Rock Climbing

2 Day Private Rock Climbing

David Lottmann Rock Climbing ,

I met Jon 2 years ago when he took a Level 1 Avalanche Course with me. Last winter he took the Level 2 course with me, and has become quite active with his local AMC Rock Climbing chapter in MA. He joined me for two days of climbing on Cathedral and Whitehorse with a focus on self-rescue, and multi-pitch efficiency.

Yesterday we started at “the classroom” on the top of Cathedral Ledge. There we reviewed building gear anchors and extending anchors out over an edge. We set-up a mock-rope rope system and covered belay escapes and leader rescue topics. After lunch we headed down and climbed Upper Refuse, Jon’s first Cathedral Ledge climb.

Jon on the first pitch
Jon on the 3rd pitch

We only took a little over an hour to climb Upper Refuse so with some time left we made our way down to the North End and climbed Child’s Play and Kiddy Crack to work on our crack technique a bit. Jon took an extra lap on Kiddy Crack and we wrapped up around 4pm.

The following day we met at Whitehorse Ledge. A new route had been established just 10 day earlier and Jon was happy to check it out. We climbed the The Cormier-Magness Route’s first 4 pitches (660 feet), then rapped back to the ground for a quick lunch break.

Jon on a really nice “Wheat Thin Arete” pitch, 190 feet 5.6
Jon at the steeper bulge at the end of pitch 3

The first three pitches of this route were highly enjoyable. While there are more pitches above the 4th pitch we did we wanted to get in another classic full length route so we wrapped from the top of pitch 4 and made our way over to Standard Route. We raced up that, and despite a small surprise on the 5.7 direct finish pitch, topped out in about 2 hours total.

Topped out, 1,600 feet of slab climbing in the bag

An excellent 2 days of climbing and instruction, with a highly motivated partner… I’m definitely looking forward to our next adventure together Jon!

Family Rock Climbing Program 8/29/2012

David Lottmann Rock Climbing ,

Eric, Carol, Jack, and Sam decided to spend the last day of their summer vacation doing something truly memorable… rock climbing! We met at that climbing school and geared up.

Ready to go!
Whitehorse Ledge, Echo Lake State Pack, New Hampshire!

We started the day off with a quick 2 pitches on the slabs. 300 feet up the boys decided that was high enough for their 1st climb and we headed back down.

Carol and Jack heading back down from “The Toilet Bowl”
Eric and Sam heading back down from “The Toilet Bowl”

After a snack we headed over to the Echo Roof Area for some fun top-roping.

Sam finding his way up “Holy Land 5.6” at the Echo Roof area…
Carol belays while Eric and Jack strategize
Jack finds the next foothold while Echo Roof looms overhead
Sam takes a breather
Jack shows off his climbing gear
Is that Sam way up there?
Eric gets his turn
The boys enjoy the impromptu swing I created

Perfect weather, motivated family, great climbing… it doesn’t get much better. A couple times during the day Carol inquired about what they should do next in order to continue their new found family sport of rock climbing. After suggesting books and logical steps I decided I needed to add something to this blog to help address that question, and will be adding some helpful links in the near future. I created this page to address that question, of “What next?”, along with some shameless self-promotion. I’ll add a “continued ed/suggested reading section” in the near future as time allows. Until then, I leave you this short clip of 6 year old Sam enjoying the joys of rock climbing;

http://youtu.be/NZSsbdyMXok

Private Rock Climbing 8-26-2012

David Lottmann Rock Climbing ,

Laurel and Geoff drove up yesterday morning from Boston to get a little outdoor rock climbing experience before a trip to the Italian Dolomites next week where they are planning on doing some Via ferrata. Since Via ferrata is not very common in the US (almost non-existent) I showed them a via ferrata rig in the climbing school and the basics of use before we headed off to Whitehorse Ledge for some free climbing.

Whitehorse Ledge

After gearing up we scrambled up to the Launch Pad and went over the basics of rope management in a 3-person climbing team. Minutes later we were off and climbing…

Ready to go at the “Launch Pad”
Looking down pitch 2 while Laurel climbs
At the “Crystal Pocket” belay with Cathedral Ledge in the background

We caught up to a couple parties that had started before us at the spacious “Lunch Ledge”. Here we planned to rappel in order to spend the afternoon climbing some steeper crack climbs in the shade. After pre-rigging the rappel we began our descent.

Rappelling from Lunch Ledge
Rappelling down Slabs Direct

After we reached the ground we took a break for some lunch and water, then made our way over to the Ethereal Buttress area. We started contrasting the difference between friction slab climbing and crack/corner climbing on the fun short route, Beelzebub Corner.

Learning to lay-back on Beezlebub Corner
Slingshot belay in the shade

After everyone got a run on that we had some time left so I dropped the rope on nearby Seventh Seal, the thin 5.10 finger crack nearby. That proved an excellent challenge to finish the day on, and we were all pretty happy when we pulled our last rope.

You were both great fun to climb with, and I look forward to hearing about the Dolomites trip. And the Norway ski trip that might become a reality! Looking forward to our next climb together!

