Howdy Folks! Once again, we have been slacking on the blog posts and we apologize! We have had yet another amazing winter season, but it’s not over! We feared the ice season would be over in Mid-March but a big storm dropped about a foot and a half of new snow which gave the ice a boost for a few more weeks of climbing! I (Corey) was especially psyched by this as I took a hiatus to Hawaii in Mid March and feared there would be no more ice to climb when I returned. I got out on the ice for the last time this season on Saturday. This past week has done a number on the ice however and we are now officially finished with ice and looking towards rock!
We have been climbing ice and mountains all over the Presidential Range this past month. March saw us attempting a Presidential Traverse, Climbing Madison and Adams with a father/daughter duo, skiing in Tuckerman Ravine, and several climbs of Mt. Washington culminating in a bluebird ascent this Saturday. We have had some super busy weekends and our new guides came in clutch for us during the peak of ice season.
Now that ice season has come to a crashing halt, we are continuing to run Mt. Washington climbs throughout the year and of course we are gearing up for rock climbing. This year we will offer climbs in Massachusetts, Rumney, and the Mt. Washington Valley. We have updated our website as well and added more courses and climbs. We are excited to offer 2 and 3 days of rock climbing.
The bunkhouse has been picking up as well and only in it’s 3rd month of being open we are regularly having folks drop in to stay with us without being one of our climbers. We are extremely excited to see what the summer hiking/climbing season brings for the bunkhouse.
Finally, and this is a big one, we will be offering a Wilderness First Aid AND a Wilderness First Responder Course this summer. The Wilderness First Aid course will run from 5/18-5/19 and costs $199 with lodging included. The First Responder Course will run from 8/7-8/11 and costs $750 with lodging included. These are the lowest rates around!! Get your friends together because you do not want to miss these courses taught by Wilderness Medical Associates. Click the links below for more info and to sign up!

Wilderness First Aid

Wilderness First Responder

That’s all for now! Stay tuned as our spring season progresses.

This past weekend was the Blizzard of 2013 or better known as Nemo. We had over 30 folks signed up for multiple climbs of ice and Washington. The New England weather had other plans and in the end 3 were to endure the weather with us. Brett was off this weekend and headed South, I headed North. I left early to beat the snow and the traffic. I arrived in Bartlett at 10AM and waited for Jamie to arrive. He came in at 11:30 and we packed up for a day of ice climbing in the start of the storm. Our plan was to climb Pegasus or in the Hanging Gardens area. Whichever felt good when we arrived. We pulled into the Frankenstein parking lot and headed in. We scouted Pegasus from the trestle and decided we’d rather head for the Hanging Gardens. Unfortunately we found all of the columns and pillars wiped out. There was very little to climb in the Hanging Gardens but we tried to make the best of it on the only steep pillar we could find. The approach consisted of 8 inches of fluffy snow on top of ice. It was horrendous and on our way up we watched a guy take a 50 ft slide down the gully. We each took a run on the pillar and called it a day. After rappelling the gully (which we would normally walk down without thinking twice about it) we headed back to the car. The snow was falling heavily by now. We were disappointed by the day of climbing but a bad day in the mountains is better than a good day elsewhere.

We woke up on Saturday to 15 inches of super light snow. We dug out and Jamie and Anthony (our new guide) headed up Mt. Washington with one Climber (Mike). Mike had made the summit last year on a beautiful April day but he wanted to see what Mt Washington is really like in the winter. He got his wish. The group was stopped in their tracks after plowing through chest deep snow drifts at treeline. The winds howled above them and the visibility was poor. Avalanche ratings were in the “extreme” rating for the ravines which probably put their route in Considerable or Moderate. They made the easy choice of turning around.
I had 2 climbers for ice and decided we’d stay out of the wind and avalanche prone slopes of Crawford Notch. We headed for Cathedral Ledge and found we had to hike in to the climb as the road had not yet been plowed. We were the first to arrive at the North End and we enjoyed several hours of climbing, and rappelling. The weather improved as the day progressed but it stayed bitter cold.

Sunday I had a day off and the weather was absolutely amazing. It felt like a spring day with winter snow conditions. I decided to head up the Tuckerman Ravine Trail and ski down the Sherburne trail. The skinning was fast and straightforward. I hit Hermit Lake in an hour and 25 minutes where I sat in the sun for an hour soaking in the rays and drinking hot water. I wanted to wait for everyone else to leave ahead of me so I could have the trail to myself. The sun dipped below Boot Spur ridge making it noticeably colder. Everyone decided that was their cue to ski down, so I began packing my pack slowly and followed suit a few minutes behind everyone else. The skiing was fantastic and it felt even better to be alone in the mountains and have complete solitude and quiet to myself. I felt lucky to enjoy such a great day on the hill alone. After one face plant into the powder, I was down at the car wishing I had more to ski.

On January 26th we climbed Franconia Ridge with a bunch of guys who climbed Mt. Washington with us last year. The day was clear and cold. It took us nearly 3 hours to reach the ridge by the way of the Falling Waters Trail. At treeline we were met with a light breeze that cut through our layers and chilled us. Two turned back at the top of Mt. Lincoln due to leg cramps and 6 continued on across the ridge and over Lafayette.From the summit of Lafayette we had an unobstructed view of Mt. Washington in the East. We couldn’t stay long as the wind chills were close to -40 and some folks had frozen goggles. We scurried down from the summit to treeline looking to escape the wind. After a break a the Greenleaf hut we started down Old Bridle Path and were treated to a fantastic sunset on the ledges.

The 27th was the start of our two day skills course. We spent the morning in the warmth of the bunkhouse getting to know our gear and learning knots. The afternoon was spent on Willies Slide learning crampon technique and self arrest. We also learned how to travel as a rope team. Day two found us at Cathedral Ledge where we spent some time on running belays, belaying, and rappelling. The course ended at the bunkhouse with topics including snow anchors, anchor construction, and crevasse rescue.

This Past weekend we had two ice climbing courses and a climb of Mt. Washington. The trip up Washington took 11.5 hours round trip but 3 of the 6 pushed on through bitter cold temps to reach the summit at 2:45PM, and descending the last 2 hours in the dark.
It was super busy at Frankenstein as it was Ice Fest this weekend which brings in hundreds of climbers from throughout the country. We secured our spot on the cliff and climbed ice all day. The ice was wet which froze the ropes pretty quickly. The following day was better weather than the last and we once again dodged the crowds to some extent and set up our ropes. We climbed in the sun until it dropped behind Frankenstein.

It’s been a busy few weeks here and it’s only going to get busier! We are super excited to have our bunkhouse finally open and spending time with our clients before and after the climbing!