This past Wednesday Oliver returned for some more preparation before his Yosemite trip next month. We started the day with a full length route up Whitehorse via Standard Route (1080ft, 9 pitches, 5.7).
Lots of options!
65 degrees, sunny, light breeze… perfect climbing weather… and we had the whole cliff to ourselves all morning! We quickly climbed up to the Crystal Pocket.
Oliver with Cathedral Ledge in the background
After a quick snack on Lunch Ledge I decided to climb the original “Brown Spot” 5.5 variation since I always take the Slabs Direct 5.7 variation. I quickly discovered why I never take this variation. The bolt protecting the move is one of the nastiest old 1/4 inches I’ve ever seen. The climbing itself doesn’t feel any more secure than the 5.7 variation. I stopped a little higher on the next ramp to belay to keep the rope drag down, and while I thought replacing the bolt might be a good community service I think it’s probably better to just stick to the direct finish. It’s MUCH nicer in every possible way.
Oliver cruising the upper slabsMount Washington clear & crisp in the background
It was only 12:30 so we ate some lunch and made our way down the hiking trail. Oliver was interested in going over some of the various anchor strategies we used on this climb so we drove over to The North End of Cathedral Ledge. There we spent a half hour or so going over some new and old techniques of constructing anchors. To wrap up our day we took a quick spin on Child’s Play, the fun 5.6 crack climb, then headed back to the shop.
Oliver’s got a couple more days planned with me this Fall before his Yosemite trip and is getting a few training days in at the tres-new Salt Pump Climbing Co. gym that recently opened in Scarborough, ME. If you are Downeast you should definitely check this amazing climbing gym out!
It has been a couple of decades since Oliver has tied into a climbing rope, but to paraphrase a well known military adage; “Once a climber, always a climber”.
I discovered in the first few minutes of meeting Oliver that his list of adventures was long. From a NOLS course in the Cascades back in the 70’s (yes before I was born), to exploits in Yosemite while dirt-bagging at Camp 4 for weeks on end, to sky-diving, to scary leads in his first pair of EB’s, the conversations through-out the day would be as entertaining as the climbing.
While a professional career had put climbing on the back-burner for quite some time that burner stayed lit, and now, for his 65th birthday, his wife is sending him back to Yosemite this Fall for a week of reminiscent adventure. Oliver figured it would be beneficial to get a bit of training in before his trip to Yosemite, so he came to EMS Schools for a bit of refreshing.
After sorting our gear we made our way over to Whitehorse Ledge. The first few pitches of Cormier-Magness provided the perfect “Oh ya I remember how to do this” type terrain as we quickly dispatched 3 pitches.
The famous Whitehorse Ledge SlabsSecond pitch of Cormier-Magness, the classic “Wheat Thin Arete”Echo Lake and Cranmore Ski Mountain in the background
After the 3rd pitch we practiced descending with 3 double rope rappels back to the shaded ground. A quick drive over to Cathedral had us eating lunch after looking at Whitehorse from a different vantage.
Whitehorse Ledge
After lunch we rapped the Barber Wall and headed over to Upper Refuse.
That back-burner flame is fully lit now!Cruising the first pitchAnd the 3rd pitch
We topped out right around 3pm, and started making plans for a couple more sessions before the Yosemite trip.
Thanks for the panorama Joe!
Every day I work in the mountains is rewarding, but I’d be lying if some didn’t stand out as a bit more rewarding than others. Watching Oliver reconnect to something that has always been a part of his life since his college days was very special, and I’m really looking forward to our next day together, which happens to be next week!
Thanks for reading, and as always if you like to you can follow NEAlpineStart at the top right of the blog. I have a lot of gear reviews coming up this Fall, along with some great foliage climbing!
In 20 years of climbing I have only recently started carrying belay gloves with me on a regular basis. When I first started climbing it seemed like an unnecessary extra item. My hands could handle a little rope burn from time to time right? After joining the local Mountain Rescue Service I started carrying them on rescues due to heavier loads and lots of rope work (and some BSI protection).
In the last two years I have switched to carrying them 100% of the time, and now feel like I am missing something if I leave them at home. Perhaps it is because I am climbing & rappelling on skinnier ropes than I was 15 years ago, but the added security and comfort they provide easily justifies their cost & weight on the back of my harness.
Petzl Cordex Mid-weight Belay Gloves
For this review I tested both the mid-weight and lightweight versions of these gloves. When I first tried on the mid-weight Petzl Cordex Belay Gloves in the store they felt a bit stiff. The double goat leather palm and fingers definitely looked durable but I could tell they would take a little breaking in. In just about 5 days of use they softened up nicely.
