Last week I got to spend 3 days with a great group of kids partaking in week long Teen Wilderness Adventure Summer Camp and finished my work week yesterday with a private Learn to Lead & Self-Rescue course with repeat client Spencer. First, some pics of these motivated kids:
T-shirt says it all!Abby enjoying the classic “Chimney”Our group on pitch 4 of Beginner’s RouteKevin’s group heading down Cormier-Magness routeTop of pitch 4 of Beginner’s RouteAbby on Kiddy Crack
Yesterday I got to head back out with Spencer. I’d climbed quite a bit of ice with Spencer at Mt. Willard, Frankenstein, and Cathedral, but we hadn’t climbed any rock yet together. Spencer had started to lead climb and wanted to work on his trad skills. We had an info packed morning session at the scenic “classroom” ledge before climbing Upper Refuse, and setting up some mock leads at the North End to round out our day. Despite questionable weather forecasts it was a perfect day!
Spencer finishes up Upper Refuse
Congrats to Travis D. who won the gear giveaway contest from my last post. He’ll be the proud new owner of an excellent harness knife by Colonial Knives!
Stay tuned tomorrow for my review on the Petzl Cordex Belay Gloves!
Yesterday I went out with 10 AMC Adventure Camp kids and a couple counselors to Square Ledge. It was your typical awesome day in the mountains:
Today I got to hang with 3 Eastern Mountain Sports Store Guides from our Manchester, NH location. All three had quite a bit of previous climbing experience so the focus was on leading skills, and therefore some self-rescue skills. We started at “The Classroom” and reviewed some anchor skills before learning belay escapes & leader rescue skills. After lunch we cruised up Upper Refuse with a focus on belay transfers & efficiency. Definitely a fun day out!
Mary works on the skills needed to escape a belayMary ascends the rope to “rescue” BillThe Manchester crew hangs out togetherMary & Matt close to the top
I’m heading out again tomorrow for another lead skills course, but I’m also itching to give away another one of these awesome Colonial Knives that I reviewed a few months ago. Stay tuned for how to enter to win one in my next post!
When you think of Cathedral Ledge moderate rock climbs what comes to mind?
You’re probably thinking of Fun House, Upper Refuse, Toe Crack, and Thin Air. Mountain Project agrees as they are the “only” classics sub 5.8. They are great routes, with long and rich history, and sometimes long lines. There are some less traveled moderates that, for a solid 5.7 leader, can provide some of the best situations & climbing anywhere on the cliff… and they never have a line!
Today Tom and I took a tour of them…
Pitch 2 of Diagonal (160 feet of the best 5.4 in New England)
Pitch 2 of Diagonal. Just keep breathing.
“Easy, but wildly exposed”- the new Handren Guidebook. I’ll challenge anyone to show me a pitch of 5.4 climbing in New England with this kind of exposure. The 160 foot dike provides good holds while the expanse of the Mordor Wall dropping off below makes it important to keep reminding yourself this is only 5.4. While it may be worthy of an “R” rating a slip any where along the pitch should result in a clean, though spectacular, fall. There are 2 pins that can lessen the run out toward the top of the pitch but they can be hard to spot. Tom didn’t see either of them and sent it anyways.
Why don’t people do it more often? Well two reasons really. For one getting to the 1st anchor is a bit of a PITA. The easiest way is to climb the first pitch of Standard Route then cross over the chimney and scramble up right to the big beautiful block with the bolted anchor. It’s only 5.6, but the step down to Toe Crack is a bit weird for both the leader and the second.
Pitch one of Standard Route, use long slings, then cross the Chimney and head for this big block!
More importantly I think it is because both old and new guidebooks call it 5.9+ R with Poison Ivy. That’s Pitch 3! We are not doing Pitch 3. We are now rapping down the Mordor Wall. A clean 120 foot rappel brings you to the Free Finale anchor (hanging station, just under an overlap), then a 160 foot rappel that ends free-hanging brings you to the ground.
