Thursday January 29, 2009

Crown line at the top of the South Snowfield in the Gulf of Slides

We had another storm yesterday and I had a few days off to enjoy the skiing. Yesterday I left late in the day so I could ski the most amount of new snow. With the limited visibility and snow falling at or more than an inch an hour I wasn't planning on entering any avalanche terrain. My goal was to ski both the Gulf of Slides Ski Trail and the Sherburne Trail. I started skinning up the Gulf of Slides Ski Trail around 1:30 PM and ended up with a beautiful run down. At the bottom I put the skins back on and headed up to Hermit Lake. Once I reached Hermit Lake I did a quick transition and headed down the Sherburne for another great run reaching the my car at 4:45 PM.

Today I was hoping that this latest storm would be another windless one like the previous two had pretty much been. I wanted to see if I could get some skiing in the Gulf of Slides and I knew any windloading would elevate the avalanche hazard quite a bit. For the past two days I had been looking at pressure maps for the 850mb level to see how this storm would leave us. My read was that we would get a few hour of wind from the WNW late last night or early this morning then things should calm down. I woke this morning to some disappointing news, the latest observations from the summit of Mount Washington showed a number of hours of intense winds that were sustained at one point around 100mph, that was much higher than I had hoped.

Despite the bad news Jay and I figured we go up and ski down the Gulf of Slides Ski Trail so we headed out from Pinkham at 9:30 this morning. The trail up to the gulf had not been broken out and all the tracks from yesterday were filled in, the trailbreaking was pretty brutal. As we climbed the sky was clearing and the wind died down and there was no ridge top blowing snow. Since windloading today would be the natural trigger for any avalanche activity the wind dying meant we could get into the Gulf of Slides where the runout zones are. Our foray into the gulf let us get a good view of the conditions and see what had slide. The wind last night had done its job loading many of the gullies and signs of avalanche activity were seen in most of the gullies but they had also been refilled and look pretty loaded. The one crown that had not filled in was in the South Snowfield. Apparently that sloped had avalanched pretty late and soon after it ran the wind must have died and it did not see the refilling the other major gullies in the gulf had seen.

Jay and I decided it was worth the bush whack over to the South Snowfields to see what was going on over there. Unbelievably the South Snowfields had gone big and the debris and the bed surface in the start zone of the avalanche were visible, it had not reloaded. After some discussion Jay and I pick a line into the terrain and we were able to reasonably make our way to the crown line. We were careful to stay away from any loaded slopes, particularly the far south end of the gulf which didn't appear to have avalanched and was likely to be something a human could trigger. The chances of a natural avalanche though was slim since with no wind and moderate temperatures no natural trigger existed. We estimated that for most of the line of our ascent the snow stability was good to very good with the hazard low. There was one section where we crossed a rib and hit fair stability and moderate hazard but it was short.

After reaching the crown Jay and I decided we would stay below it. We weren't afraid that we would trigger an avalanche above it really. What we were concerned about is that as we approached the crown from the top on the ski down that a small piece would break off and result in a fall. Since the bed surface was a hard packed powder we thought the falling hazard would be nasty. The crown was nearly at the top of the slope so it wasn't going to give us that much more skiing anyway.

From the crown Jay and I skied one at a time down to our traverse across the buttress. We traversed the buttress separated then got into some very skiable debris and made our way to the base of the South Snowfield. In the end the combination of high winds loading the South Snowfields with enough snow to avalanche and then the wind diminishing so that it would not reload gave Jay and I an opportunity to ski that slope. Had the South Snowfield not avalanched last night or had it refilled like the other gullies Jay and I would not have ventured beyond the runouts today.

