Saturday December 30, 2006

Standard looking good!!

I had the opportunity to go to Frankenstein today with Scott. We met this morning and before we left town around 9:15, it started snowing. It ended up snowing all day with about 3 inches of accumulation. From my reconnaissance early this week, I knew to head straight to Standard. When we got there, it was available. There was one group that just had rappeled out of the cave and another party heading up the first two pitches in one. Scott and I headed up the center of the flow to the cave. Then we did the second pitch just left of the cave. Scott was climbing well so I decided to traverse over to Penguin and climbed up to the fixed pin at the start of the chimney and belayed. The next pitch was great mixed climbing up the chimney. That section was thin and I could only get one screw but that pitch takes good rock gear and is well protected when thin.

After hiking down, we went back to Standard and climbed up to the cave from the right. There was a another party on the center route and I figured the right side although thin, would be easy enough. That variation had so little ice it was much more difficult than I thought it would be. I couldn't get any gear in for quite some time and I was on little more than verglass covered in snow. About halfway up, the ice got nice and thick and it became much easier to the cave.

Starting the ice section on the Penguin

On our first time up, I could see that a little done variation looked in great shape. It was this variation I wanted to do. The route goes up a small flow in the center of the cave to the overhang and from there it traverses right onto the partially formed pillar and over the overhang to easier ground. I had done this variation before and there is a fixed pin in the roof but it is only in shape once and a while. From the top of that pitch, we headed over to the rappel tree and down to the tracks and back to the car.

Climbs at Frankenstein are limited to basically Standard and possibly Dracula. Things are forming and if we can keep the weather right for ice growth for a while, things will just get better. It's been a hard start to the season, but there are things to climb.

 

Looking up the Penguin Chimney

 

Friday December 29, 2006

Hiking up towards the scree pile

Today Chris, Paul and I headed up to Mount Washington again, this time we headed into Huntington Ravine. The ice in Huntington was in good shape and although there were a few people in the ravine the climb we wanted to do, Yale, had no one on it. The trail to the base of the ravine was in pretty good shape but it got more difficult from there. To get to Yale we had to go through the large boulders on the floor then up a pretty good trail to the start of the scree pile. We went up the scree for awhile then crossed it. From there we started to posthole through the scrub brush to the base of the Harvard Slab. As difficult as the approach was I am sure yesterday when it had fresh snow and with limited visibility it was much more tedious.

Although the approaches are difficult when we have very little snow the upside is that the climbs have more ice. This was true today and Yale had numerous pitches of ice. Even though we moved together for a section in the middle we did 7 long pitches of climbing. Most pitches had significant sections of ice. With the difficult approaches and the amount of ice there is a significant difference in the time it takes to climb a route like Yale in good snow conditions and now. It's always important to take that into consideration when planning trips to Huntington.

Once we started up things went smooth and the climb with its southern exposure on such a sunny day was vey enjoyable.. For the most part the wind was calm even though we could se some blowing snow coming off of ridges near O'dells and South. In the end, today was a great day in the ravine and probably one of the best places to ice climb in New Hampshire right now.

Hiking up the scree

Topping out on a buldge high on Yale

A beautiful day on the Alpine Garden

Yale with the Harvard Sab

Pinnacle Gully

O'dells

Diagonal Buldge

 

Thursday December 28, 2006

Paul topping out on the first trip up the headwall

I had a chance to head up to Tuckerman Ravine today to go climbing with Chris and Paul. I could tell right at Pinkham that this is a holiday week, it was pretty busy in the warm up room and it was mid week. With hardly any ice in Crawford Notch most people wanting to ice climb were heading up onto Mount Washington. During the hike I was surprised by how much new snow had fallen in the last day or so. It's great to see some snow but I was a little worried that Tucks would be a little out of shape. With the winds today my thoughts went to the avalanche hazard and even if the wind hadn't formed any slabs I was not in a hurry to posthole between the ice buldges.

Chris, Paul and I made good time up to the floor of he ravine where we put on harnesses and crampons and started up to the left of the Book that already had a few parties waiting to climb that line. The ravine had moderate winds and low visibility in snow showers and fog. My plan was to setup a top rope on a higher buldge and have Chris and Paul brush up on their technique. We found a good spot up high that required the requisite postholing but fortunately the snow was not slabing up and the stability was "good". After a few laps on the top rope Chris and Paul were ready for a longer pitch so we continued up that section of the headwall. Both were climbing strong and quickly so we were soon making our way down the trail to the base. It was my opinion that with another storm and/or some wind slab their are some fairly large slopes where the avalanche danger can be significant. With scant ice in the lower elevation keep your avalanche eyes open, there are a lot of people in the ravines and they could trigger something that has little consequence to them but devastating results to those hanging out below in the terrain trap at the base of the Book.

