Monday March 24, 2008

Today my post isn't about Mount Washington, the White Mountains or the even about climbing and skiing. As some of you know my daughter Nia is currently a Peace Corps Volunteer in Monapo, Mozambique Africa and this report is about a situation that is occurring in that area of Mozambique. As you can imagine Nia has made friends with other Peace Corps Volunteers, two of those volunteers are stationed on the coast in Angoche, Mozambique about 100 miles away from were my daughter is. Those two friends of hers, Alex and Carolyn, have been struck by cyclone . Alex and Carolyn are all right but the area they are in has been devastated. Here is a link to the path of the cyclone named Jowke, Angoche is located right where the cyclone is mapped on March 9th. Fortunately for Mozambique a relatively small area was hit with the brunt of the storm before it continued Southeastward between the island of Madagascar and Mozambique down the Mozambique Channel. For that reason we here have not heard much about this but to my daughter's friends the town they live in and the surrounding areas has been severely affected.

Peace Corps Volunteers live and work in villages using the same infrastructure, supplies and food sources as the locals to do their work. These volunteers rely on there ability to organize and teach to make a difference. The volunteers are not given aid to distribute nor do they have access to any extra material. Normally this is fine, volunteers rely on their small network of friends and family at home to send supplies they need and generally get a lot done with very little. What has happened to Alex and Carolyn though is not normal and they are asking for help so that is why I am writing about it here. Alex has a blog here http://alexkruzel.blogspot.com/ . Here are some quotes from her blog;

" I lament to say that as each moment passes here in Angoche the graver our situation grows. To date, over 8,000 homes in our community have been destroyed. Some have been without electricity or access to potable water for weeks now. Our students, friends and community are starving. Countless are living without shelter and clothing, and thus must face the harsh rains that have been punishing Angoche completely exposed and vulnerable. Adults and children alike are dying of preventable diseases. Cholera and Malaria continue to spread rampantly from the stagnant water that submerges my community."

"Although anything you might have to offer could be put to good use, I believe the most immediate and effective mode of assistance would be a monetary donation. In Angoche clothing, building materials, school supplies and food are readily available for purchase; what prevents those affected by Jokwe from using them is the desperate lack of funds. Again, if circumstances permit and you are in a position where you can help, please contact my father, Mitchell Kruzel: mkruzel@bilzusa.com, as he will be able to transfer monetary donations to Mozambican account. (Also, in lieu of the donations we have received, my father has set up a paypal account to collect funds and then to transfer to Moz. You can contact him for more information)."

I talked with my daughter Nia the other day and she had made the 100 mile 13 hour journey to Angoche during the Easter break at the school she works at to see if she could help Alex and Carolyn. Soon Nia will have a spring break and will go back to Angoche to help. Disaster relief isn't what a Peace Corps Volunteer does but for Alex and Carolyn it is what their job has become and they need help. I told my daughter that I would do my best to get the word out and that is what I am doing now, if you can help please contact Alex's father Mitchell Kruzel: mkruzel@bilzusa.com

 

Friday March 21, 2008

Fun turns in the Gulf of Slides on Tuesday

Spring has arrived but winter conditions remain in the mountains, particularly today. Right now we are having high winds cold temperatures and snow on Mount Washington. I just returned from a quick skin up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail to Hermit Lake and then down the Sherburne Ski Trail and the weather was brutal with a truly wintery feel. There have been glimpses of spring however, case in point was on Tuesday a beautiful sunny day with warm temperatures. I was able to take advantage of the weather Tuesday to ski in the Gulf of Slides. In my previous post I mention that the ski conditions were difficult with windblown snow on a persistent ice crust. I also said that the crust probably would only soften on sunny days on south facing slopes. In the Gulf of Slides Tuesday the sun was strong enough to help stabilize the wind slab and in some areas soften the crust. On one run I was able to ski corn to wind affected powder, the Gulf of Slides that day truly felt like spring. The weather after Tuesday has been a potpourri of precipitation and temperature with rain and warm temperatures right to the summit of Mount Washington to high wind, snow and cold temperatures today. Spring is a transitional season and this week we finished winter with spring conditions and started spring with winter conditions.

