Top out on waterfall pitch

This ice season has been slim, with the warm weather and rain.  However, last weekend was a good opportunity to take advantage of the available conditions.  Sunday I was fortunate enough to go climbing with Michael and his son MJ.   Conditions allowed for us to attempt Sam’s Knob.

Michael on the Approach

The hike in was with a fresh layer of snow.  This makes for great scenery.  At times the approach has had 2 feet of snow, but today was just a dusting.  At the base of the rope up, water was running so I was not too sure about the conditions.  We traveled upward on thin ice and through some 3^rd class conditions until we reached the climbing at the first waterfall.

The ice was only about 4” thick.  I could only place stubby screws and had to search for an appropriate anchor.  The climbing was fantastic and the warm ice making for hero sticks.

Up higher the ice just got better.  The waterfall pitch had the main flow in and the flanks were forming up.  I enjoyed a great lead and brought Michael and MJ up some fine ice.  MJ was enjoying climbing with the E-climbs axes.  We headed down at this point, enjoying the first ice of the year for MJ.

Thanks for a great time

Patrick

E-climbs axes

Today Jim joined us for some more ice climbing with the Michael duo.  Jim loves working with kids and was excited to take MJ up Chia.  We met at Peaches for breakfast and then headed to the amphitheater for some fine ice climbing.

Michael and I warmed up on Bobs Delight, a wonderful climb.  It is about 100 feet of climbing on steeper ice.  The sun was out and Bob’s was amazing to climb as the sun lit up the ice and provided a spectacular medium to climb.  Michael had purchased new boots last night and was really enjoying the added security.   We rappelled down and headed for Chia Direct.

Chia is a large ice wall with an over hanging rock just right of center.   The easiest way up is a ramp system that goes from left to right the entire way to the top.  There are many harder variations that one can choose from.  Jim and MJ were on the ramp when we arrived.   Michael and I were going up the far right variation called Chia Direct, a WI4.  It is a vertical ice wall about 10 feet wide that was 30 feet long and ended on a large snowy ledge.  I climbed 20 feet up a ramp to the base of the steep wall and place an ice screw.  I launched up the steep section moving quickly to avoid the pump.  Climbing this face is pure joy.  This is the kind of ice I enjoy climbing, vertical ice with great edges and pockets to hook or swing into.  Michael reveled in the fun climbing this pitch.  I set up a belay on the ledge to see Michael top out on this climb.  He had a big grin.

This was a great day and fun way to end my trip to New Hampshire this year.  Thanks for the great climbing.

Patrick

Today I was privileged to climb alpine style with Michael and Michael the father and son climbing duo.  They wanted to do an alpine climb so we did Cinema gully and the upper Hitchcock gully on Mount Willard.

Cinema Gully is deceptively long 45 to 60 degree ice climb.  However, it was unique in that we had waist deep snow covering the lower pitch.  This enhanced the experience by adding an element of snow climbing.  We climbed snow until we reached an ice patch down 60 feet from the ice bulged.  There were other climbers above and I wanted to stay back so falling ice would not hit us.   This worked because the snow would stop ice falling from above before it reached our belay.

3 more full rope length pitches would reach the top of the gully and the snow ledge that lead to Hitchcock.  We stayed roped up as we traversed along the ledge system.  Most of the time there was little hazard of a fall, but a couple of places the trees disappeared providing a steep slope to slide down over a cliff.

Hitchcock gully was chocked with ice and provided some fun climbing.  It leads up a chasm with a rock wall on your left.  The ice coloration is beautiful here.  Both Michaels climbed the pitch and we rappelled down the Hitchcock gully and headed for the Moat for good food.

Appalachian Mountain Institute

David and Craig wanted to experience alpine style routes while in New Hampshire.  The conditions were ideal in that since as there was 18” to 24” inches of fresh powder covering the area.  We had planned on climbing Willy’s slide as a warm up on Saturday.  Warm was a good way to describe the experience.  Willy’s was covered with snow, up to my waist in places.  I had no trouble staying warm while climbing.  We made good time and hit some ice 200 feet up.