Here are the summit observations from last night through today

Time/Date	Temperature F (C)	Wind speed and Direction
4 PM /Jan 29	1.9 (-16.7)	WNW 14
3 PM /Jan 29	5 (-15)	WNW 21
2 PM /Jan 29	5.0 (-15.0)	WNW 24
1 PM /Jan 29	5.4 (-14.8)	No Data
Noon /Jan 29	6 (-14)	WNW 32
11 AM /Jan 29	5 (-15)	No Data
10 AM /Jan 29	-2 (-19)	WNW 63
9 AM /Jan 29	-2 (-19)	WNW 68
8 AM /Jan 29	No Data	No Data
7 AM /Jan 29	No Data	WNW 75
6 AM /Jan 29	-4 (-20)	WNW 69
5 AM/Jan 29	-4 (-20)	WNW 81
4 AM /Jan 29	-4 (-20)	WNW 89
3 AM /Jan 29	No Data	No Data
2 AM /Jan 29	3 (-16)	W 101
1 AM /Jan 29	5 (-15)	W 87
Midnight /Jan 29	8 (-13)	W 79
11 PM / Jan 28	10 (-12)	W 40

 

Our line of ascent and descent in the South Snowfields Click on the picture for a larger version

Jay getting to the toe of the debris

In the thick part of the debris

Looking down from the top of the debris

Jay just below the crown line

The far south slope that hadn't avalanched

The crown line with the bush on the upper right where we started our run

A wide view of the South Snowfields just before reentering the woods

 

Friday January 23, 2009

Maxx at the top of the 2nd pitch of the Standard Route

Most of my time at work is spent climbing with very motivated people. These last three days were no exception. The only difference was that this time I was climbing with youth as well. The combination of the strength, flexibility, and athleticism of teenagers along with motivation makes for a quick learning curve in climbing. Terry, Maxx, and Peter ranged in age from 15 to 18 years old. All three were friends and were fulfilling a curriculum requirement from there high school to plan and experience a subject of their choice and these three chose ice climbing. All were relatively inexperienced and had not climbed ice before. Terry had spent one day rock climbing with me this past summer. He and Maxx had also been to a climbing gym a number of times and the only time Peter had ever been belayed was on a ropes course he had done a few years before.

The three days of climbing started in a pretty normal way with a top rope clinic on the Practice Slab at Frankenstein. In a short period of time the three were ready for their first multi-pitch ice climb so we headed down the railroad tracks and climbed the Standard Route. As each pitch was climbed the group was beginning to coalesce into a well functioning team.

On the second day I wanted to get the guys comfortable on vertical sections of ice so I brought them over to Bob's Delight. Each of them climbed that route with little difficulty. Next on the agenda was an introduction to mixed climbing and the best place nearby to do that was Pegasus with the Rock Finish. To top off the day, we climbed Chia and then headed home.

For our third and last day, I wanted to cap the experience with a solid accomplishment. I wanted a route that would require the multi-pitch skills we covered the first day and the steep ice and mixed climbing of the second day. After thinking about it for a while I decided that we would give Super Goofer with the Big Flush Finish a go. I knew that this route would be very challenging and would push them to perform well using all the skills we had covered. When we arrived at the parking area for Cathedral there were two climbers getting ready to head up to do the very same route. Seeing we were a party of four I was pretty confident that the group ahead would not slow us down and because of the nature of the fall lines on the route, ice fall would be manageable. We started hiking slowly up to the base of the route and soon noticed that there was already another party up on Goofer's. A Thursday and there are three parties heading up Goofer's! The party we saw in the parking lot headed quickly up an alternate first pitch of the route by starting up the Big Flush. As soon as they cleared that pitch we started up behind them. As I was belaying Terry, Peter, and finally Maxx up the first pitch, I was entertained by a very smooth and well climbed lead of the Super Goofer's pillar by the leader of the party ahead of us. As I had expected, the two climbers we met at the lot climbed very quickly and soon it was my turn to lead the crux ice pillar. During this time the other party we had seen when we got to the base was having a good time on Goofer's.

I have climbed Super Goofer's a few times but this ascent seemed a bit harder. It may be just me but it could be in hard condition. Put it this way, it wasn't in easy condition! After leading that pitch it was time for Maxx, Peter, and Terry to have a go. Since I was impressed by the difficulty of the pillar I was a bit concerned that the guys might not have fun but instead they were up to the challenge and they all did well getting up the ice crux. With this behind us, we struck out onto the last pitch up the Big Flush. The pitch starts with moderate ice that steepens to the base of a small rock overhang that has frozen sod above it. After surmounting the overhang on solid turf sticks, a stance is reached. From the stance you climb another steep section to a steep turf finish. Truly a classic New England turf climb!!! Peter, Terry, and Maxx all did well but found the transition from ice to rock/turf an interesting challenge. In the end, they had progressed in three days from the Practice Slab at NEI 2+ to Super Goofer at a solid NEI 5, just goes to show what youthful motivation can do!