The weather this week has changed the ski conditions somewhat. The rain on Wednesday created another crust and the snow and wind today is creating more wind slab. Once all this wind calms down we will know better how things are but it looks like it could be the same kind of thing with decent skiing on wind blown snow that has a potential avalanche hazard or an ice crust. I would expect the wind blown snow to be much stiffer however due to the high winds. Sunny weather could soften the crust and help stabilize the wind blown snow. On sunny aspects in the lower alpine zone the crust might soften to give good spring snow type conditions. The Sherburne today was variable with wind affected powder and icy exposed crust, I would say that right now its about 60-65% soft snow and 35-40% ice crust. That could change since the wind continues to blow as I am writing this.

On Thursday I was ice climbing with Eric. We headed to Standard at Frankenstein so Eric could do his first leads on ice. After a little clinic on screw placement and anchor building Eric led all of Standard. After doing that route Eric top roped Dracula Right Side and Left Side. For this late in the season there is a lot of ice. Not much has changed since my last report, I would venture to say that today things are probably getting better. So the bottom line is if it's cold and cloudy ice seems to be the best bet, if it is warm and sunny I'd think skiing.

Turns in one of the Fingerlings to the north of Gully #3

More turns high in Gully #1

Powder in Gully #1

Eric starting out on the lead of the 2nd pitch of Standard

Eric higher up on the 2nd pitch of Standard

Having a great time on good ice, Dracula Right Side

 

Monday March 17, 2008

A good sized crown line in Lobster Claw gully photo taken today

It has been awhile since I last posted. Winter is still going strong despite how close we are to spring. Since the last post I have taught two avalanche courses and ice climbed at Frankenstein. I am getting to the point where I am slowly changing from going ice climbing to going skiing. Since most of my winter work revolves around ice climbing I don't get much time on my skis till late March. This year I will be staying around skiing on Mount Washington instead of my normal trip to France and Switzerland for the Haute Route and or The Berner Oberland Tour. I am pretty excited about how much snow we have in the mountains and am getting anxious for the heart of the spring ski season. Having said that I'm also enjoying the soft fat late winter ice that appears to be sticking around a little longer this year.

The ice conditions right now are pretty good. What starts to happen this time of year is the sun really takes its toll on the ice so anything with a southern tilt starts to deteriorate pretty rapidly. At Frankenstein Chia and Pegasus are getting pretty baked and are close to seeing the end of the season. As they are I would only consider them on a cold cloudy day if at all. Smear looked a bit better but will soon be done as well. Hobbit and Rock Finish should be round for quite some time because they are tucked back and don't get as much sun. Further down the tracks Standard, Standard Left and Dracula are fat and really fun to climb. Those routes will likely be around for some time. There appears to be things to still climb at Cathedral but that probably that won't last much longer.

On Saturday March 15th Bruce and I headed to Frankenstein, we climbed a thin mixed variation to Standard then finished up on Penguin after that we did Dracula Right Side and we topped the day off with Standard Left. All the climbing was fun but the combination of the variation to Standard to Penguin was particularly interesting.