For a rugged belay glove they fit my medium sized hands quite well, and the neoprene velcro cuff made them feel secure when in use. The convenient carabiner hole in the cuff is also substantial enough that there is no fear of of the carabiner attachment failing (unlike some models that just sport a thin sewn loop). I carry these on an oval biner’ that sports two prussic’s, a micro-ascender (Petzl Tibloc), and my knife.
The only downside was these gloves felt a bit hot during last week’s upper 80’s lower 90’s temps. After searching online I found a good deal on a pair of the lightweight version of this glove:
Petzl Cordex Lightweight Belay Gloves
They feel just as durable in the palm and fingers as the midweight version but the back is almost 100% breathable stretch nylon. These will be much more comfortable climbing in warm weather and will definitely outlast the cheaper suede style belay gloves some of my fellow guides use.
Manufacturer Description and Technical Specs:
Ergonomic cut for great dexterity without being too tight
Made of high quality leather for the perfect balance of durability and dexterity
Durable double layer of leather in high-wear areas: fingertips, palm, between thumb and index finger
Back made of breathable stretch nylon for excellent fit and ventilation
Neoprene cuff with Velcro closure
Carabiner hole to attach gloves to harness
Specifications
Material(s): goat skin leather, stretch nylon
Certification(s): CE EN 420, CE EN 388 (3133)
Weight: 100-120gr (depends on size)
If you haven’t used belay gloves before I’d suggest you try it out. They make a lot of sense for multiple styles of climbing. Catching sport climbing falls will feel more secure. Rappelling skinny rope in steep terrain will feel more secure. Even quickly coiling rope to move on to the next route is easier when the rope can quickly slide through your palms without nylon on skin friction. You can find them on Amazon here.
If you have an opinion on using belay gloves please share it below! Let us know what model’s you’ve tried and liked (or not liked) in the comments below.
Thanks for reading!
See you in the mountains,
-NEAlpineStart
Disclosure: I purchased these gloves with my own money. This post contains affiliate links.
On the first day of the AMC Program we started at the Classroom and practiced some movement skills.
EMS Schools Guide Craig Porter explains how using a flake to lay back on can help one’s feet stay glued to the wall…
After the bouldering session everyone experienced a few rappels down the cliff.
Sophia goes over the edge
We spent the rest of the first day top-roping at The North End. On the second day we headed over to the Echo Roof area at Whitehorse Ledge. Everyone got to climb Ladies & Gentleman, Holy Land, and Relic Hunter by lunch.
Miranda lowers off of Holy LandPatrick finds his way up Relic HunterDennis starts up Ladies & Gentleman
Shortly after moving over to Beezlebub Corner & Seventh Seal and rain shower blew through and shortened our day a bit. On our 3rd day we started with multi-pitch climbs on the slabs, reaching the overlaps 600 feet up before rappelling back to Terra firma for some lunch.
Teamwork at the sandwich factory
We headed back to the climbs we were rained off of the day prior.
Patrick starts up Seventh SealTiara gets creative on Seventh Seal
We wrapped our third day up and said goodbye as the group left for many more days of backpacking & kayaking adventures. Working with these kids is quite rewarding and I’m looking forward to the next group coming later this week.
Yesterday Kathy & Carl joined me for the first of a two day Private Rock Climbing course. Both had a fair amount of gym experience and were starting to make the transition to outdoor climbing. We started our day at the Classroom and covered anchoring strategies before enjoying a run up Upper Refuse. We spent the afternoon down at the North End looking at top-rope management issues and working on some crack climbing techniques. They are out again with another guide today and I hope I get a chance to climb with them again.
Carl at the top of Upper RefuseCathy at the top of Upper Refuse
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!
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!
Yesterday wrapped up the 2nd AIARE 2 Avalanche Course of the season. Six Eastern Mountain Sports Climbing Guides, 3 from North Conway, 2 from The Gunks, and 1 from our Lake Placid location spent the last four days furthering their understanding of the avalanche phenomenon by improving their weather and snow-pack observation skills along with their rescue skills.
After reviewing AIARE 1 information we spend the rest of our first day upgrading our rescue skills with focuses on deep burials, multiple burials, close proximity burials, and rescue leadership. The deep burial scenario required a full effort from everyone as our “debris” had set up like concrete and our target was a life size stuffed Gore-tex full suit!
