My Ice Climbing Adventures...

Renormalization
Lake Willoughby, VT
III 4
Mar 97

This is one of the fun moderate climbs at Willoughby, of which there aren't many. The first half is mostly 3/3+ stuff leading up to a final 4 pillar. It was very warm, probably in the 40's, and things were a little wet with a fair amount of candling. The really impressive thing about this climb is that it's right next to Mindbender, which is a VERY big chunk of ice! You can look to your left to it as you're climbing Renormalization and see nothing but this enormous pillar that just keeps going up. There was a big, overhanging block of ice at the top of Mindbender, about the size of a couple of pickup trucks. We kept watching for it to let go, but it didn't while we were there. All in all, this was an enjoyable, fairly easy climb. No broken crampons, no blizzards, no subzero temps. A nice way to end the year.

Hairpin Falls
Western Mass
II 3+
Feb 97

This was my first real lead, and it was the 4th ascent of it, too! (Whoo, Whoo) This is a new climb discovered by good old Ralph. It's about a 1000 feet of low-angle ice and snow winding up a ravine to a 3+ waterfall, followed by another 3+ waterfall, ending up at a short 3- bit wedged in a crack. The only slightly tricky part is the exit from the top of the first 3+. You have to make an awkward right turn off a bulge to go up a little gulley. If you don't plan ahead a bit, you end up in a layback with one boot up near your ear and no way to get where you want to be. I planned ahead and didn't have any problem.

There are a lot of interesting lines in this area, most of them mixed and rather sketchy. Ralph is planning on developing some of them for next year.

Dec 97 Update

I did three short routes, all mixed-thin stuff as a warmup for the season. I particularly liked (?) the one that involved a layback off the rockface to get one crampon into a thin ice curtain so you can make the final move over a bulge. Ralph just did a horrendous mixed climb, tentatively M7 grade, by doing a bunch of figure-4's. I can't even get my leg that high on the ground. The potential for mixed and thin is really good; much of it a lot harder than I'm up to. Then again, there's a lot of easy stuff, too.

The Black Dike
Mt. Cannon
IV 5-
Feb 96

This is definitely the most interesting climb I've done to date. The route is up a corner on the face of Cannon Cliff and is about 600 feet long. We started from the parking lot at 4:30AM in blizzard conditions. Fortunately, it was pitch black so I couldn't see what I was getting into. From the parking lot it's a stiff hike up steep woods and broken rock to the base of the cliff. The wind was really howling, enough that we couldn't stand up at times. Once we got to the cliff base, it was quite a long time of move three feet, huddle down until the next calm bit, and move three feet again. We reached the base of the actual climb at about 7AM. By this time, winds were 60 to 70 MPH and it was snowing heavily. I later found that the ski areas had been closed because the winds were too high!

Typically, the Dike is a half-pitch of gully leading to a mixed rock traverse. After that comes a series of 4- to 4+ pillars finishing up with a mixed stretch to the top. All of the protection is generally rather thin, as is the ice.

However, this year was anything but typical. Ice was plentiful everywhere. There was no traverse or mixed finish, just lots and lots of fairly steep but relatively thin ice. So, off we go with Ralph leading. I'm belaying halfway up this snow gully with little avalanches of snow coming down the cliff onto me. Every 5 minutes or so I had to dig out. I wait. And wait. And wait.

Turns out Ralph's right crampon broke halfway up the first pillar. Does he bail? Nooo, even though I'm doing my best to convince him to. Whips out the duct tape and keeps going. This is really amusing , particularly given what happened on 20 Below.

We climb on, during the brief intervals when the wind pauses enough to look up and swing. Ice I knock off goes UP and hits Ralph. I'm actually rather pleased by this, it's nice to be on the giving end for a change. Only one screw on the whole climb goes in more than halfway. The ice is really soft and covered with a crust about 4 inches deep. I decide right there that I'm done with ice climbing if I just make it back alive from this one.

By the final pitch, it's pouring rain. Rivers are streaming down the ice and into my boots, gloves, pack (did I mention that we're climbing with full packs?), the rope, everything. My hands are completely numb from being soaked in 32 degree water.

I finally get to the top! The rope weighs a ton, water is pouring out the tops of my boots, our packs are filled with slush and weigh 50 pounds. So, I turn to Ralph and say, "Wow! That was great! We gotta do this again!" After that, the hike down in the monsoon was a piece of cake.

Twenty Below Zero Gully
Lake Willoughby, VT
III 4+
Jan 96

This is one of the moderate classic routes. Only at Willoughby would this be called 'moderate' or a gully. Anywhere else it's a LOT of steep ice. It's also a 4 hour drive. So, up at 3AM 'cause Ralph likes to get an early start, i.e. before any sane person is awake. Drive for 2 hours. Meet Ralph. Drive for 2 hours. Get to Willoughby. It's 38 degrees and raining. We look at each other and say, let's can it. We immediately forget we said that and hike up to the climb.

