Day One Cathedral Cliff Craig and David experience two days of alpine climbing last season and wanted to climb steeper ice this year.  I thought that would be great idea.  The weather was perfect for our first day.  Sunny skies and mid thirty temps made for high spirits.  We went to the North side of [...]

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. The hike in was with a fresh [...]

I had a great day climbing with David.  You can see great photos on the Citizen Times website.  We enjoyed some great ice condition.  It was not thick ice but super technical.  Thin ice is more about precise placements and delicate axe swings or “pecking”.  Hooks and foot switches also make up the type of [...]

Snow, Snow and more Snow.  Climbing in NH with Craig and David. 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 [...]

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 [...]

E-Climbs: The Hardware Revolution 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 [...]