Top roping Bob's Delight at the start of the 2nd day

Learning how to mix it up on Rock Finish on the 2nd day

Peter and Terry on Chia, the final 2nd day climb

A party ahead of us on Super Goofer's on the 3rd day

Looking across to Goofer's with a party on it

Terry finishing the crux of Super Goofer's

Maxx at the rest after the crux of Super Goofer's

Maxx topping out on the Big Flush finish to Super Goofer's

Peter and Terry at the top of Cathedral after finishing Super Goofer's with the Big Flush Finish

 

 

Monday January 19, 2009

A nice fat Bob's Delight

The MLK weekend cold snap is over! I was lucky to have some days off during the coldest time. Yesterday's storm helped bring in the warmer temperatures and put down more snow than expected. I had the day off and decided to take advantage of the new snow and do some skiing. I started a little late leaving my house around 12:45 and did the slow snowy drive up to Pinkham. After parking my car and getting my boots on I started skinning up to the Gulf of Slides Ski Trail between 1:15 and 1:30. After skinning up to the base of the Gulf I started my ski down. The trail had been skied by quite a few people but the conditions were still excellent, a true powder run. Once I got back to Pinkham I put the skins back on and headed up to Hermit Lake. When I arrived there I quickly removed the skins and got ready for the descent. Once again the skiing was excellent even though the Sherburne Trail had been skied by a greater number of people than the Gulf of Slides Ski Trail had. I finished my powder skiing for the day at 4:20 and headed home. All I can say about conditions is that the snow is great for skiing and both the Gulf of Slides and the Sherburne Ski Trails have excellent coverage.

Today I got the chance to climb at Frankenstein with Manny and Pavel. We started by warming up on Bob's Delight where we did a few top rope laps to work on some technique. After Bob's we headed into the main part of the Amphitheater and climb Rock Finish. After hiking off that we did Hobbit. Up to this point I had been doing the leading but Pavel wanted to get a lead in so he did Chia. After finishing that climb we had time for one more ascent so we did Pegasus. The conditions were very good with Bob's being very fat and good conditions on all the climbs we did. I also got a look at Hard Rain just left of Chia and that route looked fatter than I have ever seen it. Apparently the cold and snow has helped get the climbs in good shape and with the forecast we have for this week it seems that the ice will only get better.

One thing I did notice looking at the conditions on Mount Washington this evening is that the wind has not been blowing much after this storm. That means an elevated avalanche hazard may stick around for a few day with so much snow around and light to moderate wind moving that snow over a sustained period of time. The moderate winds will be good for loading but may not be strong enough to scour any of the windward avalanche start zones. This is the second storm we have had in as many weeks that did not finish off with high winds, a unique thing around here.

Pavel stemming wide on a difficult Hobbit Couloir

Manny focusing on his feet on the Hobbit

Manny nearing the top on Hobbit

Pavel on the lead on Chia

Pavel belaying at he top of Chia

Manny on the Pegasus column

 

Monday January 12, 2009

Vinny on the first pitch of Standard, his first multi-pitch climb Jan 6, 2009

Even with the holidays over this past week was still quite busy. Most of the climbing and work I have been doing however has not been typical ice climbing so I haven't been able get first hand information on conditions. Last weekend January 3-4 I was teaching an avalanche course. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I was climbing with Vinny who signed up for a Mountaineering Course and this past weekend Jan10-11 I taught the field day of an Avalanche Course on Saturday and did an ascent of Mount Washington on Sunday.

The three days I spent with Vinny were very interesting. The typical 3 Day Mountaineering Course starts with basic crampon techniques on the first day with the next two days usually spent on Mount Washington . Unfortunately there was a storm predicted for Wednesday and that was likely to elevate the avalanche hazard which would have kept us from going into either ravine.