 

 

 

 

Family Rock Climbing Program, 8-12-2012

David Lottmann Rock Climbing ,

7+ years ago Karen and Dan took a couple climbing lessons with EMSCS. It was either my 1st or 2nd season guiding and I climbed with them at Square Ledge and Cathedral that summer. Yesterday, after a 7 year hiatus (for good reason),  they returned with their amazing 7 year old daughter, Catherine. A regular hiker, who preferred scrambling, and National Park Camper, Catherine was eager to try her hand at real rock climbing. We geared up, and after stopping by a very wet Whitehorse Ledge made out way over to Cathedral Ledge for some top-roping on the Thin Air Face.

Despite being a little intimidated by the wet steepness Catherine made multiple attempts on the 80 foot route
Showing off her knot tying skills
Looking for the next handhold
Karen remembered the excitement from our climbs to the top of the cliff 7 years ago
Catherine enjoyed swinging side to side while hanging from the rope the most

The weather remained nice with bits of sun poking through, and since Dan and Karen were eager to checkout Whitehorse Ledge we headed back over to that cliff hoping the sun had dried things out a bit. We were not disappointed.

Ready to go at the Launch Pad
Dad and Daughter tackling the 1st pitch of Standard Route
Hanging out at the “Toilet Bowl” belay
Very comfortable 300 feet off the ground
It turned out that rappelling was actually the most fun part of the day

 

Heading back to the car, all smiles

It was a fantastic day with a great family that I hope to see again soon. I can’t wait to have adventures like this with my own son Alex. Keep an eye on my more personal blog, www.adventurewithalex.com, as I am sure he’ll be spending a little time at the cliff this Fall.

Private Rock Climbing, August 9th 2012

David Lottmann Rock Climbing ,

Yesterday I had the pleasure of climbing with husband and wife Eric and Elizabeth. This Pennsylvania couple was excited to get introduced to the sport with aspirations of caving and canyoneering out west in the near future. Throughout the day they had lots of good questions and were fully engaged in learning. Both were quick studies and despite a slightly late start we put in some mileage!

Whitehorse Ledge
Looking down at the first belay on Beginners Route, Whitehorse Ledge
Looking good!
Looking down Pitch 2 of Beginners Route
Erik rappelling from the top of pitch 3
On our way down
Elizabeth learning about crack climbing technique on Kiddy Crack, Cathedral Legde
Glad to have reached the top of this one!
Erik learning the power of the layback!
Elizabeth getting one more climb in on the Thin Air Face

The weather was just perfect with enough overcast to keep us relatively cool. We even tried our hand at bouldering on the way back to the car. I could tell these 2 had found a new hobby to pursue and look forward to helping them reach their climbing goals in the near future!

Square Ledge Group Climbing Program

David Lottmann Rock Climbing ,

We had a large group of kids from CT today for a day of basic rock climbing. After gearing up we headed up to Square Ledge in Pinkham Notch. These teenagers were quite supportive of each other throughout the process, helping with knots, providing solid back-up belays, and encouragement when fear of heights reared it’s head. Despite little sunshine the weather was nice and everyone got a few climbs in and a rappel.

A Day With Kismet

David Lottmann Rock Climbing ,

I try to volunteer at least 1 day a summer to the Kismet Rock Foundation. Kismet Rock Foundation (KRF) offers comprehensive courses in rock climbing and mountaineering to children who, because of financial limitations, would not otherwise have access to such an education. Today was one of the last days of a 4 year crew of 15-16 yr. old kids. They’ve attended 1 week a summer for 4 years and graduation was right around the corner.

Gearing up at the base of Cathedral Ledge
Adam stylin’ Bombardment
3 Kismet kids on Upper Refuse after we finished Black Lung
and Matt

The 4 of us climbed Bombardment to Black Lung, and finished up Upper Refuse just as it hit 91 degrees. As always climbing with these kids was a blast and I’m looking forward to squeezing another volunteer day in before the end of the season. Please check out their mission in the link above and see if you would like to support them!

After saying my goodbyes I got to check out the new decent trail Mike Jewell just told me about. Great 12 minute walk back to the bottom

New Descent Trail

Private Rock Climbing at Cathedral Ledge

David Lottmann Rock Climbing ,

Yesterday Jamie came up from the Portsmouth area for her first taste of rock climbing. An avid hiker in the White Mountains she was looking for a bit more adventure and we covered a great amount of info and terrain in our 8 hours.

Learning some knots at The Classroom
First Rappell
2nd Rappell down the Barber Wall
1st Pitch of Upper Refuse
Reaching the 1st anchor, with Echo Lake in the background
Nearing the top of Upper Refuse
Nearing the top of Upper Refuse
Almost there
The Thin Air traverse
Looking Down Pitch 3

Jamie was super motivated to become a self-suffcient climber so I pointed her to a few books and suggested a couple follow up courses to help her reach her goals. We’re sure we’ll see her on the cliffs again soon!