To start my winter guiding season off I got to climb with Andrew, Jeff, and Caleb during the last two days in our “Ice Climbing Fast Track” program. Andrew had taken an avalanche course with us last winter and having ticked off a bunch of winter ascents around the White Mountains was ready to try something a bit more technical. Jeff and Caleb had some solid multi-pitch rock climbing experience from a few years ago but were relatively new to the ice climbing scene.
Mother Nature joined us yesterday bringing a size-able snow storm that dumped almost a foot of snow in the valley and kept us in full winter conditions though-out the day. I chose the Walk in the Forest area of Frankenstein to give us some shelter from the winds that day.
Hiking up to the climbing area…Practicing ice axe placement…Caleb nears the topCaleb checks out the strength of a V-threadJeff eyes the steeper line…
Day 2 dawned clear, sunny, and much less windy. We set our sights on Standard Route at Frankenstein, and found the right side in good early season condition.
Andrew nears the top of pitch 1Caleb almost to the cave on Standard RouteA slightly crowded cave…
We continued up to the top following the less traveled right variation and enjoyed a short rappel during our descent. It was a fine two day start to the season, with a good group of guys, good early season ice, and good weather. Tomorrow brings the first avalanche course of the season and we have quite a bit of snow on the ground compared to last year. I couldn’t be more psyched!
Season’s Greetings! The snow is still coming down and I have over 6 inches in my yard so it is high time I get my pre-season email out to you all! I wanted to take a quick moment to connect with you on some exciting news regarding EMS Schools Avalanche Program this season. Please read on!
1) Guide Training– We have 4 guides heading out to Steven’s Pass in Washington state for an AIARE Instructor Training Course early this January. This commitment to training will help us offer more high quality avalanche courses to more people around New England and solidifies EMS Schools as the largest Avalanche Course provider in the East!
2) New Website– We’ve done a lot of work on our Schools website so stop by to see if we’re offering a program that might help you reach your goals this winter. We’ve grown our ski programs to include ski touring as well as back-country courses, but the greatest new addition is the ability to reserve a course right on the website! Just click on “Check Dates/Availability” and you can book just about everything without picking up the phone!
3) Join us for the Day 3 Ski Tour of a Level 1 AIARE Course! If you’ve taken a Level 1 in the last 3 years with us you can join us for the Day 3 Ski Tour day if there is space available! This is an excellent way to refresh your back-country skills gained from your recent avalanche course. We must keep our ratios to 7:1 to stay within AIARE standards, and precedence will be given to full course students (i.e. people taking the full 3 day course), however we often have a spot available. So basically check out our scheduled courses here. If you want to join us for Day 3 on one of these courses give us a call at 800-310-4504. We’ll get you on the wait list, and notify you as many days in advance as possible if there is a spot for you. We can lock the spot 3 days before the course starts to give you plenty of time to finalize travel arrangements…
The cost is only $120! You’ll be responsible for gear rentals, travel expenses, and refreshing your back-country brain by looking over your student manual (I know you’ve worn those pages out by now). We are very excited about offering this new service!
4) New Mount Washington Avalanche Center website. Check it out here. Bookmark it. Read it often. Find them on Facebook and like them there. Should be moving into the 5-Scale Avalanche Danger Rating soon!
5) Gear! We’ve got our biggest selection of beacons and avalanche gear ever this winter! With the current sale you can score a beacon at 20% off and get it in time for Christmas. Is the wife or hubby still looking for something for you? EMS has also made two excellent winter packs this season that I am excited about.
The EMS Prez Backpack is the first technical pack from EMS in a few years that I’ve really wanted to use for winter guiding. I wrote a review for it here.
The EMS Wintergreen Pack is a great back-country ski pack, and I’ll be testing it out in Stevens Pass, Washington in early January. Review forthcoming, but from checking it out at home I know I’m going to like it!
That’s it for now. Dust off your beacons (fresh batteries please), drop some wax on those skis, grab a buddy and get into the mountains. Winter is finally here!
