Month: August 2012

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!