The rest of the route was a combination of ice and snow.  The top out was interesting as the snow was again very deep and tiring to break trail.  The views were spectacular with the fresh snow blanketing the area.

Snow began to fall again.  You could no longer see across the valley to Mt. Webster.  We made our way down the trail towards the car.  It was easier this year with the extra snow.   Darkness was coming early and a good meal sounded like an appropriate cap for the day.  We decided on the Moat and ate our fill.

It was a very good day.

Day Two:  Hitchcock Gully

The next day our quest for alpine led us to the base of Hitchcock Gully.   Avalanche debris littered the base.  This was from a freezing rain the day before and was consistent with a loose snow slide.  Not much to worry about.  We headed up the gully, breaking trail in waist deep snow.  The snow was so deep that I ended up at the base of the rock pitch before encountering any ice.  We were climbing in teams of two and David was with me.  The mixed pitch is always interesting.   Run out on rock with crampons.  It was no exception today, the snow made it more interesting than before.  David climbed it no problems.

The last pitch of Hitchcock had great ice.  It climbs ups a slanting chasm with a rock wall on the left.  The ice was in great shape and it felt good climbing.  David climbed the pitch in good style as his technique was developing into a smooth rhythm.  We topped out and headed down the route.

Thanks for the great climbing.

Patrick

Gearing up

January 22nd was blessed by great ice climbing conditions, great help, and a group of 18 individuals who enjoyed climbing ice for the first time.  This event was a fund raiser for the Carolina Climbers’ Coalition.  The event was sponsored by Appalachian Mountain Institute, Black Dome Mountain Sports, Looking Glass Outfitters, E-Climbs Ice Axes, Bracken Mountain Bakery, and was assisted by Brevard Rock Gym, and Black Mountain Expeditions.

The weather could not have been better.  The cold snap had shaped up the ice for climbing, but the day was sunny with blue skies and no wind.  Participants enjoyed climbing in the best conditions possible.  The mountains capped in deep blue winter skies made for picture perfect photo ops.  It wasn’t too cold, but there was hot coffee or cocoa available to warm up with, or one could snack on pastries donated by Bracken Mountain Bakery, a local coffee shop / bakery that make pastries from all organic ingredients.  The cinnamon rolls were especially good.

The ice was in fantastic condition for the event.  Warm days earlier in the week got the water moving and allowed the fractures to be filled in when the cold conditions came back.  There were a variety of routes to be climbed.  These ranged from lower angle ice for people to get use to the tools, to steep vertical columns that challenged their skills.  With eight different routes to climb, everyone found something to do.

Ice Instruction

Folks came from all over to join in on the fun.  There were people from Florida, Georgia, Alabama and North Carolina who made the trek.  The showstopper was a father and his 10-year-old son.  This duo started on the low angle gully, but soon they were picking their way up the hardest of routes.  Everyone was amazed at how this 10 year old was working the ice.  I think he was a natural.  Linda from Alabama was getting into a groove too.  She was new to the ice climbing, but by the end of the day she looked natural on the ice.  Nick was dialed in his climbing.  He even tried climbing ice without axes and styled his way up the ice.  Rosaly from Florida was captivated by her first axe swings.  She teamed up with Karen from Raleigh and the two were soon kicking their way up several routes.  The group was composed of firefighters, a school teacher, a nurse, and of all ages, from 10 up.  It was great group of diverse people having fun.

The next Ice Intro Class is on February 19th!

Ice climbing Fun

I want to express my gratitude to all those who came out to climb, but also to the volunteers who made it possible.

