This past Thursday and Friday I passed a 2-day SPI assessment to renew my Single Pitch Instructor certification. The course was run by EMS Schools Guide Charlie Townsend and Kevin Johnson from Alpine Endeavors. 4 other students who took the Single Pitch Instructor Course last year made great classmates as we were examined for the skills required to hold an SPI certification. I’m looking forward to continuing with the AMGA Rock Guide program in the future.
Some group talk at the base of Square LedgeChristopher topping out a lead on the West FaceAndrew following Eileen’s leadChristopher and Eileen managing a top belay stationPreparing for some releasable lowersAndrew leads The ChimneySetting the “anchor”… I’ve never had a BD #6 to place before!Charlie arrives at Andrews belayChristopher being “rescued” by TrishaOne of my props for a topo reading clinic sessionMore skills being practiced on the Thin Air faceAssisted hauls and 3:1Ilene teaches a 15 minute anchor building clinic
We had great weather for both days and it was good to see what other aspiring guides and outdoor professionals are doing. I picked up a couple new ways to think about things, like Trish’s “4 Essentials vrs. the commonly known 10 Essentials, Christopher’s descriptive talk on waste management (especially how it relates to running a cadaver dog), Andrew’s participant engaged approach to coaching climbing movement, and Eileen’s discussion of some of the finer points of building anchors. While I’ve been immersed in this material for the last decade I’m never surprised that there is always something else to learn, or at-least a different way to think about a topic, or explain an idea… The learning really never stops!
I couple of years ago Andrew was a student of mine in an AIARE 1 Avalanche Course. Since then he has toured quite a bit in the New York and Vermont back-country and built up a pretty good list of rock climbs from Moby Grape on Cannon to lots of sport leads at Rumney. Wanting to improve his leader skills and efficiency we spent a beautiful day yesterday at Cathedral Ledge working on the finer points of multi-pitch trad climbing. Since I wanted to maximize the amount of info we could cover in this private course I drafted up a brief agenda the night before to give our day some structure.
Meet at 8:30, Drive to top of Cathedral.
Morning Session: Brief anchor building clinic
Attaching to a multi-pitch anchor (various methods pro/cons)
Belaying a second; harness, re-direct, direct (various methods pro/cons)
Assisting a second: Canadian Drop Loop, 3:1, 5:1 improvised pulley’s
Move to Barber Wall, Rappelling Clinic (why do people keep dying)
Middle-marks, end knots, safety at the edge, pre-rigging, stacking, efficiency
Upper RefuseWhitehorse in the backgroundFiguring out a 5:1 hauling systemAnchor clinicFall colors!
Whew, that is ALOT of information for an 8 hour course but we wrapped it up right on time. I love guiding days like this when I’m not just leading someone up a climb, but sharing the tips & tricks that can take a decade to discover with a fairly competent climber. I look forward to working with Andrew again to continue to improve his skill set!
If you want to spend a day like this with me there is still plenty of fair weather to get out before winter arrives! We can have a day like this well into November, so click here for info on our private courses!
Had the pleasure of taking Rhode Island native Manny out for a day of private rock instruction. Manny had climbed with us last year and returned to dial in some of his multi-pitch skills. We started over at Whitehorse Ledge and quickly polished off 600 feet of climbing getting up to Lunch Ledge in just over one hour. We then rappelled back to the ground and headed on over to Cathedral Ledge. A quick rappel down the Barber Wall and a short walk found us below an empty Upper Refuse. We cruised that in style with plenty of time to work on some crack climbing skills at the North End by climbing both Child’s Play and Kiddy Crack.
Whitehorse Ledge600 feet of slab climbing is a great warm-upRappelling from Lunch LedgeChillin’ at the anchorRapping down the Barber WallFirst Pitch of Upper RefuseLast pitch of Upper Refuse
Outstanding weather, a great partner, 10 pitches of climbing, over a 1,000 feet in total… what’s not to like?