It’s been a few years since Eastern Mountain Sports produced a backpack I would use for guiding ice, mountaineering, and back-county skiing in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The EMS Arete & Pillar packs from 2006 were the last technical packs EMS made that met my needs, and the last few years I have pretty much stuck to my Wild Things Guide Pack for ice climbing and a Backcountry Access Alp 40 for mountaineering and back-country skiing. Despite contributing to the design of this pack during a meeting with Product Managers last year I had some trepidation after hearing I would get to test the pack, starting with a photo shoot on the summit of Mount Washington, and then through-out the winter guiding season.
My first look at the pack was during a staff meeting a couple weeks ago. As we passed it around the room most guides nodded in approval as they explored it’s various features. While I originally intended to submit a video review of the pack EMS Marketing has already produced a great video showing many of the pack’s features. Check it out here!
Instead of hitting on every feature of the pack I’ll just point out some of my favorites;
1) First off, the color. While color may only be cosmetic to some, being highly visible in the white out conditions we spend so much time in on Mount Washington is key. This bright yellow is a welcome change from the more muted colors of previous similar styles.
On a day like this bright colors aren’t as important, but how often is it this nice on the summit cone of Washington?
2) Comfort. The compression molded back panel is exactly what I like in a winter pack. While meshy ventilated packs are great in the summer I find they accumulate way to much frozen H20 in the snowy months. With the lightweight plastic frame inside and removable bivy pad you can load this up with 30+ lbs of climbing gear and not feel carabiner’s and ice screws digging into your back on the approach. There is a removable aluminum stay, which I left in, but I did remove this weird “coat hanger” metal piece that seemed unnecessary. Removing it improved the ability to look straight up while helmeted. This piece is visible at on the table at .26 to .28 in the video.
3) Convenience. This pack is loaded with convenience. The “loopless” ice axe attachments accept my mountaineering straight axe as easily as my more radical ice climbing tools with ease. So much better than ice axe loop attachments I hope this design change continues to appear on any packs designed for winter use. The crampon pouch is another favorite. While I used to endorse the more minimalist strap on approach this pouch is well thought out. Drain holes for melting snow, quick buckle tightening system with a handy release pull… I’ve noticed using a pouch is not only faster than the strap on method but provides a bit more confidence that my crampons will still be where I put them after 1000 feet of glissading. A built in bivy pad, removable top pocket, quality fabric… everything I like to see in a serious alpine pack… I am quite stoked to put this pack through the ringer this winter and if you’re in need of a new winter pack I’d suggest you take a look at this one. I’m hoping it, or something equivalent, stays in the EMS line indefinitely!
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.
Today I attended the 2nd annual ESAW organized by Christopher Joosen, USFS Lead Snow Ranger of the Mount Washington Avalanche Center. Building upon last year’s successful event Chris organized professionals from the avalanche industry from around the country and Canada to give enlightening presentations all geared towards sharing information and promoting new ideas in the ever evolving field of snow science.
John Fuller Gymnasium
I counted around 90 in attendance with many familiar faces from various Search & Rescue groups, a few former students, some former colleagues as well as some local guides.
The day was packed with information, starting with a science heavy “Art & Science of Snow Penetrometry” by Eric Lutz of the Datmouth-Glaciology Research Group. Eric led us through a brief journey of the invention, and evolution, of snow based penetrometer’s. If you don’t know what that is, it’s simply a very complicated, and beautifully engineered fancy stick that you poke into the snow to measure multiple layers of density.
Then Julie LeBlanc of the Haute-Gaspesie Avalanche Center gave a visually enticing look at the Chic Choc Mountains of Quebec and the relatively new avalanche safety programs developed there.When she flashed the new guidebook to the region quite a few were dismayed as there is no English version of the book… yet. I’ve had quite few students head to this region, only a 11 or so hour drive from here, so it’s time I brush up on my French and start planning a trip up there!
After a short break Chris moderated a round table discussion concerning wet snow avalanches, with Blase Reardon (USFS Sawtooth National Forest Forecaster), Sam Colebeck (U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory a.k.a. The Man of Snow*), and Brian Johnston (USFS MWAC Snow Ranger). In an interesting format these three, along with occasional audience interaction, discussed the potential reasons behind snow science being seemingly behind in its knowledge of wet snow avalanches when compared to how much research and understanding is given towards drier snow avalanches. While skeptical of a public round table of sorts the conversation flowed naturally and I think we all refined our thoughts on the tendencies of wet snow.