Matt Gentling

Tim Barton

Phil Hoffman

Thad Walker

Ryan Carlson

Jenny Wallace

Mike Reardon

Ken Pitts

Demo Day Fun

Also a special thanks to the companies who contributions made this possible

Black Dome Mountain Sports

Looking Glass Outfitters

E-Climbs Ice Axes

Brevard Rock Gym

Black Mountain Expeditions

Asheville School

Bracken Mountain Bakery

Ken Pitts Studios

Cryo M Axes by E-Climbs

A few years ago, I got to try an ice axe that I had not heard of before.  It was an E-Climbs.  I was very impressed with it at the time.  Recently, I have been privileged to work in closer with E-climbs.  Appalachian Mountain Institute is now the Eastern US representative for E-Climbs products.

The axe is the product of years of experience and intelligent engineering.  The balance of the axe is so refined that it swings effortlessly.  The head of the axe is moved forward to provide incredible clearance over bulges.  This keeps the pick aligned with the swing of the axe.  You will not get any bounce back with this axe.  The axe is also modular in that you can change not only from a hammer to adze, but from alpine leash, to waterfall leash, to leashless.  Also the spike is removable too, allowing for three styles, mixed, alpine and waterfall.

The leash system is the most secure system I have used.  The method used brings the weight bearing straps across the palm, much like a ski strap.  This configuration allows you to easily transfer you weight to the leashes without having to cinch the leash so tight it restricts performance.  This leash system connects directly to the handle and keeps your hand on the axe.  It is simple to process to unclip from the axe to place screws.

You can learn more at E-Climbs or contacting Patrick@e-climb.com

Today I was fortunate enough to get to climb with Michael Egues and his family.  His son was able to quickly get the hang of it and soon was climbing well.

The ice conditions were in great shape on 215.  There were several routes in and most has a rope hung on it.  Everyone was having a good time and enjoyed the day of climbing.

check out the LGO blogg

The temperatures have dropped and cold weather has blessed North Carolina with ice again.  One of the great joys of North Carolina climbing is the diversity and climate.  There is great rock climbing, but perfect ice climbing conditions when winter finally takes hold, not too cold and always plastic.  The ice conditions are shaping up fast.  I was fortunate enough to get in some climbing this week.

Ice Conditions in North Carolina

215 ice is leadable on gumbies and getting fat fast.  I took several students climbing there this week and enjoyed some great climbing.  I was able to lead to routes with good screw placement.  Bring 13cm screws if you plan on leading.  I was having a great time giving the student ice climbing instruction on basic ice climbing techniques.  Ice climbing is fairly quickly learned with proper instruction. Without it, it can be frustrating.

Phil, Thad, and Joe invited me to go climbing with them on Wednesday.  We rode out the parkway on bicycles to the graveyard fields area to enjoy some long WI4 pitches.  The ice is leadable and in great climbing shape.  Be sure to bring a good pair of lungs and legs for the 4 mile ride back, it’s all up hill.

Michael and I climbed Thursday at 215 again.  The ice conditions was even fatter and we had a great time.  I am not sure how many pitches we did, but I think it was 8-10 laps.  I was fortunate enough to lead two routes and top rope some others.   Stuart and Matt were there enjoying the day and making wise cracks.  I worked with Michael on ice climbing movement skills early and he really started to climb well.  Soon he was motoring up WI4- ice easily.  Ice climbing instruction works best from the ground, and Michael soon understood this and had a great time climbing ice.

West Gulley RMNP

Ice Climbing at Black Lake in Estes Park CO

I arrive in CO one day after the good rock climbing weather.  David and I had planned on climbing some rock while I was in town for the AMGA Conference.  That wasn’t going to happen.  Cold weather and snow was moving in.  It was a good thing that I brought my ice boots along.   However, I left the rest of my gear at home.  I spent the evening adapting a set of David’s crampons and packing up.

We met up with Mike, a local climber at a local coffee shop.  There are two coffee shops on every block in Boulder, but only one where the climbers meet.  We decided to head up to Estes Park and hunt for ice.  The drive took us through Lyons, a town I use to visit every week when I live in CO.   David’s van steady climbed the road.  Eventually, the bare pavement changed to a snow covered challenge.  We made the parking lot and found one car already there.  We loaded up and headed out looking for an ice flow David climbed many years ago.