Rap 120 feet to Free Finale anchor (I actually skipped the Free Finale anchor went to the Mordor Wall anchor, it would be more comfortable to stop at the Free Finale anchor instead)160 feet to the deck
After wrapping our ropes up we headed up hill to the base of another spicy but do-able moderate…
No Man’s Land (5.6R, 160 feet of face climbing goodness)
Yes, this is another “R” rated route. As Mountain Project says you should be very comfortable on 5.6 before attempting this route. That said it isn’t “that” bad. And I’m kinda-a-wuss. If on-sighting it just be sure you are solid at the grade and it is an awesome route. If you don’t want gear spoilers skip the italics:
Scramble up to the first ledge, move right so that the small tree behind you is technically your first “piece”, no need to clip it. Step right off the ledge to get on the dike. Climb 20 feet up on good holds. A green Alien or equivalent will give a marginal placement in a crack to the right. Might as well extend that draw, as this will be the biggest bend in the route. Deep breath then up and left and you’ll come to an awesome natural thread. This is the first real good gear, and to paraphrase the poster on Mountain Project “gives you that I won’t hit the ground feeling”. It’s at least 45 feet up, so it’s kind of equivalent to soloing the first pitch of Thin Air, if you know what I mean. A great horizontal comes up, BD #2, then it gets a bit necky again. A couple more small Aliens/cams can help, but there will be better gear closer to the top.
Looking down as Tom cleans the pitchLooking down the pitch
Since this ends at the Still in Saigon anchor we grabbed the second pitch of the Saigons, rapped, then hammered out the 1st pitch. Both are awesome pitches of 5.8, but this post is about sub 5.8, so moving on to the next great classic sub 5.8 route I’ll turn your attention to…
Pitch 1 of Recompense (150 feet of 5.7 cracks, corners, great holds, and another clean rap)
Corners and Cracks, Corners and Cracks, Corners and Cracks Oh My!
This route is known as an ultra classic three pitch 5.9, but the long first pitch is a worthwhile climb in its own right. A couple of the 5.7 moves feel a bit exposed but the gear is quite solid through-out, with just the management of rope drag being an issue for some. The “perfect small ledge” that the pitch ends on is one of the nicest spots to take in the view on the cliff IMO, and you finish with another steep rappel back to your packs.
When compared to places like the Gunks & Precipice we don’t seem to have a lot of moderate classic climbing on Cathedral. But a second look will more than double the amount of quality moderate climbing that can be enjoyed here. Once 5.8 & 5.9 are comfortable Cathedral really opens up, and there are some classics that haven’t been recognized as classics yet (Raising The Roof/The Liger). And fun link-ups, like Toe Crack into Thin Air, Black Lung into Final Gesture… great combos if you are really comfortable at the grade.
Any other more obscure but quality moderates (under 5.9) you enjoy on Cathedral? Don’t worry, I doubt they will get too crowded.
Occasionally guests ask me what type of training climbing guides go through to become guides. While the answer can vary dramatically from guide to guide, and company to company, I wanted to share some info about a training day last Friday at Whitehorse Ledge with EMS Climbing School Manager and AMGA Certified Rock Instructor Keith Moon and fellow EMS Guide Anne Parameter (also AMGA CRI) brushing up on guiding skills as part of EMS Schools commitment to professional development. The day was jam packed with information as we worked on techniques to give our guests the best possible days out climbing with us. Some of the skills I personally improved upon:
Quick Belay Transitions to Lowers; In order to give our guests more value in their climbing days it is often beneficial to lower a climber after they have topped out rather than convert everyone to a rappel. With some handy pre-rigging skills a guide can quickly lower a guest back to the deck and be rappelling seconds after the guest is back on the ground ready to move on to the next climb. I especially liked learning a better way of “tricking” my ATC Guide into a re-directed lower that did not involve opening the rope or anchor carabiners.
45 Minute Rescue Drill; This exercise in problem solving and conceptualization requires a solid understanding of belay escapes, tension release-able systems, 3:1, 5:1, 6:1 hauling systems, counter balance rappels, and improvised work-arounds. Being able to work through this scenario in 45 minutes (which seems like a lot of time… it isn’t) is a good test of how well one understands these concepts and can use them to fix any number of problems one can run into in the vertical world.