20 Below is a series of steep pillars and that's about it. You climb and climb and climb, and eventually get to the top. The excitement came when Ralph was halfway up the crux pillar and his left crampon broke. Not being one to admit defeat, he screws around with a roll of duct tape and a sling and sort of gets the crampon attached to his boot. He then picks his way up this 4+ pillar using one boot for frontpointing and one for a marginal sidefoot.

I find the climbing pretty tiring, so I'm glad when we hit the top. Or what he says is the top. The problem is the exit from the top. Ralph looks around a bit and sees this tree about 5 feet out from an ice curtain, leading up to a verglas-covered rock face. He says, "This looks like a good place to get some thin ice practice." Right.

One foot on the tree. One foot on this half-inch thick curtain. Stem up that for 20 feet. Then, jump sideways and try to get a pick into a quarter-inch of ice without dying. Get the rope untangled from the damn trees. Whimper and whine a lot. Get to the trees. I swear, I don't know how trees can grow on a slope like that. Scratch up through the trees for another few hundred feet. NOW we're at the top. Jeez.

Dracula Right Side
Frankenstein Cliff
II 4/5
Feb 95

This route has the distinction of being the first (and so far, only) route that I've ever bailed off of. I gave up halfway up the last column. However, I have rationalized a reason for this. It was the morning after my aborted Huntington Ravine attempt, and I was really wiped out. I'll have to get back to this one.

Huntington Ravine
Mt. Washington
I/III 1/3
Feb 95

This is the climb that never was. The plan was to hike up to the Harvard Cabin, stay overnight, and then do some of the climbs in the ravine the next day.

For some reason, the Snowcat hadn't gone all the way up. About a mile from the cabin, we had to start postholing through waist-deep snow. This took forever and was quite tiring. After reaching the cabin, we decided to go on up to the ravine and cache some ropes and equipment so we wouldn't have to haul it up the next day. It was deep snow the whole way. We got back to the cabin well after dark, only to find no cabinkeeper, no propane for the lights, and no wood for the stove. This was really, really irritating since the cabin is supposed to be manned and we had signed up in advance.

After a miserable night, we awoke to new snow and high winds. We struggled back to the ravine and started looking around. The wind was blowing lots of snow off the top, and there were signs of avalanching in the gullies. All those little signs along the way about how x was killed in an avalanche right here tends to make you pay attention to conditions. So, after all of that effort, we beat a hasty retreat. Back at Pinkham Notch, we found out that the winds were 120 MPH and up on the summit. I was totally wiped out and could barely struggle along, so, naturally, we headed off to do Dracula.

Smear
Frankenstein Cliff
I 3/4
Mar 95 Feb 98

A short and rather easy climb. This one has the distinction of being my first lead... I seconded the 4 part and lead the 3 part. In '98, I only did the harder part and rapped off instead of finishing up the 3 part. Why? It's boring after the 4 start, the upper ice was really sun-damaged crap, and it's a long walk off. Left more time for other fun climbs.

Willey's Slide
Crawford Notch
II 2
Feb 94

This is a massive low-angled flow that's not hard, but goes on forever. It's about 6 pitches of low-angle slopes with little 4 to 8 foot bulges along the way. This one is where I picked up a trip to the ER, embarrasingly enough. A piece of ice came sailing over one of those bulges and hit me in the face. Split my lip pretty well, and put a nice gash in my chin. Blood everywhere; it was pretty impressive.

There was an intro climbing class from EMS next to me. The instructor checked me out and wanted me to bail and go get stitches. However, being a real climber, I finished the route, gaining fame for a day. I felt kind of like Hansel and Gretel, leaving a trail of little pink dots for 300 feet or so.

"Hey you must be the guy that finished that climb with a broken jaw, a concussion, and two broken arms!". Yep, that's me. Amazing how it only took two little stitches to fix all of that.

Standard Route
Frankenstein Cliff
II 3+
Mar 94 Feb 98

An easy, fun, climb; I did the right side. It's considered one of the classic moderates at Frankenstein. In '98, I did the far left side, because it was a zoo on the regular route.

Pegasus
Frankenstein Cliff
I 3/4
Mar 94 Feb 98

The crux on this one is a steep column about halfway up. I didn't think it was particularly difficult, but a few other people that were doing the route were really struggling on it. It's amazing how much easier things get with just a little improvement in technique.

In '98, I did the traverse over to the far right side and finished up with the rock exit.

Bob's Delight
Frankenstein Cliff
I 4
Mar 94

I really liked this climb. It was quick and interesting, and I got to watch Widow's Walk come crashing down. Now THAT was impressive.

Duofold
Newfound Lake
I 4
Feb 94

Not terribly memorable. The hardest part was a little stretch of overhanging candlestick stuff. The problem was getting the axe in between all the little stuff into some real ice.

The Tablets, left
Lake Willoughby, VT
II 4
Feb 94

Also known as the 'Practice Slabs'. Only at Willoughby would something like this be for practice. Of course, if you look at some of the other climbs there, you'll know why. That's after you change your pants. I've heard that many a climber has taken one look at stuff like the Promenade (IV 5+) from the car and just gone home.