Before breaking for lunch we had a series of “short sessions” including Jeff Lane (USFS Snow Ranger) giving an overview of weather and snow related research projects in the Northeast. Jim Gilinto of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, returned this year with a presentation similar to his last year on the effects of Hurricane Irene in the Adirondacks (they doubled their avalanche terrain in that storm).
Blase Reardon gave a great, and often comical, look into his local Sawtooth Avalanche Center Operations, and Eric Lutz sold me on the educational value of using a “tilt” board. I would ask for one for Christmas if I could, but I have a friend who I am hoping would love to help me make one!
After lunch we enjoyed the following presentation by Blase, which was as well presented with just the right comic relief as his first.
Journey to the Inner Mind: How an Avalanche Forecaster Thinks About Avalanche Safety
AMGA/IFMGA Guide Jessie Williams, of Cloudsplitter Mountain Guides, gave an informative talk titled “Avalanche Terrain of the Adirondacks: A Guide’s Methodology for Hazard Recognition & Avoidance”. Along with many great analogies I walked away with a much better picture of the terrain over in the Dack’s.
Then Sam Colbeck, aka The Man of Snow*, apologized that he was going to give his same talk from the previous year simply titled “Snow Physics and Avalanches”. I was thrilled! Last year I think I grasped about 40% of everything he eloquently presented. Due to repetition this year I feel like I have a solid hold on about 65% of it. If I could listen to this great talk one more time I am certain I would achieve a passing score! Seriously, I’m certain only a very small group of people in the world have the level of understanding of snow that this man does, and it is always great hearing him talk!
Last up was my good friend Jeff Lane (USFS Snow Ranger), who shared recent developments in avalanche safety equipment with us along with a call to arms to keep manufacturers on their toes by encouraging them to continue designing life saving device with one goal in mind, saving lives. I couldn’t agree more, I really don’t need my beacon to act as anything but a beacon. That’s what my iPhone is for…
As is custom, we moved over to IME for a social hour to mingle, check out some vendor tables, and continue the sharing of ideas.
Social Hour
This event is an excellent kick-off to the season as it gets my mind back in avalanche mode. 6 months is a long time not to be thinking about avalanches, and since I can’t put it any better I’ll quote Christopher Joosen:
“We will always have lots to learn about snow, avalanches, and the natural world so we should never feel done, finished, or static about our need for higher education. There are no experts, we are all students.”
I’ll be heading out to Steven’s Pass in Washington State in early January for some formal training, but I most look forward to the 9 avalanche courses I’ll be teaching this winter. I learn so much from my students engaging questions and weekly trips into the field each winter, and I’m sure this one will be no different.
Well… I hope it’s a little different than last winter. Let’s get some snow!
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!
When the leaves start to fall the guiding season winds down… until the snow flies! I’ve had plenty of time to hike with my son Alex, and have enjoyed sharing his adventures on my other blog, http://www.adventurewithalex.com.
Many months ago at a Flatbread Fundraiser I offered my Land Navigation Course as an auction item to support Mountain Rescue Service, of which I am a volunteer. Janis, of New London, NH placed the winning bid, and after some correspondence we choose today for the course. This morning she and 3 hiking companions joined me for some pretty heavy morning classroom, followed by a beautiful field trip in the Green Hills Preserve.
Some field exercises near the summit of Black CapWhere am I?
All four of these women had ample hiking experience, much in the winter, and all had entertaining stories of close calls or mini-epics when confused and turned around in the wilderness, from Vermont to Alaska!
Land Navigation continues to be an oft neglected skill that I hope those who spend time in wild places continue to seek out. It’s a thrilling experience getting “lost” in the wilderness, but even more exciting finding your way back out again with more than simple “dead reckoning”.
In these structured 8 hour courses I try to convey the essential map & compass skills in as simple and easy to remember ways as I can… and for the most part I am successful However it is always up to the student to practice their craft after leaving the structure of the course, and I was happy to see the eagerness of all 4 women to return home and hone these newly discovered (or revisited) natural skills.
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.
