2-24-09? Ice Climbing w/ Steve, Chris, Lena
ice climbing
2-15-09 Beginner Ice Climbing Course
Well I finally found a solution for my technical difficulties but I had to rebuild my entire photo library. Sorry for the delay and lack of commentary but I just want to get these all posted for you all. Hope everyone is doing well and enjoys reliving these days!
2-13-09 2 Day Mountaineering Course
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!
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…
Here’s a couple shot videos of the action!
Above tree-line I am expecting some strong winds, as most parties ahead of us have turned around and headed down…
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;
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!
2-10-09 Day off, let’s go for a walk in the wilderness…
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…
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…
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!
2-07-09 Beginner Ice Climbing Course
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”.
After a few minutes of walking on the unplowed road we reached the North End and started to gear up.
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!