Quick Transitions from 5th Class Belaying to 4th Class Scrambling; Most multi-pitch guiding occurs in a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio, and being able to put a rope (or two) away and still provide top-belayed security for guests while scrambling up the last 400 feet of easy 5th class terrain can save an hour or more in a guiding day, allowing for more climbing for everyone involved. While practicing this I also got to climb a Whitehorse Slab route I have never finished, the aptly named “Beginner’s Route”, so it was nice to do something different.
The summit slabs of Whitehorse Ledge, Cathedral Ledge and Humphrey’s in the background
Short-roping transitions; There are some circuits on the backside of Whitehorse that provide some excellent 3rd & 4th class terrain to practice this skill. Short-roping, to short lowers, to belayed down climbing, and back up again. While these skills are a must for aspiring Alpine Guides they come in handy in quite a few spots around here, and with practice a party can move as fast as an un-roped party but with markedly better protection.
Anne lowers Keith while short-roping in 4th class terrain
This 2:1 training event was a bit new considering we usually schedule some larger group training events but the benefits were clear. If Anne or I had a question or wanted to practice a skill over again there was no hesitation to “go over it again”, something group training exercises might impede.
I hope this brief recap sheds a little light on that question “What type of training do guides do to become guides?” After 10 years of guiding for EMS Schools it really is clear the learning never stops!
Dillan and Cole have been putting in time in the climbing gym and chomping at the bit to get climbing outside. To that end they joined me for a 2 Day Private Rock Climbing course that ended today. It was my first rock guiding days of the season and the motivation was high all around. We covered a ton of info in just two days and I could tell they were hungry for more when they left. Here’s a brief recap of our two days:
Yesterday, 8:30AM
We met at EMS North Conway and after getting acquainted headed out to Cathedral Ledge. We drove to the top and spent a little time at “The Classroom” learning about traditional protection, anchoring, and rappelling.
Cole’s first rappelDillan’s first rappel
After a short practice rappel we made our way down to the Barber Wall and rappelled down Laytons Ascent/Chicken Delight.
Layton’s Ascent being descendedCole rappels
We then short-roped over to the classic Upper Refuse.
Top of the first pitch of Upper RefuseDillan finishing Upper RefuseCole looking relaxed
4 short pitches up that had us on top at noon, where we enjoyed lunch on top of Airation Buttress.
Family shot
We then headed down to The North End and learned a little about threading a sport anchor in preparation for lowering or cleaning a sport lead. We then worked on our crack climbing skills on Child’s Play and Kiddy Crack.
Working on crack climbing skills on Kiddy Crack
Back at the shop we reviewed some of the skills we had covered before calling it a day.
Today:
We drove up to Pinkham Notch and hiked up to Square Ledge. The focus was on building quality top-rope anchors but we also wanted to get some climbing in.
Learning the bowlineStill snow on that hillContemplating “The Brain”Attentive belayingWorking “The Nose”West Face multi-pitch practiceDillan closing in on the anchorChillin’ with a view
Couldn’t have asked for a better start to the rock season. These guys were 100% engaged in the learning process, asking questions, practicing skills, buying helmets! Seriously days like this remind me how lucky I am to be a climbing guide. I look forward to working with Cole and Dillan again… it’s obvious they have the climbing bug and I am sure I’ll see them in the mountains again!
BTW, 4 more days left to enter to win a sweet climbing knife! Details here!
Early in the morning this past Friday 8 participants met at Eastern Mountain Sports in North Conway to meet fellow AIARE Instructor Keith Moon and I to prepare for our 3 day adventure. After organizing our gear we made our way to the base of the Mount Washington Auto Road where Director of Education for the MWOBS, Michelle Cruz, welcomed the group and gave a short orientation.
Michelle welcomes and briefs the group
Long time snow-cat operator and charismatic local Slim Bryant meets the group and gives them some last minute information about the snow-cat operating procedures.
During our ascent EMS Schools Guide Keith Moon took advantage of the improving visibility to point out various landmarks and explain some of the reasons Mount Washington has such interesting topography, weather, and flora.
Conversations about this unique trip made the first part of the ascent go by fast!