I know I blogged last week about the cool commitment EMS has to training its store employees though the new “Schools to Stores” initiative. That initiative is more of an on-going effort, like the 10 free employee lessons our store guides get to take every year. However one of the largest annual training events of the year happened to land right behind it, so bear with me while I chat about how awesome this company is yet again…
On Monday 50+ employees from across the EMS’s chain of 68 stores, from Virginia to Maine, traveled to Mount Washington Valley for 3 days of camping, rock climbing, vendor villages, product demos, free swag, and slideshows from some of the country’s greatest climbers! That same day 3 small groups split off to backpack the Northern Presidentials while the rest settled in at Great Glen for the next couple days of cliff-side training.
On Tuesday reps from Petzl, Black Diamond, CAMP, Five-Ten, and Sterling, La Sportiva, and Scarpa, ran round-robin clinics at Cathedral Ledge educating the store guides on product use and giving everyone a chance to get hands on. From climbing shoes to advanced hauling systems and fixed line ascension everyone got involved.
After a full day of knowledge saturation the store guides returned to the evening festivities at Great Glen with a vendor village, scrumptious catered BBQ from the Moat Mountain Smokehouse & Brewery, and slideshow from world famous climber Cedar Wright!
Busy North EndFixed Rope Ascension, aka “Jugging”Petzl Anchor CentralPetzl gear talk with Dave KarlFree swag from Petzl!
On Wednesday EMS Climbing Guides from North Conway NH, Lake Placid & New Paltz NY, Boston MA, and West Hartford CT gave clinics on advanced anchor building, climbing movement, multi-pitch skills, and fixed rope climbing (LOL improvised Lhotse-face on Whitehorse) at 7 different stations. That evening wrapped up with another great slideshow from one of MWV’s own famous climbers, Janet Bergman.
While the Convergence ended for our store guides this was the first time in years we had just about our entire Climbing School staff in the same town so Charlie, Keith, and Eric organized a great climbing guide training day the next day.
Starting the day at the Classroom at CathedralSome small group chatSome fancy rope work practiceGuess what kind of snake this in in the comments if you read this far…Some guide-to-guide short-rope practiceSome mock guiding on Upper Refuse
I got a lot out of this entire week. I got to see yet again how committed EMS is to it’s mission statement. I got to see old friends from around the industry from store guides to gear reps, pro-climbers, and retired climbing guides. I learned 2 more ways to tie a clove hitch (I now know 5). I learned a great short-rope trick that involves a tree. But I think best of all I got to know some of my fellow climbing guides who work in other locales a bit better. Coming together, sharing ideas, a pitch or two, a quick lap up a classic climb at lunch time, a trail run I would later regret, some guide tricks, a mug (or three) at The Moat, a few funny stories, fewer scary stories, and a healthy bit of debate on gear preferences made for an awesome couple days of guide related work in an otherwise pretty slow time of year. La vie est belle!
I’ve worked for Eastern Mountain Sports in one capacity or another since 1994. A lot has changed since I was first “trained” in the small mall store in Salem, NH. We changed ownership 3 times. We’ve left some western markets and grown our eastern and online presence immensely. I’ve worked in 3 stores and in the last 9 years I’ve worked for the Climbing School and the last 5 years for the Customer Service Team. But one thing that hasn’t changed is this company has always stressed that the key to successful outfitting is through knowledgeable authentic expertise. While it sounds like a bit of a catch-phrase it is so true. To that end the company invests a ton of time and payroll to train folks to levels not very common in the retail industry where turn-over can make training dollars tough to justify.
This past week I was able to get out for 3 days with store employees from our Burlington VT, N. Conway NH, Portland ME, Nashua NH, Concord NH, Portsmouth NH, West Lebanon NH, and Manchester NH stores. On the cliffs of Whitehorse Ledge, Cathedral Ledge, and in Pawtuckaway State Park we shared everything from what kind of programs EMS Schools offers to how to properly size a harness and climbing shoes. It was awesome to see folks who never climbed before overcome their trepidation and send a route, or have an “ah ha” moment while discussing the difference between aid climbing and via ferrata. Here’s some shots from the 3 days. I expect to see many of these store guides back over the summer to take advantage of one of the coolest employee benefits we offer, free climbing/paddling lessons!