Packing up after a good day in the ravine

Once we got down to the base we decided to go for another lap up the headwall. This time there was space to climb the Book and I knew no one was up above us and I knew what the slopes were like. We headed up climbing even faster as Paul and Chris were getting into a groove and soon we were on the spectacular finish, a nice steep pitch right to the top. We walked down the trail again picked up some of our equipment and headed back to Pinkham getting there just at dark. All in all a great day in the mountains!!!

 

 

 

 

Tuesday December 26, 2006

I went for a drive up to Crawford Notch, there was a little snow from last night but it was drizzling and the temperatures were above freezing when I was there. The ice at Frankenstein was nearly nonexistent. There was ice on Standard but it looked thin and undermined. Willey's looked in poor shape but it was hard to tell from the road, it seemed that it might be climbable if it was below freezing. There was more ice on things on Mount Willard and it was a bit colder up at the top of the notch. Bottom line is that the ice in Crawford Notch will be awhile yet, what we need is a sustained period of below freezing weather and no more rain!!!

Thursday December 21, 2006

Willey's Slide

Since the last time I posted I haven't been able to observe the conditions. I taught an avalanche course over the weekend and our field day was very cloudy and foggy with Tuckerman Ravine socked in, so I couldn't see how it was developing. On Monday,Tuesday and Wednesday Jay and I attended an Instructor Training Course for avalanche instructors put on by AIARE. As AIARE instructors we are required to go through this continuing education every 3 years. It allows us to stay current and share ideas with other instructors keeping the AIARE program fresh and up to date. The instructors Ben and Scott flew out from Crested Butte, CO and Bend, WA respectively.

Today however I had the chance to climb with a father and son team up Willey's Slide. The ice in Crawford looked pretty sad but Willey's was very climbable and if you chose the correct line it was very protectable. There was no snow to speak of, so it was ice its entire distance, making it more difficult than in the midwinter. On my drive past Frankenstein I was able to look at Standard, it looked climbable but thin. I didn't see any other climbs that look very good in the notch.

After some cramponing instruction and practice at the base of Willey's I lead Tom and Tom the father and son team to the top of Willey's. This was their first technical climb and both managed the new environment and the recently acquired skills in cramponing with style. It was fun to watch their technique improve pitch after pitch.

I will be going into Tuckerman Ravine tomorrow with the two Toms so I will have a report for that tomorrow evening.

Tom at a belay on Willey's

Nearing the bulge mid way up Willey's

The two Toms nearing the top

 

Friday December 15, 2006

Willey's Slide

I took a drive up to Frankenstein today to see how much the rain and warm weather had an impact on the ice. Although the ice took a big hit in Crawford Notch there was more left than I thought there might be. I would say the both Willey's and Standard are climbable. Having said that it was so warm in the notch today that I would not have ventured onto the ice. I would also expect that you will find the climbs a bit hollow. Given the forecast this weekend I would stay off the ice in Crawford but I wouldn't be shocked if I heard that someone climbed one of those two routes or some of the more obscure slabs elsewhere in the notch. I would recommend going to the ravines, particularly Tuckerman's for ice this weekend. To see how the ice is doing in the ravines scroll down to yesterday's report.

 

 

Standard

Dracula

 

Thursday December 14, 2006

Tuckerman Headwall

I wanted to go up to Tuckerman Ravine today to check out conditions after the storm yesterday. I decided I would take a run up to the floor of the ravine to get some pictures and get a workout. The weather was mild today and it was a great day for a trail run up the Tuck's Trail. The trail to Hermit Lake was a little icier than the other day and light traction devices like Stabilicers or screw boots helped a lot but were not necessary.

From what was reported yesterday it rained at Pinkham and Crawford Notches but all the hourly reports from the summit mentioned snow. After talking with the Hermit Lake Caretaker today it was mixed precipitation there. There was more snow in the ravine than there was at Hermit Lake but the snow had a crust so some of the precipitation was liquid there.

The good news is the ice has grown from two days ago and good or very good early season conditions exists in Tuckerman Ravine. The low snow for this time of year along with the good ice growth makes this a great time to climb in Tuckerman.

I will try to get to Crawford Notch tomorrow to see how the rain affected the ice there.

