March Madness in the backcountry
Well it's that time of year again- when the days get longer, the snow softens, and everyone realizes that it's now or never for this winter's backcountry agenda. We're flat out with backcountry summit climbs and ski tours this month (and of course there's still plenty of ice climbing left on the northern aspects too). It's our usual end of season frenzy to help everyone make the most of it. Our Seventh Annual Adirondack Backcountry Skifest went well last weekend, with a new intimate format for tours, buffet dinner at Keene Valley Lodge and even our own private Adirondack ski hill at Otis Mountain in New Russia. With temps ranging from warm and sunny to cool and crusty- we all made the most of 'natural snow and natural terrain.' Now it's onto March Madness- a frenzy of backcountry Summit Climbs and Ski Tours in the High Peaks for the remainder of the month. We've been doing several climbs a week of Mt. Colden's Trap Dyke and Gothic's North Face, interspersed with ski tours to our favorite slides and backcountry trails. Summit Climbs are long, big mountain days, but we, and our guests like Mike, Bill and the boys from the Canadian National Bikini Team (according to them they are the Ottawa Regional Finalists in the middle aged men's category :-) really enjoy putting it all together in a classic mountaineering experience.
That's all the time I have right now- gotta get ready for another big day tomorrow- so many pictures, so little time- but I'll throw in a few quickies below from the last couple weeks:
