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Marc's
Conditions Web Log
Friday February 29, 2008 Leap Day!
The last two days I have been ice climbing with Dom. The weather has been cold and it has been feeling more like January than late February. It looks like we'll be getting more snow with a foot predicted for tonight and tomorrow, seems like March will be coming in like a lion. Yesterday Dom and I went to Cathedral to do Repentance. It look pretty fat but the crux at the start of the second pitch look disconnected with a substantial overhang. In the end the overhang stopped us. We rappelled off and headed to Super Goofer. Dom led the 1st pitch and I continued from there. We reached the top of Cathedral via the Big Flush late in the afternoon then rappelled down back to the packs then did a great glissade back to the road.
Today Dom and I went to the Amphitheater at Frankenstein. Dom led Pegasus to the Rock Finish and Chia, I then led up Pegasus The cold temperatures are keeping the climbs in good shape. You can tell however that the sun is getting more powerful when you climb anything with a south exposure. Chia s starting to get pretty baked out but it is still in but it won't last long if we get many sunny days. The Pegasus column has gully reformed and should stay good for some time unless we get rain. Hobbit looks like it has gotten quite a few ascents and Smear looks pretty fat.
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Tuesday February 26, 2008
It has been over a week since I have written. The last two weeks I have been getting over a cold an have not been motivated to keep up my log, but since the 17th I have worked every day but one. On Monday the 18th I was teaching a 1 day avalanche refresher; fortunately I was indoors while it rained! Tuesday I had the day off and then a good string of climbing began. On Wednesday I climbed with Katherine, Joost, and a friend of theirs from Canada. We climbed the three variations of Standard at Frankenstein. The ice was soft and wet from the rain earlier in the week. On Thursday I climbed with Scott and Dan, it just so happened that we also climbed the three variations of Standard. On that day however, the ice had gotten very brittle due to cold temperatures. It felt more like January than late February. Scott, Dan, and I climbed again on Friday but this time up in Huntington Ravine. We climbed Damnation to Damnation Buttress. Over the weekend I taught a two day avalanche course and then started this week with back to back ascents on Mount Washington via Right Gully, yesterday with Heros, Tom, and Mike and today with Mick and Ron.
For conditions, it seems winter is hanging in strong. Although we had rain a week ago, the ice stayed in pretty good. On Mount Washington the rain created an icy snowpack that was great for climbing but created limited skiing options. Signs of spring however did appear on some south facing slopes. Yesterday Right Gully softened a bit as the sun beat down on it. Right now it is snowing and we are expecting a foot or more. Over the last week I have spent a fair bit of time on Mount Washington and we have great coverage on the mountain for skiing. I am getting pretty anxious for the late winter early spring ski season. It appears that it will be one of the best we have had in a few years!
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Sunday February 17, 2008
I talked to Jay Philbrick today, he had been into the Gulf of Slides and sent this report and pictures to me.
The Gulf of Slides Ski Trail and The Gulf of Slides are both about as well covered as they ever are, simply tons of snow everywhere. All the gullies in The Gulf have recently avalanched and some have avalanched about as big as I have ever seen. Gully #2 and the Boot Spur Gully that forms the big dip in the Gulf of Slides Ski Trail just before it flattens out have both run across the trail. Lots of good sized trees down all over the place, Gully #3 went huge, going out of its normal path (to skier's left) and opening up a whole new slope.
What this means to us as skiers is that right now everything is fat and in. The Gulf is easily approachable and there will be great skiing once snow stability and quality improves. Today stability was poor where new snow had been wind deposited on Wednesday's crust since the big slides. In fact on a couple of spots on the trail that are good indicators for what might be going on up higher I saw a very reactive soft slab had formed. As soon as we get some snow to bond on the nasty crust created by Wednesday's storm, the skiing will be amazing. The Sherburne Ski Trail was great skiing today. Skier traffic had broken up the crust left by Wednesday's storm. The Gulf of Slides Ski Trail however would have been very difficult to ski due to the crust.
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Friday February 15, 2008
Elaine, Denis and I were climbing in the Frankenstein Amphitheater today. We climbed Chia, Rock Finish and Pegasus. There were other parties that climbed Hobbit and Smear. It appears that there will be plenty of ice for the Presidents Day Weekend. The next big weather event that might effect the ice is the rain showers and warm weather that is predicted for Monday. Hopefully it will be a minor event and may even help the ice if we get light rain and then cold temperatures. I guess we'll find out Monday. Till then I hope you have a good long weekend of climbing.
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Thursday
February 14, 2008
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Eric near the top of Mount Willard with Mount Jefferson in the background |
Over the weekend I was teaching an avalanche course and the field day was on Sunday. There were two things of note on Sunday, the great powder skiing on the Sherburne Trail and the rapid and dramatic change in the weather around 2:15pm. I have been on Mount Washington on days when the weather has changed quickly but Sunday's experience has to be one of the fastest and most violent I can remember occuring in the winter. It was as if a switch was flipped and a relatively calm and warm day turned into near whiteout conditions with wind and snow at Hermit Lake.
On Tuesday Eric and I climbed Cinema Gully. I was surprised by how much snow had plastered the climb and was happy to see that the climb was in good shape from an ice thickness point of view. There were a few places where there were wind slabs that had some potential for a human triggered avalanche but they were very avoidable. Once we topped out on Cinema, we traversed to the East Slabs and went to the summit.
Today I was
at Frankenstein with Denis and Elaine. We started on Bob's so we
could enjoy the sun and get out of the wind. Just above the middle
of the climb it is starting to get pretty thin and may not be climbable
after another sunny day. If you do get on it expect a very thin
top out just above the halfway point just as it kicks back after
the crux. After climbing Bob's we braved the wind and headed to
Standard climbing that route to the top. The ice on both climbs
had a frozen snow covering over a large part of them from yesterdays
snow, sleet and freezing rain. This made for pretty easy tool placements.
Standard as you can imagine is in very good shape.
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Friday February 8, 2008
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Pegasus
Column on Wednesday February 5, 2008 |
The last three days I have been at Frankenstein. On Wednesday I was there with Peter and Harry. Yesterday and today I was there with Dom. The biggest difference between those days was the number of people around. On Wednesday Peter, Harry, and I had the Amphitheater to ourselves. Yesterday Dom and I shared the Amphitheater with one other party but only in the afternoon. Today the scene changed quite a bit with the start of Icefest. The number of people at Frankenstein had multiplied substantially. This was one of the busiest Fridays that I can remember and if it is any indication, it looks like it will be a busy weekend.
In general all the normally forming ice looks to be in good shape and with all the snow we have been getting, the atmosphere is one of an old fashion winter. All the trails have been broken out at Frankenstein but what the trails are like at Willard or Webster is anyone's guess. If a trail has not been broken out, expect some strenuous trailbreaking but nothing impossible. The routes I have climbed these last few days are Pegasus, Rock Finish, Chia, Bob's Delight, Standard, and Penguin. All these routes are in including Bob's but Bob's could go out of shape quickly if we get a warm sunny day.
Today I got a call from Jay Philbrick and he told me about his day with his friend Jeff up in the Gulf of Slides. Today the avalanche hazard was elevated so he and Jeff made careful route finding decisions and skied in the South Snowfields. Jay's report of the ski conditions up in the Gulf of Slides sounded great with all the gullies filling in nicely. During the day today Jay ski cut a small slab causing a skier controlled Canadian class 1 avalanche. As I said Jay was very careful today and did not push too hard due to the conditions but he and Jeff did get some nice powder turns. There are pictures below of the skiing and of the south snowfields. It looks like as soon as the snow stability improves we'll have some good skiing.
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Tuesday February 5, 2008
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A beautiful day with great views from the Alpine Garden Yesterday |
On Friday February 1st Jerry and I climbed Cinema Gully and the East Slabs to the summit of Mount Willard. It was quite a bit fatter than when I did it a week and a half ago. The interesting feature of the day was the storm that blew in late morning. You could see the clouds march up the notch and the wind picked up to around 30 mph. I thought that Mount Washington would be getting serious winds but when I checked the hourly reports when I got home Mount Washington never really got to 50 mph. I am glad Cinema is in pretty good shape, it's a great alpine style climb that can lead to a summit and it has a very short approach. A nice alternative to Huntington when Mount Washington has bad conditions.
On Saturday February 2nd Will started a 3 day mountaineering course with me. Will had some rock climbing experience and had led some sport routes. Will wanted a steep ice experience so we made the decision to head to Frankenstein. I was surprised how many cars were in the Frankenstein parking lot, I quickly realized that most of the moderate climbs would be taken up with groups so we headed into the Amphitheater. After a short clinic on ice climbing Will an I climbed up the 1st pitch of Hobbit. Will did a great job given it was his first experience with crampons. Once Will arrived at the belay no one was waiting for the climb so I lowered him down to reclimb the 1st pitch. It was remarkable how the second run solidified his technique. Once he arrived at the belay we rappelled off and I had hoped we could get on Chia. At this point the Amphitheater was getting busy and most climbs had parties on them and the only opening was on Rock Finish. Having watched Will's ability and given his rock experience I figured Rock Finish would be OK. We did the route from the Hobbit start and I led it in one pitch, Will did great. As we descended past Chia another party had gotten in line so we still couldn't get on that route so we went for Pegasus as it was the only appropriate climb open. Again Will did great and again we noticed Chia was occupied during our descent. Our next climb was going to be Hobbit but the 1st pitch of that was taken so we headed to the steep right side of Chia. Again Will did great, after that climb we were ready to call it a day. I was pretty impressed by the climbs Will was able to complete in good style on his first day with crampons on.
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Will on the summit of Mount Washington on Sunday |
The conditions in the Amphitheater are good. A few days before I thought that the pillar on Rock Finish was difficult but since that it has seen a few ascents and has gotten a bit easier. The crux of Hobbit looks to me to be in its usual condition but I hear people saying it's harder than normal. I can't say since I haven't had the chance to climb it. The Pegasus Column looks a little funky but climbs and protects well with good stances. The right side of Chia (Chia Direct) was hollow and the protection was questionable but I was getting good sticks although the hollow sounds were a bit disconcerting. I saw a party or two on Bob's but I don't know if it is in.
On Sunday Will and I packed up for a two day stay on Mount Washington, we planned on camping in the vicinity of the Harvard Cabin. The weather Sunday was foggy and windy on the mountain and the avalanche hazard was elevated. We decided to head up to the cabin set up the tent and give the summit a go via Lion's Head Trail. After setting up the tent we left the Harvard Cabin at 11:30 and summited 3 hours later. The descent went quickly facilitated by good glissading conditions on the Lion's Head Trail.
On Monday the weather got much better with partly to mostly sunny skies, calm winds and a low avalanche hazard. Will and my plan was to climb Damnation with the Damnation Buttress Finish. It was a great day and all the climbs in Huntington were looking good. The only news about conditions in the ravine is that the ice crust from the January thaw is getting covered up in the lower part of the ravine below the climbs but is still there quite often on the climbs. This makes the approaches easier with interesting climbs. Also for skiers the conditions on the fan looked pretty good. Now more snow has fallen and should help make the skiing even better. I hope you enjoy the pictures.
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