 

Left of Left

Center Headwall

 

 

Tuesday December 12, 2006

Wildcat from the Base of Pinnacle

When I read the weather report yesterday from Mount Washington and saw this;
"Tomorrow will be the nicest day during the work week, so if you are looking at a day to play hooky, tomorrows the day".
Ryan Knapp
Meteorologist

I didn't have to be told twice to plan for some time in the mountains. My biggest problem was deciding what I would do. I wanted to ice climb but was a little nervous of the warm and sunny weather, the other alternative was to do a run/speed hike up to the summit of Mount Washington. I figured either way I would get some pictures and get an idea of the ice conditions. I saw friends of mine heading off to Rumney to do some sport climbing this morning. So with such a nice day with so much possible I burnt a bunch of time drinking coffee mulling over the alternatives. I finally decided to climb up a gully in Huntington and figured it would be either Pinnacle or Odell's, both are in the shade most of the day.

The Tuckerman Trail had snow on it but not enough to cover the rocks. There were some icy patches but it was pretty easy to get around them. The Huntington Fire Road was in better shape than the other day mainly because it had seen a lot of foot traffic this past weekend. The fan was also easier than the other day and I soon was at the base of Pinnacle.

North Gully

Pinnacle gully was in decent shape and O'Dells looked real good. The climbs in the sun looked a little baked but I think they'll recuperate if we keep the cold temperatures. I wouldn't call Pinnacle in but it was very climbable and would take protection in most places. The thing that might be a little disconcerting to those who haven't done Pinnacle in the early season is that there is a lot of water flowing beneath the climb. You can hear it the whole way and in places the ice is thin enough to bust through and see it. These "windows" were too small and shallow today to fall in to but it is always smart to stay to one side or the other where it is more solid.

It was spectacular up on the Alpine Garden with light wind, moderate temperatures and sunny skies. I crossed the Alpine Garden and descended down Tuckerman's to see how the ice there was. Tuckerman's is looking pretty good with a number of lines that look very climbable. It's still early season and the ice is new but from what I can see it's getting better up high. Let's hope for cold and snow this week.

I will try to get to Frankenstein and I am planning to go back up into the ravines later this week to see how the weather impacts things for the weekend.

 

First Pitch of Pinnacle

Upper Pitches of Pinnacle

Odell's

Tuckerman's

Tuckerman's

 

Sunday December 10, 2006

Standard Route

Today was a beautiful day in the mountains. I had plans to go to the local running club's Christmas party at noon which starts with a run. This morning though I had enough time to go to Frankenstein with Jay Philbrick. Jay and I headed out early and when we arrived at the Frankenstein parking lot we were the only car there. There was a few inches of snow on the ground and we quickly got to Standard and climbed the first two pitches in one long pitch. The climbing was great with plastic conditions and comfortable temperatures. I wouldn't call it "in" but it is close. Normally when Standard is in you can get a screw anywhere. Today you could get protection but not everywhere and sometimes only shorter screws. Regardless it was a fun and reasonable climb today.

Penguin

 

 

From the end of the first pitch we traversed over to Penguin and decided to climb that. At this point we went into the shade and things got a bit windier and colder. The Penguin is a great way to finish Standard but it is much harder. It is often done in the early season because the top part takes good rock gear so it can be climbed when it's thin. The first part of the pitch however is a steep column that needs to be able to take screws for protection.

Jay and I finished our morning at Frankenstein and headed back to the car. We were surprised to see no one else on any of the routes today and when we got to the parking lot we were still the only car in the lot.

I got home around 11:30 and in time for the White Mountain Milers Christmas run and party. The idea was to start our trail run near Cranmore and run up Black Cap Mountain. At 12:15 Art Viens, Gary Howard and I started our trail run while some of the other runners went off to do various road runs. The three of us went up a mountain bike trail called the Red Tail Trail which parallels Hurricane Mountain Road. The trail is perfect for running making easy switch backs up till near the top of Black Cap. The rock slabs near the summit were icy and made the footing difficult for the last little bit.

Art at the summit of Black Cap

This was my first time up the Red Tail Trail and from what I've heard it's only been fully built within the last 5 years. The Mountain Washington Valley never ceases to amaze me with the number and variety of trails. If your into mountain trail running or mountain biking and you can hook up with a local to do some exploring, jump at the chance. If more people knew what was available in this area for these sports it would become reconized as one of the best destinations in the country. Just remember take your trail running shoes or mountain bike with you next time your up here for some climbing. For more info on running trails check out US Mountain Running Team member Kevin Tilton's trail running page.