Five miles up the road deep snow drifts required quite a bit of plowing so Slim suggested we take advantage of the warm comfortable weather and stretch our legs while he assaulted the drifts with a lot of back & forth plowing.
Walking beats motion sickness!Great weather!
We arrived at the summit just before 11am and started class after a quick safety tour and lunch. Class was held in the conference room until a 6pm social hour followed by a delicious turkey dinner prepared by the Observatory volunteers, John & Gates.
Thank you John & Gates!
The next morning the Higher Summits forecast called for sustained winds over 70, with gusts up to 110mph (it actually hit 118mph). Despite being “house-bound” the extra time to cover topics & info in greater detail was welcome, as the group stayed engaged and inquisitive through-out the demanding classroom day. I think the highlight for many was when we stepped out onto the observation deck after lunch to see what all the hype was about:
iPhone video uploaded to PC “upside down”. Will need to find a fix before I embed it. 🙁
That evening we enjoyed a tour of the Weather Room from the very accommodating and informative Education Specialist Kaitlyn O’Brian. Despite having attended this tour in one form or another a dozen times over the last 10 years I still had questions and Kaitlyn was quick to answer and increase my understanding of what makes Mt. Washington such a remarkable place!
Weather Room tour after dinner on Day 2
After the tour we all suited up and climbed the observation tower to visit the parapet, technically 30+ feet above the summit of Mount Washington, participants reveled in the opportunity to climb up and hold on while they felt the incoming high pressure system from Canada challenge their grip (Winds were 60-70mph at this time, down from 90mph during our Observation Deck venture)
(Asking participants for a photo or video from this time as I was busy using participants camera’s to catch anything with mine)
The next morning volunteers John & Gates treated us to a hearty breakfast of ham, eggs, and hashed potatoes before we packed our gear and met in the conference room for a trip planning session.
Gather info, form an opinion, converse, make a plan, execute!
We settled on a descent of the East Snowfields followed by a long traverse over to the Gulf of Slides.
My Trip Plan
Around 0930 we bid farewell and thanks to the summit crew and volunteers who had been so accommodating to us during our stay and ventured out into 60+ mph northwest winds. The short distance we needed to travel to make it to the more sheltered East Snowfields will definitely be a memorable moment (especially for those who had snowboards in our group). Once we dropped 200 feet onto the East Snowfields though conditions were quite appealing.
Pavan ready to put some turns in near the top of the East SnowfieldsThe group discusses some terrain optionsLooking back up the East Snowfields with Allyson & Tod taking a quick break. Slope info is captured thanks to Theodolite iPhone App!
At the bottom of the East Snowfields we intersected with the Lionshead Trail and switched back to touring mode to make our way towards Boot Spur & Gulf of Slides.
Long contouring traverse (2 of these words are not snowboarders favorite things)Brendan crosses above Tuckerman RavinePatrick is all smiles!
We got a great view looking back at our home for the last couple days… see all the ants climbing up Lobster Claw Gully?
Nice view of the summit cone I don’t often experienceA zoomed in shot of Lobster Claw Gully
While we crossed Bigelow Lawn the views on all sides were amazing. I especially liked looking over at Franconia Ridge:
Franconia Ridge and Mount Lafeyette
Visibility was over 120 miles as we could make out Mount Mansfield in Vermont! A nice wind-roll above Gulf of Slides offered a quick photo op for the Swanson father & son team!
Bluebird#familyadventure!
We dropped into the snowfields of Gulf of Slides and had some great turns before stopping to learn a bit more about snow-pack observations.
After checking how deep the recent rain & warmth had penetrated we practiced layer ID, Hand Hardness, and Compression Tests, then traversed our way into the Main GoS gully. A fun run down brought us to a busy Pinkham Notch parking lot, and we gathered at a picnic table to debrief our experience and figure out how to move forward with our new found knowledge.
Ultimately this course was a huge success and a great wrap up to an amazing winter.
To the 8 participants in this first of its kind AIARE course… Thank you! Your contributions through-out the course were much appreciated, and we look forward to implementing changes for next season based on your forthcoming feedback!