The path was snow covered, but easy to follow.  The trail had been stomped down by travelers both past and present.  The hike came to some trail junctions, but David and Mike knew which way to go.  Soon there were rock faces.  The ice climbs on the faces didn’t reach the ground, only the upper parts had ice.  We moved on.

We hiked past a lake on it’s south side.  It was frozen over.  The trail steepened and the snow was up to our thigh in places.  This was defiantly a trail less traveled.  We continued to find routes without ice; things were looking grim.

We reached Black Lake, end of the road.  Black Lake was nestled in the candy shop of climbing.  To my left was Longs Peak and as I move my view along the ridge I saw peak after peak of wonderful granite.  Something else caught my eye… ice.  The West Gulley was in and without the season long snowfall it was looking big.

Getting there meant going along the lake, again it was frozen, but none of us want to risk a straight shot across it.  Our path around it soon led to snow and steeper terrain.  Whoosh, Mike was in up to his neck.

Mike yelled out, “I feel like I am in a crevasse.”

We were over a boulder field with snow bridges hiding the gaps.  These bridges were weak.  It was easy to step into the gaps and plug through.  All of us dropped in the abyss at some point.

A small steepening snowfield led up to the ice.  We travel 2/3 the way up to a small ledge to rack up.  Mike took the first lead.  Easy snow led to low angle ice that was delaminated.  Mike shout at us to find a better way up.  He traversed up and out of sight.  I yelled, “20 feet” signaling nearing the end of the rope.

The ropes pulled tight and we heard the cue we were on belay.  David and I began climbing.  Half way up David needed to answer the call of nature and found a ledge that was suitable.  I happily continued up.  Mike offered me the next lead.  I was delighted; it looked steeper and fun.  That’s when Mike said it was the business of the climb. David had timed his call of nature with perfectly; I got the thin and steep lead.

We made it

Climbing up a bulge resulted in me trying to surmount a frozen snow ledge, tricky business for sure.  Frozen snow is crusty on the outside and soft on the inside like a Milky Way bar and as a result, your picks can shear through.  Especially when you don’t want them too.  I had placed a screw down low that was ok and wanted to get another in.  I pulled one out to place it and it quickly hit a hollow space behind a curtain of ice.  Without a great ice screw here I wasn’t sure about going straight up.  The ice above looked thin and delaminated.  I decided to traverse right and move into an ice squeeze chimney.   I worked up the slot.  Unable to kick effectively, it was a series of pick placements and wiggle up.  I reached some solid ice and decided to place a screw.  Fortunately, I could reach one off my harness; unfortunately it was the dullest screw of the bunch.

Above the chimney things eased up and I move up ramps looking for a belay location.  I had one short ice screw and no rock gear; I had to find a horn.  This situation had me searching every nook and cranny and probably made me look like an ant searching for food at a picnic.  But I did find a horn.  David led the next pitch.  This was AI 2 ice that normally is snow.  He went a full 200 feet.  Mike repeated the process leading another 200 feet.  We spied a likely rappel location and I headed over to check it out.  It worked and I rigged the anchor and belay the two over.  I got the lucky position of test dummy and rappelled first.  We landed on a snow slope and quickly coiled the ropes.  A traverse across the snow slope gained a rappel station we passed on the way up.  A long rappel and down climb reached the safety of the packs and the long walk back.

The hike out seemed longer than the hike in, a rare situation.  Typically the trip out seems quicker.

I said, “This seems longer than the trip in”.

“That’s because we hiked 7 miles”.

I’m not sure if it was 7 miles, but I won’t disagree.  Not the information I wanted to hear.  Darkness soon fell resulting in me falling flat on my back.  Time to dig out the headlamp.

I would like to say the car looked good when be reach the parking lot, but it was pitch black and I couldn’t see it.  We debated on where to eat and all agreed on eating in Lyons at Oscar Blues.   Great choice.

What a great day, but next time I’m bringing a tent and bivouacking.

Patrick Weaver

Appalachian Mountain Institute