Once we got to the top of Black Cap we ran over to Hurricane Mountain Road and down a couple of miles to the party. All in all a great day with, good climbing, good running, good company and good food!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday December 9, 2006

It managed to stay reasonably cold today and there were a few parties out on the early season ice. Standard looked reasonable for this time of year and saw a number of ascents. It is the only route that's really doable at Frankenstein right now (as usual). A substantial (10 degrees or so) warm-up is expected over the next few days.

Standard, Frankenstein

Pegasus, Frankenstein

Chia, Frankenstein

Smear, Frankenstein

 

 

Friday December 8, 2006

I didn't get a chance to get into the mountains today but from the valley it seems that some significant snow has been falling on Mount Washington. For those thinking about climbing in Tuckerman Ravine on Saturday and even Sunday this snow could cause a hazard. It seems wise to consider the effect of this snow on the avalanche hazard.. Even a small slide that could knock you down over some ice bulges could have serious consequences. Before climbing in the ravines look to the avalanche forecast for information and don't let small slopes lull you into neglecting the hazard they may pose.

Thursday Dcember 7, 2006

Jay Philbrick an I went up to Crawford Notch this morning to do some climbing but we found warm temperatures and sunny skies. It was a beautiful day but too warm and sunny for us to go ice climbing. The ice that is there should hang in today but we need the cold to come back to fatten things up. Early season ice is all about timing and today was not the right time for us.

Wednesday Dcember 6, 2006

I went up to Crawford Notch today to see how this cold weather had started to form the ice. I was surprised by the amount of ice I saw. Although things are thin and many climbs are unclimbable some of the climbs appeared doable. I would say that things like Standard Route, Willey's Slide and possibly Cinema Gully might be able to get climbed.

If you want to do some climbing this coming weekend and you feel comfortable on thin early season ice that may be hard or impossible to protect, I think that you'll find something to do in Crawford Notch. The amount of climbing will be limited.

It appears that between Mount Washington and Crawford Notch there will be ice for those who are getting impatient. Remember the ice has only had a week to form and it is thin and new. Any warming will have a substantial impact. Even with low temperatures anything that gets sun will be affected adversely. The ice season will be here for awhile so try to resist getting too aggressive out there on ice that might not be quite ready.

If you are curious about what is happening on Mount Washington scroll down and check out yesterdays report..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tuesday December 5, 2006

After the last time I posted I went down to Boston to teach the classroom portion of an AIARE Level 1 Avalanche Course. The field day for that course will be in early January. I spent the whole weekend down in Boston enjoying a little city time. While I was away (as most of you know) winter came to the Northeast.

Today I decided to head up to Huntington and Tuckerman Ravines to see how much ice had formed. I could see from town that the mountain had gotten some snow over the last few days and given the temperature observations from the past couple of days I was expecting to see some climbable ice. I was not disappointed!!

So the route I had planned was to head to Huntington and climb the summer trail through the Headwall to the Alpine Garden, from there I would either go to the summit or traverse the Alpine Garden and then descend down Tuckerman Ravine. My late start and slow progress on the Huntington Ravine Fan and Headwall made a summit bid not very prudent so I crossed the garden today.

I started by running up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail to the Huntington Fire Road. I kept running past the Harvard Cabin and started walking a half mile or so past the cabin. At this point the footing got pretty tricky. It took me about 1 hour to get to the rescue cache at the base of Huntington. From there the footing kept getting more difficult. In my opinion this is the hardest time of year to travel in the mountains. There was about 6 to 8 inches of snow in the area. This was the perfect amount to hide enough of the rocks without filling in the gaps. I struggled up the scree pile of the fan and got to the base of the Central Buttress before I put my Kahtoola running crampons on.

The ice in Huntington was looking pretty good but it was in thin condition. There were things that were climbable and may even take some protection. The Harvard Slab at the base of Yale looked good and the flow coming from Diagonal look pretty climbable as well. Pinnacle was forming and I am sure it has been climbed in thinner condition than it is in now. What may be the hardest part of climbing in Huntington is the hike to the base of the climb you want to do!!!

