100% Success

On Friday April 6th, Jamie, Brett, and Myself climbed Pinnacle Gully in Huntington Ravine. We got an early start at 7:30AM and started the approach up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail. The trail was bare of snow for the first 20 minutes, and then it switched to very hard-packed snow and ice. Being too stubborn to put on crampons, we slipped and slided our way to the Huntington Ravine Fire Road, which was much easier going. We reached the start of the route around 10AM. Jamie led the first and second pitches, and I led the third pitch. Brett led the last little bit out of the gully. The weather was fantastic and it felt great to step into the sunlight after climbing in the shade for a few hours. All in all, a great day in Huntington Ravine! We are super happy to have been able to get another ice climb in this year.

The next day, we brought 5 climbers up Mt. Washington. We had another fairly nice day on the mountain. The day started out clear and warm and stayed that way until we reached the summit cone. We had a really fit group and were able to move quickly, reaching Lions Head by 11:30AM. The Lions Head Winter Route has been closed for a few weeks now, so we climbed the summer route, which was well packed but involved a lot of rock with crampons on. The summit cone was shrouded in clouds but visibility remained good and we pushed on to the summit. We spent about 35 minutes on top where we saw 5 kids in jeans and sneakers who had hiked up the cog. Despite things being warmer than mid-winter, it is far from being sneaker weather. They were definitely cutting their safety margin thin by being so ill-prepared. I expected the descent to be slow and tedious due to all of the exposed rock with crampons, but the group took it in stride and we descended rapidly, never taking our crampons off until the snow ran out on the Tuckerman Ravine Trail. We had a great day on the hill with a great bunch of climbers. We hope to see them on another climb soon!

Another awesome weekend on the mountain!

Corey following the second pitch on Pinnacle Gully

Leading Pinnacle's third pitch

The Alpine Garden Trail on a picture perfect day.

Jamie possibly performing a Tai Chi movement

The gang on top of Mt. Washington!!