Cloudsplitter Mountain Guides

Alpine ice runnels on Gothic's North Face.

Despite a slightly earlier than usual descent into spring (karmic kickback for an early winter?), the weather has been phenomenally beautiful lately- with a recent string of clear, sunny and windless weather- cool at night and warm during the day- really as good as it gets. Fortunately for us this has coincided with the peak of our late winter backcountry season- with the freeze thaw cycles providing excellent climbing conditions on Mt. Colden's Trap Dyke and Gothic's North Face. The other morning was simply stunning- cool crisp snow and ice leading up GNF to warm sunny bluebird skies on the rocky summit. That's what alpine climbing is all about! (So of course, Robert and I immediately began plans for more alpine climbing in the North Cascades (WA) this summer- details TBA.)

Sunrise below Gothic's North Face basin.

Canadian Bikini Team below Gothic's New Finger Slide

The Canadian Bikini Team (Ottawa regional semi-finalists, middle-aged men's category)- killing it with their newfound skills on Gothic's North Face.

Great conditions on Gothic's New Finger Slide.

Gothic's North Face from the New Finger Slide.

Exiting the New Finger Slide- Gothics.

Wayne, Paul and Marty- livin' the dream!

Robert- livin' the dream after another great climb in the High Peaks (yet again!)

Gothic's summit ridge, en route to the True North descent.

Well I thought I was going big in the backcountry during the peak of the season- with 2 climbs of the Trap Dyke and 2 of Gothic's North Face in a week (plus one more GNF tomorrow...) But with an unexpected couple of days off and primo weather and conditions, Emilie threw down the gauntlet last Monday on a solo adventure of her own. Local climbing legend Joe Zsot and partner Will had recently taken advantage of firm conditions to complete a 21 hr traverse of the High Peak's best 'alpine' summits- Gothic's North Face, along the range trail over Saddleback and Basin, into Panther Gorge, up Marcy's South Face via the 'Grand Central' slide, down the other side, then up Colden's Trap Dyke and out to Heart Lake- the 'Trilogy' as Joe dubbed it years ago. Emilie took advantage of their vision, bootpack and routefinding- but chose to use skis instead- (which she did pay for in the bushwhacking sections) but ultimately gained a bunch of time despite the firm conditions- and completed it in under 16 hours (not that she was explicitly competing for fastest time either- she just wanted to make the most of conditions too and would simply rather ski than snowshoe!) Surely these somewhat contrived games we all play in the mountains will continue, but personally, I think it's great that we can all still find alpine adventure here in our own backyard!

ED en route to the Trilogy, self-portrait on Gothics.

The Great Range from Gothics.

Sunset on Colden's icy summit slabs.

What's next? While winter may be gone down state and down in the valleys, it's still winter in the mountains here. With the snow softening and warm (above freezing) temperatures and nicer weather becoming the prevailing weather pattern, it's time for spring skiing in the backcountry. While we'll be walking the lower sections of the trails on the valley now, there's plenty of snow left up high and on north-facing slides, and we've got a couple more weeks of backcountry skiing planned into April. Time to go get some of that sweet spring corn snow!

Nazli and Emily learning the skin game, ADK practice slope