On Friday and today I was in the area of Hermit Lake and Tuckerman Ravine doing avalanche courses. The coverage on Mount Washington keeps getting better and better, it truly looks to be a remarkable spring ski season. Right now however things are a bit difficult because spring conditions have yet to begin. In my last post I had been climbing in Huntington Ravine and I mentioned the icy snowpack the rain on Saturday March 8th had created, that crust is still around and causing some problems. Since that rain event Mount Washington has been getting small amounts of snow with generally moderate winds. What that has created is wind slabs on the crust in various areas but not complete coverage so that the ice crust has been still visible in quite a few areas. Yesterday and last night the mountain received the most amount of snow since the rain event and the wind started to blow pretty hard, that created quite a bit of loading that continued through today. The bottom line is that to find some good skiing in the alpine zones you have to stay on the wind slab because the ice crust is more conducive to crampons than ski edges. Since the wind slab is relatively new with the newest layer put down today there is a real avalanche risk skiing the wind slab. This doesn't mean there is no reasonable place to ski since the wind slab has variable thickness and cohesion. What it does mean is that skiing right now has to be done very carefully with a clear understanding of the risk from both the avalanche hazard and from the falling hazard on the crust. Eventually the spring sun will be strong enough to stabilize the wind slab, how soon that happens could be measured in days or if we keep getting small amounts of snow with wind the concern over snow stability could persist. It may be awhile before we get warm enough temperatures to soften up the crust where it is exposed, the best bet for the crust to soften up will be sunny aspects on clear days on the lower elevations of the alpine zone.

Bruce on a variation to the right of Standard

Above the crux on the variation of Standard

A fat Standard Route

Bruce on Dracula

Ice crust and wind slab in Tuckerman Ravine photo taken today

Nice turns in Gulf of Slides Photo taken today by Jay Philbrick

We still have a fat snowpack this bridge is on the Gulf of Slides Ski Trail near Pinkham Photo taken today by Jay Philbrick

 

Monday March 10, 2008

Today I had the opportunity to climb with Steve in Huntington Ravine. It was a nice day but it felt a little cold for March. Although it felt more like late January or early February the one thing that is great about March is the long days. Huntington Ravine didn't suffer at all from the rain on Saturday, all the climbs are good and the snow coverage is great. There were a number of people out today with parties on Pinnacle, Yale, Damnation and someone soloing up Escape Hatch. Steve and I decided to climb Damnation and the Damnation Buttress, it was a route Steve had not done before.

The conditions in Huntington are very good with good snow coverage and thick ice. All the climbs looked to be in great shape and the rain created a hard icy snowpack. The storm on Saturday ended with some snow but not very much, with the change to snow came high winds that for the most part scoured out Huntington Ravine. We found only one small snow patch all day and that was near the bottom of the fan. Steve and I didn't get any views of Tuckerman Ravine because we chose to descend Huntington Ravine but from the avalanche report from today it appears some of the snow has blown into Tucks creating a slab in the Lip and Headwall area.

The descent Steve and I chose was the Pinnacle/Odell's/ South descent. We started by walking across a very well covered Alpine Garden, the frozen snow on the Alpine Garden made travel very easy. We then downclimbed the main gully of Odell's till we joined the gully that descends from the Pinnacle Buttress and then continued on over to South by the route described here.

Steve above the ice in Damnation

Climbing up an icy Damnation Buttress

More on the Damnation Buttress

 

Friday March 7, 2008

Hillman's Hihway looking fat Photo Jay Philbrick

It seems that we are continuing this winters stormy pattern with another storm predicted for tonight and tomorrow. I climbed with Peter on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. On both days the weather forecast looked pretty grim with rain showers and a wintery mix predicted. In the end the forecast was correct but the climbing was much better than I thought it would be. In fact Tuesday was one of the best days condition wise I have had this year. The ice was soft with one swing tool placements and things were not very wet. Another benefit was we had the Frankenstein Amphitheater to ourselves all day! We started on Pegasus with the column finish that morning then went to Rock Finish, Hobbit Couloir, Chia Direct and finally Smear Direct. Lots of steep ice in warm temperatures and perfect ice.

On Wednesday Peter wanted to do some leading so we went to Standard Route at Frankenstein. The weather was again looking grim but the temperatures were colder than expected and the precipitation was either sleet or light freezing rain. The colder temperatures resulted in ice that was more brittle than the day before but still pretty good. After Peter finished doing a good job leading all the pitches of Standard I had him do a quick top rope lap on Dracula Right Side. Again Frankenstein was quiet with only one other party that we saw the whole day.

