Friday November 23, 2012
Over the last few years I have been adjusting my work over the spring, summer and fall from rock climbing in NH to traveling more and trying to guide more alpine terrain. This year was the culmination of that change with what amounted to a 5 month road trip with a focus on alpine climbing in the Alps and in the North Cascades. The only thing I could add next year to make it even more alpine would be an Alaskan trip in spring. No plans for that but one never knows what opportunities might come around.
I am now home for the ice season and will be starting to make forays out to see what early ice is climbable so check back for reports here or friend me on facebook to get alerts as to when I update the conditions. Enjoy the photos.
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Jon on the Petite Aiguille Verte with the Dru behind, Chamonix France |
Kathy on the Petite Aiguille Verte with the Aiguille de Chardonnay in the background, Chamonix France |
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Kathy on the Arete des Cosmiques, Chamonix France |
Kids, families and beginners climbing at the Gaillands, a roadside crag in Chamonix France |
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A warm and sunny summit of Mont Blanc 15,781 feet (4810m) Chamonix France |
One of the great things about working in Europe is getting to work with guides from all over. Matteo a fun Italian Guide from Alagna Italy |
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Kevin Mahoney leading one of the rock pitches on the Frendo Spur Chamonix France |
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Kevin Mahoney on one of the ice pitches of the Frendo Spur, Chamonix France |
Jane (my wife) near the top of an easy day up the long Voie Calline with the Chamonix Valley behind |
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The little (and very nice) buvette at the top of the Voie Calline, what a great way to finish a nice scramble before the one hour hike down to our apartment. |
Stacey on the Chapelle de la Gliere in the Aiguille Rouge with Mont Blanc in the background, Chamonix France. |
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Stacey higher on the route up to the Chapelle de la Gliere, Chamonix France |
Stacey on the Arete Des Papillons on our way to the summit of the Aiguille du Peigne, Chamonix France |
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One of the crux sections of the Arete Des Papillons, Chamonix France |
The Triangle du Tacul with the Contamine-Mazeaud route up the center, Chamonix France |
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Stacey on the Contamine-Mazeaud |
Stacey on the direct finish of the Contamine-Mazeaud |
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Stacey on the Frendo Spur on the Aiguille du Midi, Chamonix France |
Stacey on the Frendo Spur on the Aiguille du Midi, Chamonix France |
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Stacey higher up on the ice section of the Frendo Spur |
Near the top of the Frendo Spur |
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Stacey in the Aiguille Rouge with the three big routes she climbed, the Frendo Spur, Contamine-Mazeaud, and the Arete Des Papillons. |
September in the Cascades, our first camp on the north side of Mount Forbidden near Marblemount, WA |
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Crevasse rescue practice on the Forbidden Glacier |
The short knife edge ridge on Concord Spire in Washington Pass near Mazama, WA |
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Dorado Needle and Early Morning Spire from Marble Creek Cirque near Marblemount, WA |
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Sunset at our camp in Marble Creek Cirque |
Our camp in Marble Creek Cirque with Dorado Needle and Early Morning Spire in the background |
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Our camp near Winnie’s Slide on Mount Shuksan near Glacier, WA |
Making our way through some crevasses as we go from the Upper Curtis Glacier to the Crystal Glacier on Mount Shuksan |
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Descending Mount Shuksan just before sunset with a very smokey horizon. |
Finally some rock climbing in Red Rocks near Las Vegas |
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More desert climbing but now in Joshua Tree with Jane near Palm Springs, CA |
Jane and my ride during our little getaway to Joshua Tree |
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Back to work with a course in Smith Rock with some November snow near Bend, OR |
Cold rock at Smith in November to wrap up the season, must be time to head home for some ice climbing. |
Many have heard of the Pemi Loop here in the White Mountains and it has become the signature long trail run/speed hike in the White Mountains. The Pemi Loop is just over 30 miles and it has an elevation gain and loss of about 9100 feet The thing about the Pemi Loop is that it does not go over the signature range in the White Mountains, the Presidentials! The long hike/run in the Presidentials tends to be and end to end hike that requires two cars and the logistic of a car spot. What I wanted was a loop hike like the Pemi Loop with the same kind of distance and elevation gain and included the majority of the Presidentials, what I came up with was the Presidential Figure of Eight. The reason I call it the Figure of Eight is because of the shape of the route when drawn on a map. The route starts at the AMC Pinkham Notch Camp and climbs via the Tuckerman Ravine Trail across the Bigelow Lawn to Lakes of the Clouds Hut. From there it continues down the Crawford Path and Webster Cliff Trail to Mizpah Hut. From Mizpah the “eight” goes down the Mount Clinton and Dry River Cut-Off trails to the Dry River trail and follows that up the Dry River and Oakes Gulf back up to the Lakes of the Clouds Hut. From there it goes up the Crawford Path towards Mount Washington to the Westside Trail and onto the Gulfside Trail. The Gulside trail is then followed all the way to Mount Madison then down the Osgood and Osgood Cut-Off to the Madison Gulf Trail then on to the Old Jackson Road back to Pinkham. The Presidential Figure of Eight Loop is 30.6 miles long with an elevation change of 10,000 feet. Here is a PDF Map of the route with hour splits, the red line sections are the sections I was able to run while the blue line sections are where I did some speed hiking, it is best viewed at 150%. 
Whenever I haven’t written in my blog for awhile I find it difficult to get started writing one. Often it is not because I don’t have anything to write about it’s usually because too much has gone on and I feel daunted trying to write it all down. For instance my last entry was posted in the middle of March. Since then I’ve ice climbed with Hakan and Mike who were training for Rainier, I climbed with Ed and his grandson for two days, I I taught two 4 day AIARE Level II Avalanches Courses, got to climb with Harold who has been coming up to climb at the end of March for as long as I can remember and I got to climb with Jacky and Tim. That list ended my March. At the start of April I left for Chamonix to do some ski tours, I had scheduled two Chamonix-Zermatt Haute Routes, the first with Ryan, Mike and David the second Haute Route was with Joe, Cameron and Tom.
Chirouze Right: This run starts from the top of the lifts and requires some walking. It begins on a glacier, a beautiful powder run but ends up in a steep narrow and icy gully that requires a rappel. Because of it’s complex finish it holds fresh tracks long after a storm.
Yesterday I went for a trail run/hike. I had a few days off and and this week seemed like a good time to do something I have been wanting to do for awhile. I have day hiked pretty long distances above treeline in the winter before but I have always done it in spectacular weather. I had always wondered if light weight fast hiking was possible in real winter weather. What I wanted to do was a winter Presidential Traverse but spotting cars etc. was not possible seeing I would be alone. What I came up with was a loop traversing over the Northern Presidentials including Mount Washington from the AMC Pinkham Notch Camp. I would start on the Old Jackson Road to Madison Gulf Trail across the Osgood Cutoff to the Osgood Trail then across the Gulfside Trail then down from Mount Washington via the Lion’s Head Trail. 