Digging through 2 meters of concreteIt took another 20 minutes of hard work to excavate the victim after reaching the “airway”.One of our multiple burial scenarios unfolding…
Searching in Parallel, Micro-strip Search, Pro’s and Con’s of Marking, and Triage were all topics of that afternoon.
The next day was a heavy classroom day with lots of discussion on Mountain Weather, Online Resources, Metamorphism, and recording observations at the national standard in accordance with the “SWAG”.
We spent the 3rd morning covering the “how’s and why’s” of doing a Full Profile.
Mike Lackman was shadowing the course and offers up some advice during grain identification
Despite increasing Spring like weather the snow pack was not iso-thermal, and a very distinct layer of 3-4mm advanced facets about 50cm down made for some impressive CT & ECT scores. (CT12 & 18, Q2 and ECTP 14)
My Full Profile
From there we went on a short tour up to just above tree-line via the Cog.
Stopping for Chicken Fingers and a quick Weather Observation at Waumbek TankMike searches for the deeper faceted layer in a small pocket just to the right of Jacob’s LadderGaining our high point with the incoming warm front right on our heels
After some poking around in the snow and previewing terrain in the Ammonoosuc Ravine we descending the Cog in fairly good conditions. Right before the base the snow that had started falling around noon turned to rain and we wrapped up our day back at the Highland Center.
For the last day of the course we met at Pinkham Notch and planned a tour into Tuckerman Ravine. We zipped up to Hermit lake in short order and had a quick birthday celebration for Ryan before updating our travel plans.
Good skiing that requires very heads up attention!
We skinned up a very stable Little Headwall and gathered at the floor of the ravine to make a plan. Our climbers headed up into Lobster Claw and our skiers moved across and up into Left Gully.
Dustin and crew crossing the run out and starting the boot pack up climbers right side of Left Gully.
With lots of probing and hand-shears we worked our way up below the ice fall to the left of Left Gully and after a brief group discussion decided we could push higher up to the “choke” of the gully.
We could see our other group just to the right of the mouth of Lobster Claw making observationsLooking down the run I use the “Theodolite” iPhone App to capture some slope info (Location/Altitude not reported as phone was on Airplane mode to conserve battery; i.e. No GPS Data)Looking up into the start zone I capture incline and aspect (180 math needed)
Just below the choke we get some fairly positive hand shear results but the slab that is failing is quite thin, only about 20-25 cms or so. Two of our group wish to push a bit higher, which seemed reasonable, so the rest of us de-skinned and spotted their last 100 foot climb to just above the choke. From here we all descended, one-at-a-time at first, then with good spacing down below. Turns were pretty soft in most spots with occasional sections of hard scoured surface. The flat light made it a bit tricky to really let it rip.
Pretty decent turns and quite a few groups were appreciated the boot pack we had put in. It was a bit disconcerting to see so many without backpacks on… Where is your shovel & probe? It is still winter up there.
We gathered at the floor then descended Little Headwall to the Cutler River. The Upper Cutler was great. One of our group had skied the Lower Cutler (below the bridge) a week prior and the majority vote was to continue down it. It was the first I had skied below the bridge so with a smidgen of hesitation I followed the group down. I can’t say it was great skiing, a bit to heavy mashed potatoes made for a few of those “must turn now” moments. One actively collapsing snow bridge with quite a bit of water right at the end made me glad to be exiting out along the Huntington Ravine trail to cut back over to the John Sherburne Ski Trail. I would suggest bailing at the bridge for the rest of the season… unless you are into that type of stuff!
Our run out…
The rest of the Sherbi skied great though the warm snow was a bit slow as we got to the bottom. No complaints though, all it all a great run!
Back at the parking lot we spent almost an hour and a half debriefing the day and the course in general. Feedback on the course was solicited and shared, and an honest look at what’s next was provided by recent AIARE 3 Graduate Keith Moon. Many of our guides are on tracks for AMGA certifications that will require an AIARE 3 Certificate, so links & suggestions for future learning were provided.
This was a really fun course for me. Getting to work each day with many co-workers who I don’t often cross paths with was a great boon. I feel like I know each of them quite a bit better. Their feedback will definitely help the AIARE 2 courses I lead next year improve. And despite a bit of rain the weather through out the course was fantastic. While I have the rest of the weekend off I’ll be heading back up the hill on Monday, and again on Friday. Then a short vacation before our first ever Mount Washington Observatory AIARE 1 Course!
Then, and only then, will I let myself start focusing on the upcoming rock season. Winter ain’t over till it’s over!
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!