Yesterday was a beautiful day and I had the pleasure of climbing with Craig. I have been climbing with Craig for more than 10 years but due to injuries he has been unable to climb the last two, it was good to see him out there again. We started with the Right Side of Standard to warm up. After rappelling off we did the center line on Standard in one long pitch then rappelled again. Craig was climbing well for a two year hiatus so we hiked up to Dracula and did a quick ascent of that. Unlike the previous two days Thursday was a busy day at Frankenstein, it looked more like a weekend than midweek.

Today I have the day off but it looks beautiful out, the weather forecast however has a another wintry mix in store. Given what happened at the beginning of the week it could still be a good weekend to ice climb but if we get significant rain it could have a large negative impact on conditions. Climbs are pretty good particularly anything with a northern tilt to them like Standard and Dracula. Things with a southern tilt like Chia and to a less extent Smear are starting to become punky and may not be a good idea on a sunny day. Conditions now will begin to deteriorate and rain will have a large permanent negative impact now, so how long we have a wide variety of climbs will be based on when we get a significant rain. Huntington Ravine however should be good for quite some time.

As we get to the beginning of the end of ice season the peak of the backcountry ski season will soon be upon us. With that in mind I have included some pictures sent to me from a friend of the Gulf of Slides taken on Tuesday and some of Tuckerman Ravine sent in from Jay Philbrick takn yesterday. It looks like we are in for a great backcountry ski season this year!

Peter on Pegasus

The Rock Finish

Looking down Smear

Peter finishing the crux of Smear

Standard Right Side

Craig above the cave on Standard Right Side

Looking down Dracula

These are the Boott Spur gullies, on the far left is Gully 3. Below where the photo was taken is where the two slide paths merge. Photo from a friend

The Boott Spur gullies and Gully 3 look like they all slid together, crossing the trail. This is the view as you ski up along the trail to where you cross the slide path. Photo from a friend

 

Monday March 3, 2008

This past weekend I was climbing with Tom. Tom had a little rock experience none of which was multi-pitch and virtually no ice experience but was very anxious to do some climbing. On Saturday it was snowing and most low angle climbs were stuffed with snow. We decided to head to the Standard area at Frankenstein. Frankenstein was busy but parties were working well together so it seemed everyone was having a good time Tom and I had to wait a bit but it worked out since there was some techniques and skills I wanted to go over wit him. Once we got on the route Tom took to ice very well and we were able to do Standard in 3 pitches. This was not only Tom's first real ice climb but also his first multi-pitch climb as well. After our descent we did the Standard Left flow and rappelled.

On Sunday the weather had gotten colder and it was windy so we headed into the protected Amphitheater at Frakenstein. Our first climb was Chia then we headed to Rock Finish. By that time quite a few climbing parties had come to the area. Once we hiked down from Rock Finish there were parties on Pegasus, Hobbit, Chia and Chia Direct. The only open climb in the area was Rock Finish which we had just done. Tom and I wanted to get another climb in so I checked out a variation to Chia that is best described as Chia Right. In the end 3 parties did Chia simultaneously with no one crossing any ropes and no one knocking ice down on another party. This was a classic example of climbers maximizing the opportunities of a single flow.

The conditions at Frankenstein are good. South facing exposures like Chia are seeing some effect but the ice is sill good. It is hard to tell how long things will last but for now the climbing is still fun. There is a storm coming and it appears that it will be of the mixed variety, after the storm temperatures are predicted to still be pretty cold and there are no real sunny days predicted, so we may see the ice get better. Let's hope that we do get either snow or a mix rather than just rain because rain just might do more harm than good.

Tom on the snowy crux of Standard just above the cave

Chia still looking good

Tom on the Rock Finish

Tom just above the crux of Chia Right Side

Another party on Chia Right Side