8, 2015 David Lottmann Ice Climbing, Mountaineering

Excellent day on Mt. Willard today! Andrew & Matt had quite a bit of experience already so we really were able to cover some ground.

We arrived at the base of Hitchcock Gully around 9:30. The lower half had some great water ice so we geared up and short-pitched our way up to the lower cliff band. Here we broke right and made our way over to Left Hand Monkey Wrench. I have always approached LHMW directly from the tracks so I was into checking this option out. The Lower Hitchcock approach is definitely faster, and easier to find, so I don’t think I’ll be bushwhacking up to LHMW ever again. Learning never stops!

LHMW was in great shape, and we climbed the left hand start on mostly plastic wet ice. I was practicing a “para-pillar” rope technique to keep us moving and it worked quite well, though a 70m would have been handy as I was on a bi-pattern 60 and it didn’t quite reach the anchor while doubled.

A short shwack brought us to the base of a very juicy looking East Face Slab Right. The sun was out, the wind was down, and we took a moment to hydrate & eat before I set a rope up on the route so we could work on some steeper ice technique.

After a couple of burns on this route we moved over to Upper Hitchcock and finished up 2 great pitches to the top.

The trail to the summit was not packed out but it only took us 20 minutes to reach the summit.

Definitely an A+ day, we got about 6 pitches in and just about 1,000 feet of climbing, car to car in 6 hours, and it was not as cold as expected. Tomorrow, however, these two brave gents will be attempting Willey’s Slide together. After looking at the forecast for North Conway I advised them to dress quite warm:

Mostly clear, with a low around -17. Wind chill values as low as -36. Northwest wind 10 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Mount Washington Summit attempt on Friday, stay tuned!

AIARE 1 Avalanche Course 12/19-12/21

December 22, 2014 David Lottmann Avalanche Courses, Backcountry Skiing, Ice Climbing, Mountaineering, Uncategorized AIARE, American Institute of Avalanche Research and Education, avalanche course, avalanche education, EMS Climbing School, EMS Schools

Yesterday concluded our first AIARE 1 Avalanche Course of the season and conditions were great for such an early season course! Two EMS Schools New Paltz, NY guides and one of our North Conway guides joined 8 other aspirant back-country travelers to learn about decision making and risk management in avalanche terrain.

Beacon Range Check at the AMC Highland Center

Examining some Surface Hoar while on our Observational Outing

Do you know how this is formed and why it is important in relation to avalanche safety?

Team Orange conducts a trip planning session in the pack room of Pinkham Notch Visitor Center the morning of the tour day

Team Black & Blue checks the updated avalanche bulletin

Successfully skinning up from Hermit Lake into Tuckerman Ravine

The skier group converses at the first aid cache before entering consequential terrain to make sure they are all still on the same page and to update their observations

Team Orange is high up in the Sluice below the cliff band, you may need to zoom in to spot them

Team Black & Blue spreads out while crossing the lower center bowl

Team Orange visible just to the left of Right Gully while we make our way over towards The Chute

All smiles during our run down the Sherburne Ski Trail at the end of the day

My field notes from Day 3... — My field notes from Day 3… I wish I had better handwriting skillz

What a treat it was to be able to skin all the way into the bowl so early in the season. The Sherbi was in pretty “fast” conditions and is definitely, as I noted in my book, in need of some love. Unfortunately Santa must have thought skiers where a pretty naughty bunch this year as he’s having his friend Mother Nature deliver us a hefty dose of our least favorite precipitation, rain. Personally I would prefer coal but what can you do. Let’s hope to bring in the New Year with some copious amounts of new snow!

To the 11 engaged participants of this first avalanche course of the season, thank you for making this a fun and productive 3 days. See you in the mountains!

Mount Washington Summit 2/7/14

February 10, 2014 David Lottmann Mountaineering

Last Friday I got to summit Washington for the 1st time this winter with two motivated USN Seabees and one civilian contractor from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. We enjoyed fine weather, some deep drifts, burly windchill, and an almost empty trail.

EMS Schools Mountain Washington — Our weather forecast

EMS Schools Mount Washington — Lion’s Head steeps

Current summit conditions when we topped out

Info on this course here:

http://www.emsoutdoors.com/north-conway/ice-climbing-mountaineering/mt-washington-ascent/

Guest post on EMS.com’s blog!

January 30, 2014 David Lottmann Mountaineering

Happy to put this short post together for the EMS Blog!

http://www.emsoutdoors.com/wordpress/safe-winter-hiking-advice/

First Avalanche Course of the Season, and first Avalanche Accident

December 31, 2013January 1, 2014 David Lottmann Avalanche Courses, Backcountry Skiing, Mountaineering avalanche accident, avalanche course, avalanche safety, eastern mountain sports schools, mount washington

It’s a somber coincidence that during the first day of this season’s Eastern Mountain Sports Schools Avalanche Course season we would have our first avalanche accident of the season occur on Mount Washington. Hours after finishing our first day of mixed classroom and companion rescue field sessions a Mountain Rescue Service call-out informed me there had been two people caught in an avalanche in Tuckerman Ravine. Over the next couple of days details would emerge as to what happened. Much has already been covered by the mainstream media. Some of that coverage can be found here:

http://www.conwaydailysun.com/index.php/newsx/local-news/110668-rescue-123113

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/12/mass_hiker_recounts_near_fatal_avalanche

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/12/30/two-hikers-injured-mount-washington-avalanche/tAhJNO9vMoLXvYWHT7x49H/story.html

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20131230/NEWHAMPSHIRE03/131239972

While I originally wanted to blog about how this first avalanche course went, I can’t stop thinking about this accident (and the likely future accidents this season) and want to spend my efforts addressing a couple of issues I struggle with.