I had the opportunity to head back out to White’s Ledge in Albany, NH again today with my friend Bob. Today’s weather was even better than a few days earlier, with crisp dry blue sky and plenty of sun to keep this south eastern exposure in comfortable temps. If felt like climbing in the drier western states and was pretty blissful all day.
We hiked in this time from the harder to find White Ledge trail. It’s unmarked, but if you find the northern end of Pine Knoll Rd its just across from that. Look for a short steep paved section that quickly turns to dirt, and that’s it! Using this approach shaved 10 minutes from our approach, shortening it to 45 minutes flat.
White Ledge Tr, this screenshot highlights the campground approach, we used the White Ledge Tr just across from the northern terminus of Pine Knoll Rd.
After our last visit 2 days ago we consulted the topo and realized we had not climbed the actual 1st pitch of Go West Young Man but had climbed the slightly harder 1st pitch of Manifest Destiny, instead. This time I followed the correct 1st pitch and arrived at the anchor for Go West. Bob wanted to check out the 2nd pitch of Trail of Tears so he jumped on that.
2nd Pitch of Trail of Tears
Easy fun moves led into a wide open book then a few slabby moves led into a beautiful hand crack.
The sweet 2nd pitch of Manifest Destiny
After rapping from a nice bolted belay at the top of this 140 foot pitch we got on Go West Young Man, armed to the teeth with some smaller TCU’s, Aliens, and a couple micro-nuts.
The stunning 2nd pitch finger crack of Go West Young Man… this angle shot does not do the crack justice…
This beautiful crack goes on for close to 90 feet and is almost the same size throughout. Great friction face holds for the feet keep it quite reasonable, and I think this might be the best 5.7 thin crack in NH. It really is amazing…
A shot from the other day looking down it:
Looking down Go West Young Man
I finished up the 3rd and 4th pitches, though I got a bit off route on pitch 4 and ended up finishing on Eminent Domain… it was all good. Two 60m double rope rappels can get you on the ground if you trend climbers left a bit to reach the double bolt anchor on Eminent Domain (skipping the pine tree rappel).
I’m not sure if I’ll be getting any more rock climbing days in this season, but if this was the last day of the season for me I can’t complain!
After what feels like an eternity I was able to grab a day of rock climbing with my long time friend and climbing partner, Bob. I had been itching to check out a recently developed crag not far from my home, White’s Ledge in Albany, NH, and today proved a perfect day to head out there.
After dropping my son off at daycare in Conway we headed south on Rt 16 and quickly reached the White Ledge Campground parking lot at 9:30. The approach was in classic late Fall conditions, meaning slippery leaves covered the 1.7 mile steady climb to the toe of the cliff, which took us 55 minutes.
After getting geared up we decided on “Go West Young Man“, a fun looking 5.7 established by Brad White and Matt Peer this past summer. Bob cruised up pitch one:
Pitch one of Go West Young Man
Pitch 2 slowed us down a little. The route description states “Bring many very small nuts & cams”. They are not kidding! We had a normal rack with us, and without doubles/triples in the smaller C3/Alien sizes, along with some double smaller nuts, this crack is a bit hard to protect. We decided to come back for this pitch better equipped and retreated to “The Old Route“.
This route’s 2nd pitch is worthy of 3 stars, and we really enjoyed it!
The very classic 2nd pitch of the Old RouteLooking down the 2nd pitch amazing finger crack of nearby “Go West”… which we were not equipped for…Looking up the last bit of the 2nd pitch of Old Route, which shares the finger crack of Go West for a bit…
I led the easier 3rd pitch up to a fixed anchor on a pine tree and from there we rappelled.
Looking down pitch 3 of the Old Route
One long double rope rappel and one short rappel put us on the ground. After coiling the ropes it was a short 30 minute hike down to the car, and soon after we were enjoying a couple cold IPA’s at a picnic table in the closed campground.
This is a really cool location, and I’m happy for the recent development. Looking forward to heading back there in the early Spring.
A little over a month ago Laura and Chris joined me for a self-rescue course and today they returned for some slab climbing instruction. We met at Whitehorse and cruised up to Lunch Ledge via the Quartz Pocket variation of Standard Route.
