Rock On!
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Stephen- eyes on the prize. |
In case anyone is wondering, winter (except on the highest summits) is gone here, and it's springtime in the mountains for sure (75 degrees and bluebird today!). The final weekend of our winter season in early April was a washout- not much fun to do when it's 40 degrees and raining....but apparently it was money in the karma weather bank, since then it's been predominantly pretty darn nice. So after a little r&r and spring cleaning- we just got right into rock season, starting with the high, dry sunny apsects. Nice days this time of the year are a treasure, dry air, warm temps and with no leaves on the trees, south-facing cliffs can just bake in the sun, which is a welcome change after a long winter. We seem to be in the midst of a LOT of nice days lately...give us a call or email if you want to get out and take advantage of it!
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Craig is all smiles- again! |
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Stephen swings around the corner on Pete's second pitch. |
Craig and his son Stephen kicked off our rock season last week. After the washout in early April, their patience was justly rewarded with a week of great weather and a few beautiful days out climbing with us. Both days began w/ warm up on a top-rope and practice of a few skills and techniques, and then progressed on to a multi-pitch climb to put those skills to use. Craig and I have climbed a lot of ice together; Stephen is a little newer to the game but quickly got up to speed. Not only was this a great spring vacation, this was the chance for them to lay the groundwork for a lot more rock climbing this summer in the Niagra Escarpment near their home in far western NY. We warmed up with a little roadside top-roping and then climbed the Weissner Route on the first day. On the second day Emilie gave them a little 'crack school' at Owl's Head in the morning and they put it to the test high above Cascade Lake on Pete's Farewell's exposed finale. Stephen admitted that it was pretty exhilerating with the exposure, but then of course equally statisfying when he did it!
Thanks to Craig and Stephen for kicking off our spring rock season in such good style!
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Stephen cruising the infamous 'step-around' on Weissner' first pitch. |
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Craig follows Stephen up the blocky Weissner chimney. |
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Craig and Stephen- livin' the dream. |
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'Crack school' at Owl's Head. |
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Stephen gets the hang of it with a belayed rappel. |
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Craig practices a self-belayed rappel. |
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Stephen pauses to consider- layback, handjam, stem- or all three at once? |
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Stephen hanging out high above the talus in Cascade Pass. |
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Craig styles it into the sun atop the exposed Pete's finale crack. |
So it's game on here- if you see a good forecast and want (or need!) a good day outside climbing, give us a call or email. We'll be available here daily through May 15, which is usually a great window of early season rock climbing- then (ideally right as the blackflies start to show up) we'll be off on a personal trip to Yosemite through the end of May. Then it's back here June 2 for the summer (ideally, right as the blackflies start to wane) and lots of Adirondack rock.
Plans are also in the works for a summer alpine climbing trip to the glaciers and spires of Washington's North Cascades in July 21-30, private guiding will be available for Cloudsplitter guests that have prior climbing experience with us. Potential objectives include alpine rock on Forbidden, Sahale and Sharkfin tower, and more complex glacier and rock climbs on the aesthetic Mt. Shuksan- contact us for further info if you are interested. Late summer and fall will be the time for Adirondack backcountry climbing- with several people already making plans for single- and multi-day trips into Wallface mountain in the fall....
