Issac, age 14, and Alex, age 25, joined me today for their first outdoor climbing adventure. These two had been practicing indoor wall climbing for awhile and had both been on some adventures from Alaska to Bolivia already. We headed to nearby Whitehorse Ledge to introduce them to the fundamentals of multi-pitch rock climbing.
We climbed about 600 feet up to Lunch Ledge via Standard Route (via Quartz Pocket), then rappelled and made our way over to Beelzebub Corner for some afternoon top-roping and a visit from a pretty good sized Porcepine.
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These guys were quick studies and I look forward to our next climb together!
This weekend I got to spend two days out on the rock with some great guys as they learned the basics of rock climbing. Saturday was forecasted a bit hot in the valley so Jeff, Carl, Will and I headed up to Square Ledge in Pinkham Notch to take advantage of the higher elevation and cooler temps. After learning how to tie-in and belay everyone got multiple top-rope laps on the West Face, then a full ascent of the West face followed by Top-Rope laps on The Chimney and The Brain. We finished the day with a rappell down the West Face.
Unfortunately I lost most the photos from the day when uploading from a new device due to user error. Sorry guys! Only one I salvaged from the day is Jeff on “The Brain”
Jeff on “The Brain”
Day 2 brought us to Whitehorse Ledge where an early start saw us topping out Standard Direct by 11:30am. We hiked over to the South Buttress and rappelled down Cold Day in Hell, then went over to Cathedral for a lap on Kiddy Crack to round out the day.
Whitehorse LedgeAt the pinch belay on Standard RouteClimbing the Arch, with Echo Lake in the background
If you don’t work for EMS you probably don’t know what the Climbing Convergence is. Technically, it’s staff training, but “staff training” does not begin to describe 160 employees from 60+ stores getting together in the heart of the White Mountains for 2 full days of climbing, clinics, training, hiking, cook-outs, camping, bonfires, slacking, and stuffing pockets with swag while perusing a vendor village.
Tent City at Great Glen, at the base of the Mount Washington Auto Road
My part in the event was limited to one day at Cathedral Ledge, but it was enough to sense the kind of camaraderie folks who work for EMS share.
Ethan and Sara setting up at “the classroom”One of the anchor clinics I taught during the day- Photo by Dave Karl of http://www.skyambitions.comKeith and Ethan teaching belay escapes and some self-rescue skills…Anyone know what kind of snake this is?Lunch break at the base of the cliffKeith being Keith
It is very cool to work with a company that takes authentic training like this so seriously. Sometimes I don’t think my own family understands. We LOVE what we do. It’s not just “retail”. It’s sharing a lifestyle, a healthy lifestyle, with our customers. Climbing, hiking, kayaking, biking, ice climbing, backcountry skiing… these are the sports we represent, and these are our own personal passions. And our company puts events like this together to help us outfit our customers so they can enjoy these pursuits as much as we do… It just doesn’t get any better!
A good friend called me a couple weeks ago to see if I could take a close friend of his family climbing who was visiting from down South. I agreed to introduce Mackenzie to some of the fine multi-pitch trad we have in the valley and had a long list of routes I figured we could cruise in good time. Mother Nature decided to crank up the heat though, and with the mercury pushing triple digits it took all we had to get in one climb. I have never felt the black rock on Cathedral as hot as it was today. Some holds were so hot to the touch you could not keep your hands on them for but a few seconds. Scorcher, for sure. We were off the cliff by 11am and I was off to the river for the rest of the day with the pooch.
Fellow Mount Washington Observatory supporter and friend Ed O’Malley joined me for a half day of climbing on Cathedral Ledge this past Friday. Rain and other work commitments have kept me inside for the last few weeks so I was very glad to get out and enjoy the day.
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Speaking of the Mount Washington Observatory their annual fundraiser is coming up very soon, and I am very behind in my fundraising efforts. Please take a moment to visit my fundraising site and consider helping me help such a great organization!