How can we, as a climbing community, raise the collective bar as to what is responsible travel in the mountains?

This is not a new issue. Mount Washington has a long (perhaps the longest) history in the US of being under-estimated and deadly. Read the book “Not Without Peril” if you are interested in some of the more illustrious stories of mishaps on the mountain.

It would be tough to argue that any other mountain sees more un-skilled travelers on a yearly basis with little “mountain sense”. Some of the reasons for this are obvious; it’s relatively low elevation and accessibility to a huge portion of the US population. Other reasons are more subtle. It’s clear that hikers/climbers push on in adverse conditions when they would not on any other mountain, instead relying on the closed summit buildings and weather observers, and the closed auto road, to provide a margin of safety that might allow them to still bag the summit (but then need help getting back down).

What frustrates me is the amount of education available to the general public that seems to get ignored on a daily basis. Detailed mountain weather forecasts, professional avalanche bulletins, trail information specialists, qualified guide services… all at our finger tips but often not taken into consideration for a climb on this mountain that has seen so many accidents.

Before I go further and people start thinking I am just wagging my finger I recently read, and shared, a great blog post on “Changing the Culture of Shame“. The message is when we, the climbing community, play “Monday morning quarterback” and start saying “That would never happen to us they were reckless, etc. etc.” we discourage the victims from taking ownership of their ordeal, sharing their experience, and helping other’s learn from their mistakes. I agree with this sentiment to a point, by I also think complete absolution from blatant mistakes inhibits the same potential positive outcomes of an accident.

In reading all the reports on this accident in the various regional news papers and watching video blogs a common theme presented itself. The media often romanticizes these victims in their stories. Some of the titles would probably elicit a hometown hero’s welcome. A few media outlets, especially the local ones, were more accurate in their stories;

“The hikers triggered an avalanche” vrs “The hikers were caught in an avalanche”.

There’s a big difference in these two statement in terms of responsibility, but avalanche awareness (or lack of) wasn’t the root cause of this accident. Lack of general mountain sense was.

The group split up due to impending darkness and lack of headlamps. They did not have map & compass (and by inference the ability to use them). While not a major contributing factor they had inadequate footwear and traction for climbing Mount Washington this time of year. The media has been referring to them as “hikers” instead of “climbers”, to the approval of many vocal online climbing forums, but this is an issue of semantics. Basically they were somewhat prepared (ice axe, goggles, proper clothing), but lacking “essentials”, navigation skills, team work, communication, “mountain sense”.

Whether we call them hikers or climbers it doesn’t matter. They were woefully under-prepared and made bad decisions recognizable by the vast majority of the climbing community. But I’m not sure what the best way to reduce the amount of these type accidents. My gut tells me we are in for a tough winter with already 5 Mountain Rescue Service calls before the New Year; we are well ahead of average. Every year our avalanche accidents seem to increase.

I’ve changed my previous opinion that charging for rescues can be an effective deterrent. Education, it seems should be the best option. Education has increased driver safety, lowered STD transmission, reduced teen-pregnancy and drug use, it should be able to help keep us safer in the mountains. But there is a resistance to education in the mountains. It’s ironic, as there are more guide services, independent guides, outdoor education programs, online resources, climbing clubs, etc. than there has ever been. Yet the overall culture is not changing fast enough. Everyone, from the victims, the rescuers, the media, and fellow climbers, need to ask themselves how they can help shift the balance to a more responsible use of the mountains. The answer for each will undoubtedly be different, but important.

The photos from this weekend’s avalanche course:

Avalanche Course info and dates for the rest of the season are here:

http://www.emsoutdoors.com/avalanche-training/

As the last hours of 2013 are upon us take a quick inventory of your skill set in the mountains. What do you need to brush up on? What resolutions can you make for a productive, safe, fun 2014 climbing/skiing season?

Thanks for reading, please subscribe at the top right if you’d like to follow the progression of avalanche courses I’ll be facilitating this season.

Happy New Year!

Ice Climbing 201

February 3, 2013 David Lottmann Ice Climbing, Mountaineering

Today I had the pleasure of taking former AIARE student Ben, and new climbers Ian and Brian out for a day of multi-pitch ice climbing as part of their 3 Day Accelerated Mountaineering Program. Knowing popular routes would be a bit crowded with the ongoing Ice Fest in town I choose a slab route on Willard just to the right of the recently popular Left Hand Monkey Wrench. This slab is just over 200 feet in length and is probably 3-. The first half was lower angled bullet proof ice but the 2nd half was steeper growing plastic ice.

In the above photo you can see Left Hand Monkey Wrench on the left side, and the slab we climbed is right in the center, directly under The Cleft. This climb deserves way more traffic than it sees, and is actually more aesthetic and interesting than Left Hand Monkey Wrench. It has the added bonus of being fed directly from run-off of the amazing “Cleft” climb, and in the current low snow conditions you could pretty much follow water ice from the slab all the way to the start of the Cleft, with a couple bulges just before the gully proper. It isn’t that hard to find either. During our hike up from the tracks I had to grab a photo of some of the 5mm Surface Hoar growing around some rocks. Those who know me understand why 5mm SH is kinda a big deal 😉

A climber from an AMC group pulling the crux of the Cleft

Looking down the geologically impressive Cleft

Brian, Ben, and Ian at the top, Mt. Webster in the background

Tomorrow these three are heading up Mount Washington for their final day and while I will not be joining them I am optimistic that they are well prepared with very favorable weather and I’m certain they’ll have a great day. I hope to climb with all three of them again soon!

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