After consulting with Vinny, we modified the plan a bit. The first day of the course I worked with Vinny on some steeper ice at Frankenstein starting with a top rope at the Trestle Practice Slab. Afterward we headed to Standard and climbed the Right-Side Variation AKA the Window Route. At the top of the 2nd pitch we rappelled off and started up the normal route of Standard reaching the top in three pitches. The second day we packed overnight packs and headed to Webster Cliffs in Crawford Notch and climbed Central. At the top we set up for a night out and on the last day we hiked down the Webster-Jackson Trail and back to the car.

Although I do not have much to report about ice conditions I was surprised by how much thicker Standard had become since I had I last climbed it about a week before. I can also give you some info about Central on Webster Cliffs. For the most part Central is in good shape although this last storm will make the bottom section more of a snow slog than the nice cramponing we had. The big surprise was the crux near the top. I was expecting a solid NEI 3 or 3+ pitch but what we got was a difficult to protect mixed pitch. The 60-70 foot crux was fun to climb but had very little ice so protection was scant. I have a few pictures but the lens was foggy due to the storm so the pictures didn't come out very well. I've included one below so you can get an idea of the conditions.

Yesterday I climbed Mount Washington with Matt. Usually I try to climb a snow gully when ascending Mount Washington but yesterday I chose the winter Lion's Head Trail due to the snow that had fallen because I was worried that the storm would create an elevated avalanche hazard. Once Matt and I broke treeline on Lion's Head, I noticed how calm it was. None of the snow that had fallen was moving. As we approached the East Snowfields I decided we would go up them to check out the snow to see if it had slabbed up. As we ascended the East Snowfields I was choosing a route that would allow me to assess the slope without getting into the thick of any hazard. By the time we reached the top I was convinced that the East Snowfields were in good shape for a fun glissade. As a matter of fact, it was one of the few times I had seen what would be spectacular powder skiing conditions on the upper mountain. As Matt and I reached the summit the wind was just starting to pick up and after a few minutes on the top we headed down. The wind was building and snow was now starting to move but it had not yet affected the snow on the East Snowfields. Once we got down to the Alpine Garden I noticed that a significant amount of wind loading was starting to occur in the south facing gullies of Tuckerman Ravine. My hope was that we were not too late to do a glissade down Lobster Claw AKA Right of Right Gully. As I approached the avalanche start zone of Lobster Claw the wind had definitely started to create a touchy slab. I carefully went a bit lower and noticed that the slab was very thin and disappeared just below the lip. We had timed it right for a descent. The glissade down Lobster Claw was great an got us down quickly and efficiently. By my estimation a few more hours of that wind would have made that descent unusable due to the hazard.

In the end, the wind only blew for a couple of hours before getting calm again. With moderate winds today I'm pretty confident snow has been blowing into the ravines but the winds today may not be strong enough to move all the snow that is available for transport. If that is the case the loading will continue, along with that we are forecasted to get some precipitation and very low temperatures later this week. This combination of snow to transport, light precipitation, and cold temperatures could keep the avalanche hazard elevated for some time. If your plans are to climb or ski in either ravine this week or weekend keep a close watch on both the weather and avalanche forecast.

Vinny on a thick 2nd pitch of Standard Jan 6, 2009

Vinny with an overnight pack midway up Central on Webster Cliffs Jan 7, 2009

Vinny climbing the mixed crux high on Central on Webster Cliff Jan 7, 2009

Vinny at the top of Webster Cliff on the hike down after a night out Jan 8, 2009

A warm and windless ascent to Lion's Head Jan 11, 2009

Matt on a snowy Alpine Garden yesterday with Lion's Head in the background Jan 11, 2009

Matt climbing up the East Snowfield with Lion's Head in the background Jan 11, 2009

Matt on the summit of Mount Washington Jan 11, 2009

Matt glissading down the East Snowfields Jan 11, 2009

Matt coming out of Lobster Claw AKA Right of Right Gully after a fun glissade Jan 11, 2009

 

Thursday January 1st 2009 Happy New Year!

A very climbable 2nd pitch of Standard looking like the early season Photo taken Dec 30, 2008

A thin and dry looking start to Welcome to the Machine Click on the picture for a larger version Photo taken Dec 30, 2008

Jeff at the top of Standard, note the bare rock and water flowing. Photo taken Dec 31 2008

Another party on Standard Center Photo taken Dec 30, 2008

Standard Route Click on the picture for a larger version Photo taken Dec 31, 2008

A fat Practice Slab