The 3rd class section of the trail through the Headwall was snowy and slow going. Although it was not technical in that I did not feel the need for a rope, it was substantially more difficult than in the summer but my climbing experience made it a reasonable thing for me to do today. It took me 1 hour 15 minutes to finally get from the cache to the garden. At this point I jogged across the Alpine Garden to the Lion's Head Trail where I had to plow through the snow a little to the top of Tuckerman Ravine. The descent down that ravine was much easier but the ice was not as good as in Huntington. It looks like the increased amount of flow in Tuckermans has stunted the ice growth a little. I believe that in a couple of days that will change and there will be good climbing in Tuckermans. Given the conditions of the trails I would lean towards going to Tuckermans for early season ice but I would wait a few more days to let the ice fatten up.

Here are those vital stats for the mountain runners/speed hikes out there.

Weather: 0-5 degrees, 20 mph winds, light snow and freezing fog.
Trails: Tuckerman Ravine Trail, Huntington Fire Road,
Huntington Ravine Trail, Alpine Garden Trail,
Tuckerman Ravine Trail
Type of Trip: Loop
Distance: 8.4 miles
Elevation Change: +3447'
Time to Alpine Garden: 2 hours 15 minutes
Round-trip Time: 4 hours

 

 

 

 

 

Thursday November 30, 2006

My plan was to take a trip up Mount Washington today to check out conditions but it was so warm I decided to stay home and get some office work done. With the summit not spending much time below freezing this last week I am pretty confident there is no ice to check conditions on. It appears however that is will get cold and stay that way starting on Saturday. We may also get some snow in the higher elevation, so I suspect I'll have more to report on next week. My plan is to go up a few times next week so stay tuned the ice will come.

 

Tuesday November 21, 2006

Today was a beautiful day in the mountains so I decided to take a run/speed hike up through Tuckerman Ravine across Bigelow Lawn to Lakes of the Clouds Hut then up Mount Monroe. The trail up to Hermit Lake Shelters was mostly bare with a few icy spots. I ran up in light hiking boots and felt I could have used running shoes. From Hermit Lake things didn't change till I got onto the floor of the ravine. Ice is starting to form from the cold we had last night, before that though it had been warm. The ravine is virtually snowless but the trail started to get icy. This wasn't too bad till about halfway up the headwall on the trail where the ice became a more serious issue and caution needed to be exercised. I didn't put my Kahtoola running crampons on because there was still quite a bit of rock and my Screw Boots were working alright

The ravine ice was building but I am not sure if it will be worth climbing this weekend. There was a lot of water flowing and a veneer of ice over big sections but with sunny and seasonably warm temperature in the forecast it is hard to imagine that there will be enough buildup to do a lot of climbing. I'm about as good at predicting the future as the next guy!!! So my advice is to keep looking at the temperatures around 4000' on Mount Washington and make your own decision.

Another route that gets traditionally climbed on the Thanksgiving weekend is the Black Dike. It's hard to imagine it being in any real shape but again it all depends on the temperature. At least the Dike doesn't get much sun so if your up for thin, hard to protect ice that might be the place to head. Anyway enough with speculation. Let me leave you with this, if your traveling a long way you might be disappointed on what is available this holiday weekend, if you are in the area you might just catch some early season ice.

The rest of the hike was interesting. I saw something I can't remember ever seeing before, the Presidentials were all rimed except for the summit cone of Mount Washington. According to the observatory staff an undercast caused lower elevations to get rimed this morning while the summit stayed free of any rime ice. It was strange to see the mountains around Mount Washington all white while the summit looked completely bare.

The footing above tree line got a little better and I could start to run a little again (I had stopped running halfway between Hermit Lake and the floor of the ravine) but the rime on the rocks kept me cautious. There were very few people up on Washington today and I only saw people from a distance. The last person I saw on the trail was well below Hermit Lake. Once I got a little past Lake of the Clouds Hut I started walking again till I reached the summit of Monroe.

Reaching Monroe wasn't my highpoint oddly enough you actually get almost 200' higher on Bigelow Lawn on the Tuckerman Crossover Trail. From Monroe it was time to descend to Lakes then return by climbing back up to Bigelow Lawn then down the ravine. The ice on the descent down the ravine slowed me down a lot but before I knew it I was on the ravine floor and on my way down the dry trail back to Pinkham. All in all it was a great day. Here are some of the vital statistics for the trail runners out there. Have a Happy Thanksgiving

Weather: High 20's Low 30's Wind Calm
Trails: Tuckerman Ravine Trail, Tuckerman Crossover, Crawford Trail, Monroe Loop
Type of Trip: There and Back
Distance: 10 miles
Elevation Change (1 way only): +3767' -512'
Time to Monroe Summit: 2 hours 1 minute
Roundtrip Time: 3 hours 35 minutes