The Climbaxe of the Winter Season
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Local guide Bill D. starts up White Fang (WI4+), Underwood Canyon. |
With the passage of President's Week, we're into the second half of the winter season. While some people start to think of spring activities (and even summer!) those who really like primo conditions for ice climbing, mountaineering and backcountry skiing, know that now is really the 'good time.' Days are longer, temps are moderate (it's downright warm in the sun), the season's snowpack has consolidated, and the holiday crowds have come and gone. There are still people around on weekends, but mid-week we practically have the place to ourselves.
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Blue skies and plastic ice. Jesse livin' the dream on Twenty Below Gully (WI4), Lake Willoughby, VT. |
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John suits up for battle in the Mindbender ampitheater. Lake Willoughby, VT. |
A few weeks ago- just before the thaw- I had the pleasure of ice climbing with John G. for a few days in northeastern Vermont at Lake Willoughby- aka 'the best ice crag on the planet.' If you like big walls and columns of steep multi-pitch ice, Willoughby is the place for multipitch grade 4-5+ water-ice routes. It's the 'Big Ice' experience and a good objective for climbers who've been on a lot of the Adirondack classics and are ready for a short road trip to take those skills someplace familiar, yet also new, different and challenging. A motel in nearby Lyndonville makes a simple and accessible basecamp and the approaches are straightforward hikes up snow and ice gullies to the base of the ice. We're definitely going to do this again next year and hope to make it an annual trip. We'll be at Willoughby next year and available for private guiding daily from Feb. 8-14, 2009. Join us for a couple of days of 'Big Ice!'
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Jesse finding big, blue, technical ice on Glass Menagerie (WI5), Lake Willoughby, VT. |
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John in a sea of sunny, plastic ice. Twenty Below Gully (WI4), Lake Willoughby, VT. |
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John clears the final bulge on Plug & Chug (WI5). Note the vein of crystal clear window ice in from of him. |
The prolonged cold spell that had dominated our weather since late December finally moved on @ a week ago, right as I left Willoughby. Despite a warm rain that kicked it off and consolidated (and melted) a lot of snow, we had a great ensuing week of sunny clear skies and moderate temps during the day. Now we've returned to a more typically seaonal pattern of moderate temps in the day with cold temps at night. We're on track for persistent wet snow-showers for a few days, which has actually started to accumulate and bond to the icy hardpack underneath. The ice routes healed up nicely in the thaw/freeze cycles and with less traffic have been restored to more 'natural' conditions. Some things have started to melt or sublimate slowly, but in general, winter conditions persist on the northern aspects and up high. If there's a climax (or 'climbaxe') to the winter season, this is it!
Last weekend was a great example. Richard W. and I got an early start and skied into Avalanche Lake. We climbed up and down Mt. Colden's classic Trap Dyke route (2000', WI2, 5 mi. approach) in beautiful sunny conditions, and had a great, fast ski back out to the ADK Loj/HPIC.
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Richard clears the first waterfall (WI1-2) on Mt. Colden's Trap Dyke. |
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Richard works it out 'alpine style' w/ one ice tool and one mountain axe. |
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Richard. Livin' the dream. |
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High above the Trap Dyke and Avalanche Lake on Mt. Colden's summit slabs. |
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Richard enjoying sunshine on the descent and a great view of Algonquin's 'Elevator Shaft' slides. |
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Savoring the descent, Richard surveys the day's climb of Mt. Colden (the R hand skyline to the summit) from Marcy Dam. |
What to do? Keep climbing! Take advantage of continued great conditions and no one else around. And as the snow slowly piles up we'll be all set to get into more backcountry skiing too, with the upcoming Adirondack Backcountry Skifest March 7-8, 2009. After that we're into a full March schedule of backcountry ski tours and ski mountaineering, many backcountry summit climbs of Mt. Colden's Trap Dyke (2000', WI 1-2+) and Gothic's North Face (1000', WI 1-2), and even a few overnight backcountry climbing and skiing camps. Join us for a continued great season in the Adirondacks!
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Matthew managing the pump on the Power Play (WI4-5) pillar. |
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Matthew loving the high exposure above Chapel Pond. |
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Matthew cops a rest before the final bulge. Note the comfy belay jacket! It was (obviously) cold and clear with freshly healed and dense ice... I actually snapped a pick off starting up that second pitch and used one of Matthew's to finish.) |
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Ahhh.....
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