Chris was up vacationing in the Lakes Region from North Carolina and joined EMSCS for a half-day private rock climbing lesson. We started off rappelling the Barber Wall, then climbed Upper Refuse and No Man’s Land. I get the feeling he’s hooked.
rock climbing
Square Ledge Group Climbing Program
We had a large group of kids from CT today for a day of basic rock climbing. After gearing up we headed up to Square Ledge in Pinkham Notch. These teenagers were quite supportive of each other throughout the process, helping with knots, providing solid back-up belays, and encouragement when fear of heights reared it’s head. Despite little sunshine the weather was nice and everyone got a few climbs in and a rappel.
A Day With Kismet
I try to volunteer at least 1 day a summer to the Kismet Rock Foundation. Kismet Rock Foundation (KRF) offers comprehensive courses in rock climbing and mountaineering to children who, because of financial limitations, would not otherwise have access to such an education. Today was one of the last days of a 4 year crew of 15-16 yr. old kids. They’ve attended 1 week a summer for 4 years and graduation was right around the corner.
The 4 of us climbed Bombardment to Black Lung, and finished up Upper Refuse just as it hit 91 degrees. As always climbing with these kids was a blast and I’m looking forward to squeezing another volunteer day in before the end of the season. Please check out their mission in the link above and see if you would like to support them!
After saying my goodbyes I got to check out the new decent trail Mike Jewell just told me about. Great 12 minute walk back to the bottom
Private Rock Climbing at Cathedral Ledge
Yesterday Jamie came up from the Portsmouth area for her first taste of rock climbing. An avid hiker in the White Mountains she was looking for a bit more adventure and we covered a great amount of info and terrain in our 8 hours.
Jamie was super motivated to become a self-suffcient climber so I pointed her to a few books and suggested a couple follow up courses to help her reach her goals. We’re sure we’ll see her on the cliffs again soon!
Rock Climbing 101
Yesterday I climbed with Alison and Nelson of Miami Beach, FL. Originally from the Northeast Alison had a skiing background in the area and family in Boston. She even took a climbing lesson with us back when she was a teenager. This was Nelson’s first introduction to climbing, and it was definitely memorable!
Rock Climbing at Whitehorse Ledge
Issac, age 14, and Alex, age 25, joined me today for their first outdoor climbing adventure. These two had been practicing indoor wall climbing for awhile and had both been on some adventures from Alaska to Bolivia already. We headed to nearby Whitehorse Ledge to introduce them to the fundamentals of multi-pitch rock climbing.
We climbed about 600 feet up to Lunch Ledge via Standard Route (via Quartz Pocket), then rappelled and made our way over to Beelzebub Corner for some afternoon top-roping and a visit from a pretty good sized Porcepine.
These guys were quick studies and I look forward to our next climb together!
Rock Climbing Fast Track Course
This weekend I got to spend two days out on the rock with some great guys as they learned the basics of rock climbing. Saturday was forecasted a bit hot in the valley so Jeff, Carl, Will and I headed up to Square Ledge in Pinkham Notch to take advantage of the higher elevation and cooler temps. After learning how to tie-in and belay everyone got multiple top-rope laps on the West Face, then a full ascent of the West face followed by Top-Rope laps on The Chimney and The Brain. We finished the day with a rappell down the West Face.
Unfortunately I lost most the photos from the day when uploading from a new device due to user error. Sorry guys! Only one I salvaged from the day is Jeff on “The Brain”
Day 2 brought us to Whitehorse Ledge where an early start saw us topping out Standard Direct by 11:30am. We hiked over to the South Buttress and rappelled down Cold Day in Hell, then went over to Cathedral for a lap on Kiddy Crack to round out the day.
For details on this program click http://www.emsexploration.com/climb/accelerated-intro-to-rock-climbing/
2012 Climb Convergence
If you don’t work for EMS you probably don’t know what the Climbing Convergence is. Technically, it’s staff training, but “staff training” does not begin to describe 160 employees from 60+ stores getting together in the heart of the White Mountains for 2 full days of climbing, clinics, training, hiking, cook-outs, camping, bonfires, slacking, and stuffing pockets with swag while perusing a vendor village.
My part in the event was limited to one day at Cathedral Ledge, but it was enough to sense the kind of camaraderie folks who work for EMS share.
It is very cool to work with a company that takes authentic training like this so seriously. Sometimes I don’t think my own family understands. We LOVE what we do. It’s not just “retail”. It’s sharing a lifestyle, a healthy lifestyle, with our customers. Climbing, hiking, kayaking, biking, ice climbing, backcountry skiing… these are the sports we represent, and these are our own personal passions. And our company puts events like this together to help us outfit our customers so they can enjoy these pursuits as much as we do… It just doesn’t get any better!
Upper Refuse with Mackenzie
A good friend called me a couple weeks ago to see if I could take a close friend of his family climbing who was visiting from down South. I agreed to introduce Mackenzie to some of the fine multi-pitch trad we have in the valley and had a long list of routes I figured we could cruise in good time. Mother Nature decided to crank up the heat though, and with the mercury pushing triple digits it took all we had to get in one climb. I have never felt the black rock on Cathedral as hot as it was today. Some holds were so hot to the touch you could not keep your hands on them for but a few seconds. Scorcher, for sure. We were off the cliff by 11am and I was off to the river for the rest of the day with the pooch.
Upper Refuse with Ed
Fellow Mount Washington Observatory supporter and friend Ed O’Malley joined me for a half day of climbing on Cathedral Ledge this past Friday. Rain and other work commitments have kept me inside for the last few weeks so I was very glad to get out and enjoy the day.
Speaking of the Mount Washington Observatory their annual fundraiser is coming up very soon, and I am very behind in my fundraising efforts. Please take a moment to visit my fundraising site and consider helping me help such a great organization!