Laura working her way up pitch 2 while Chris waits down at the first anchor
With each pitch we focused on body position, technique, momentum, and our responsibilities at each belay to help keep the party moving. We reached Lunch Ledge in under 2 hours, and did 3 double rope rappels back to the ground.
After a quick break we made our way over to Ethereal Buttress and climbed Beezebub corner, and excellent lesson in layback technique.
Chris works the opposing forcesLaura enjoying some good holds
We then dropped a rope on “Seventh Seal”, an excellent slab climb disguised as a crack climb. Chris was eager to have a go at the harder rated climb, and made smooth progress up to the thin crack.
Chris scopes out the upcoming thin crack
Here his perception of what constituted a decent foothold was challenged, but he preserved (after a couple hangs) and made it to the top.
After battling it out a pic at the top
I have a feeling it won’t be the last time he climbs this route. Feeling like we had accomplished the goals we set out for we called it a day and coiled the ropes.
Chris & Laura’s enthusiasm for their new hobby motivates me and reminds me of my early years in the climbing world… it’s an insanely fun sport and the first few seasons can be quite exhilarating, and dangerous, at the same time. While already lead climbing on their own Chris & Laura have recognized there’s a lot to learn to be a well rounded safe climber and I’m certain they are on the right path of self-study, practice, and occasional guided trips to reach what ever goals they might set for themselves. They definitely are eager students of the craft, and I look forward to our next adventure together!
An avid back-country skier and aspiring mountaineer, David’s gone on some pretty inspiring adventures through-out the Cascades and up in Alaska. With strong ties back East he took the opportunity to get out for some multi-pitch climbing with us this past Friday. After chatting about his experience and desires for the day I mentioned a new route that had recently been put up on nearby Whitehorse Ledge, The Cormier-Magness Route.
This route was established on 8/31/2012 by locals Paul Cormier and Chris Magness, and is an excellent moderate line up a section of the Whitehorse slabs that most would have considered picked plenty clean of new route potential. A bit of “hidden in plain sight” if you will.
We started at about 9am and quickly scrambled up the easy first pitch.
Scrambling up the easy 1st pitchLooking down the classic 2nd pitch areteClimbing through the summit slabsGreat view of Guides Wall, Cathedral, Humphrey’s Ledge, and Carter Notch in the distanceNear the topTopped out with Echo Lake and Cranmore in the background
I had climbed the first 4 pitches with a client a week or so ago, and it was great to finish the whole route this time. If you are solid on 5.6 slab then this is a great route for a new leader, despite some run-out bits it protect’s pretty well. Both the 2nd and 3rd pitches have 5.6 cruxes on them. The 2nd pitch is a bit more of a mental crux with some well spaced protection, and the 3rd pitch is a well protected 5.6 slightly awkward step. The upper pitches can be a bit hard to follow, though I admittedly got off route on the 5th pitch by climbing the flake to the right, not the flake directly off the anchor as I should have. It was an easy fix, but it pays to read descriptions carefully!
David was a pleasure to climb with and given his interest in learning to ice climb and in taking a formal avalanche course this winter I have a feeling I’ll be seeing him again!
Yesterday I spent the day with Christopher and Laura at Cathedral Ledge covering the topic of self-rescue. By taking this course they’ve started a process of becoming self-sufficient and self-reliant climbers. Access to climbing gyms and to climbing clubs in almost every state has allowed people to learn the basis of rock climbing quite quickly, but often new (and old) climbers don’t take the time to master a few basic skills that could get them out of jam much faster than waiting for a professional rescue to take place. The actual skills one should be fluent with if they aspire to be self-sufficient are;
Laura utilizing a 3:1 improvised haul to help Chris through a crux moveReady to haulWe also covered some belay station management issues during the dayLearning a counter-balance rappel after ascending the rope to get the mock-injured leader after an accident
Knowing these skills can prevent chilly nights on ledges while waiting for help, and increase your climbing proficiency as you add some tricks to your bag.
The methods I use to teach these skills are practical, hands-on, comprehensive, and adapted to your own pace. If you have any questions about the real-life applications of these skills or the course in general, please let me know.