To the gracious staff of the Mount Washington Observatory… THANK YOU! Your support allowed us to provide one of the most experiential and educational experiences in avalanche education I have ever been a part of. We could not have done it without your help and are incredibly grateful!
And to my regular readers, thank you for following this blog. I plan to fill the next few “quiet” weeks with quite a bit gear reviews of extensively tested gear from this season. Over the next couple weeks there will be detailed reviews on;
Ortovox Avalanche Beacons (3 different models)
Black Diamond Snow Saws
BCA Beacons (2 models)
EMS & Black Diamond higher-end clothing
And much more… so… if you’ve read this far why not subscribe? It’s right up there at the top right… or like NEAlpineStart on Facebook.
To winter 2014/15, thank you! That was awesome. To Spring/Summer/Fall rock climbing season…. LET’S DO THIS!
The equinox has come and gone and other than a bit more daylight to play in I haven’t noticed much of a difference! Yesterday was one of the coldest days I’ve had this season as we concluded another AIARE 1 Avalanche Course but first lets talk about how awesome the ice climbing conditions are!
Last Thursday, March 19th, I took former AIARE 1 student Kurt out for a day of Private Ice Climbing instruction. Kurt had a couple seasons under his belt (or harness) but wanted to get a jump start on his skill set. We headed out to Frankenstein and covered quite a bit of ground and information in a very fun filled day!
We started with a very big & blue Standard Route (Grade 3, 350 feet).
Standard Route at Frankenstein Cliffs
Despite it being a little bit of a PITA stopping in the cave I choose to do so as I think every first timer should see this cool feature. Experienced climbers who have seen it can greatly increase communication by skipping this feature and combining pitch 1 & 2 in a long 190 foot pitch.
Being first on route we see other climbers queuing up for a busy dayWrapping up pitch 2 of Standard
We topped out around 11:30 and made our way back down to the tracks for some lunch, then headed over to the Amphitheater. There Bob’s Delight, (Grade 3+ 100 feet) was still in great shape, though a little soft. After I led the route I lowered off and Kurt took a top-rope lap on it so we could focus on efficiency & technique.
Bob’s Delight
One more run up it to clean the anchor and I grabbed a shot of Kurt finishing the route.
Bluebird day!
We had just enough time to squeeze in one more route so we hopped over to Cave Route, and finished on that 75 foot Grade 3. Definitely a fun day out I look forward to climbing with Kurt again soon!
The next day began a full AIARE 1 Avalanche Course that ended yesterday. As is becoming custom this winter we had perfect conditions for the course, despite yesterday’s field day being quite arctic we still learned a lot and enjoyed some fresh powder in the Cutler River!
Making some snow pack observations below Hillmans HighwayDebriefing our Tour DayMy field notes from the day
Despite air temps far below 0 and even colder wind chills we had a really good day up there. Today I’ve spent catching up on errands while preparing for an AIARE 2 Course that starts tomorrow.
While the calendar may say Spring I am certainly still in a winter mindset!
It’s been a fun filled 4 days with two ascents of Mount Washington, a multi-pitch ice climbing day at Willard, and a half-day of ice climbing with the excellent kids of Brooks School from North Andover, MA at the North End of Cathedral. Winter is in full swing and I have a day off tomorrow to attend to the less exciting things in life like laundry & dump runs but I’m looking forward to some multi-pitch ice on Thursday and a booked avalanche course for Sat-Sun-Mon.
Lately every day brings another couple inches of snow to Washington and we have an excellent outdoor classroom to run a course right now. Given the latest headline news of a couple young US Ski Team hopefuls (one quite local) losing their lives in an avalanche last week in Austria and another recent fatality in Silverton, CO I’ve been thinking a lot about the White Mountain Avalanche Fund set up by the US Forest Service and how I might be able to liaison between EMS Schools and this fund to get some potential “at-risk” high-school students into an AIARE 1 course next winter. Juniors & Seniors at high-schools with strong ski teams are the most likely to be entering avalanche terrain soon after High School and establishing some solid decision making skills at this critical age could hopefully help prevent some of these tragedy’s in the future.
EMS Schools Management is behind the idea so my next step is to find point of contacts at regional high-schools with strong ski programs. Kennett & Fryeburg Acadamy are most local, but the abundance of private high-schools with great ski programs in NH is quite long, and it will take some research to make sure the right people are aware of this educational, potentially life saving, opportunity. My goal right now is to have at-least 1 AIARE Course next winter comprised of 12 high-school students most likely to ski in avalanche terrain in the years following their graduations.
So far this year we have had 4 in country avalanche fatalities, plus the 2 out of county, compared to 5 in country this time last year. The more sobering statistic is we had 35 fatalities last season… there is a lot of winter left! If anyone reading this has the names or email addresses of High School Ski Program Directors in NH/ME/VT please let me know, this recent tragedy can be turned into a catalyst of preventive education if we can connect the right people to the right resources…
See you in the mountains,
NEAlpineStart
P.S. Contest running until 1/31/15 for two brand new ice screws. Simple to enter. Like North East Alpine Start on Facebook for 1 entry, follow/subscribe to this blog for a second entry (link is top right). Winner announced on 2/2/15.
Yesterday concluded our first AIARE 1 Avalanche Course of the season and conditions were great for such an early season course! Two EMS Schools New Paltz, NY guides and one of our North Conway guides joined 8 other aspirant back-country travelers to learn about decision making and risk management in avalanche terrain.
Beacon Range Check at the AMC Highland CenterExamining some Surface Hoar while on our Observational OutingDo you know how this is formed and why it is important in relation to avalanche safety?Team Orange conducts a trip planning session in the pack room of Pinkham Notch Visitor Center the morning of the tour dayTeam Black & Blue checks the updated avalanche bulletinSuccessfully skinning up from Hermit Lake into Tuckerman RavineThe skier group converses at the first aid cache before entering consequential terrain to make sure they are all still on the same page and to update their observationsTeam Orange is high up in the Sluice below the cliff band, you may need to zoom in to spot themTeam Black & Blue spreads out while crossing the lower center bowlTeam Orange visible just to the left of Right Gully while we make our way over towards The ChuteAll smiles during our run down the Sherburne Ski Trail at the end of the dayMy field notes from Day 3… I wish I had better handwriting skillz
What a treat it was to be able to skin all the way into the bowl so early in the season. The Sherbi was in pretty “fast” conditions and is definitely, as I noted in my book, in need of some love. Unfortunately Santa must have thought skiers where a pretty naughty bunch this year as he’s having his friend Mother Nature deliver us a hefty dose of our least favorite precipitation, rain. Personally I would prefer coal but what can you do. Let’s hope to bring in the New Year with some copious amounts of new snow!
To the 11 engaged participants of this first avalanche course of the season, thank you for making this a fun and productive 3 days. See you in the mountains!
The Mount Washington Avalanche Center issued it’s initial General Advisory for the 2014/15 season a few days ago on December 6th. The current Winter Storm Warning has prompted an update today. Monday also saw the first reported human triggered avalanche of the season;
“A climber was descending Yale Gully when he triggered a small avalanche below him. He later triggered another small pocket at the top of the fan which took him off his feet.” -MWAC
Here is a shot one of the USFS Rangers took last Friday of Yale:
Yale Gully- photo courtesy of MWAC
Not much snow up there right? Early season snow packs can be deceiving. The final words of an avalanche bulletin, even a general advisory, can carry some important clues;
“Don’t let the lack of a danger rating lull you into complacency. Traveling through small snowfields can put you into or underneath unstable snow, and all of these pockets are going to be subjected to additional load over the course of the next few days.”- Jeff Lane, Snow Ranger
UPDATE 12/10/14: Please see additional information from this incident with a first hand account of what happened here.
Have you put fresh batteries in your beacon yet? Now is a great time to get outside with you partners and run through some rescue drills. Remember it’s the people you tour with that will give you the best chance of surviving a mistake!
Also, if you have procrastinated signing up for an avalanche course you might want to do so today. Out of 7 scheduled courses we are already sold out of seats for 4. That leaves only 3 courses to chose from and it is not even Christmas yet! Go here to find out more and sign up!
