Lost In The Forest - Ice Climbing

Lost In The Forest
Frankenstein Cliffs


A frigid cold, but fun day at Lost In The Forest! Met Ken, Zarina and Tim for a cold day of cragging.  - 4 in the parking lot at the start of our day. I got in a couple of top rope laps; some solo-climbing on short, low-angle ice; some downclimbing practice; and some anchor building. So good to be back climbing at Frankenstein Cliffs and looking forward to coming back during the ice season!

We think think that's Art Mooney at the top of Chia

Leprechaun's Lement (WI2-3) - Ice Climbing

Thanks for the belay, Ken!

Great to get out on the ice for the first time this season - a meetup event at the Kinsman Notch in Woodstock, NH. Just got a couple of top rope laps in but my last climb of 2016 was a lead on the fun & easy, Leprechaun's Lement. Ken Domino on my belay.

Ueli Steck 2016 Tour - Boston

Got the chance to meet "The Swiss Machine" in person! Watching videos of Ueli Steck run, yes run, up mountains without a rope is jaw dropping. So to see him in person, be in the same room, shake his hand, thank him and tell him how much I enjoyed his presentation, was just as amazing for me!! Just a few photos of his presentation, Q&A, and autograph signing and photo taking.

The Man, the Legend, The Swiss Machine!

Presentation, Q&A, autograph signing

(3rd photo is Brian of MetroRock)

I wished I had brought my ice axes for Ueli to autograph....I could've fit them both in my day pack! There was a smart dude who brought a poster as well as his copies of The American Alpine Journal 2014 (88, Vol 56). Also, during his presentation he did mention sore/bad knees 4 times!

Frankenstein Cliffs - Ice Climbing

Frankenstein Cliffs

Lost In The Forest

Crawford Notch, NH

Hero ice is better than no ice! 

Geoff is a leader with the AMC Berkshire and organized an ice climb for today. We met up in the upper parking lot of the Arethusa Falls trailhead along with Steve, John, Dane, Toby and Graham. The day before NEClimb posted ice conditions which were very promising, so I was counting on getting in some laps! We hiked across the trestle and stopped to read the ice at the slab area - so thin in most parts and baked as well. So we continued down the tracks until we got to the bottom of Lost In The Forest. There were only two parties of 2 already climbing so we made our way up. To the left of Lost was a lower angle slab so one rope was set up and used for warming up, the other 3 ropes were set up on Lost. The rest of the day was pretty mellow with the 7 of us climbing. There was lots of fat ice, but it was soft and easy for the tools and kicks. It made it easy for me to practice my climbing technique that I learned during my lesson from Alexa the week before. Don’t know how much more of a winter we’ll have left. But sure am glad to get in as much climbing as I can! It was a great day for climbing hero ice! Enjoy a few photos taken of our day at FC! And thanks for the belays Steve!!! :)

Low angle slab to the left of Lost

Geoff with Graham on his belay

Graham and Toby

Dane and John

Toby taking a break on the rock behind me

Steep stuff to the right is really fun

John with Toby on his belay

Steve on the steep (short but sweet) stuff!

At the end of the day we rapped down to the tracks

Toby with Steve on his belay

On our way out, we came across Alexa Siegel & Laurie! 

Laurie was taking the 2-day, Ladies-Only Steep Ice Climbing workshop

through Cathedral Mountain Guides.  She was rocking the steep stuff!

Railroad Cut, NH – Ice Climbing

Railroad Cut – Ice Climbing

SW4-Cheshire North Rail Trail

Keene, NH

So here we go again....another single digit day, but the addiction is strong and I couldn’t resist, yet again! Was supposed to be climbing the Auburn Ice Canyon but that got cancelled because the floor wasn't hard enough and there was only one flow up compared to the 4 we climbed on two weeks ago. So Kevin and I drove up to Keene, meeting Jeff on the way. Nuno and his son David was in the parking lot when we pulled in. Later George Adams came by and climbed with us. The low temps were really tough on my asthma and breathing. It went from 13 to 7 degrees in 3 hours. Plus, The Cut is like a wind tunnel and as the temps dropped, it got harder for me to climb. At the end of our day I felt exhausted, like I had felt when I hiked to Lion's Head the weekend before. But my exhaustion was due to the low temps. I did get in 4 climbs but could only finish the first two, my hands were so cold. Just a few photos of our day at “The RR Cut”.

Jeff checking out the climbs

Climbs are in, but it's gonna be brutal!

Jeff gearing up

Nuno setting up

Jeff up top, Kevin & George looking on

David

Nuno with David on is belay

Kevin

George

Jeff did a fine job on this flow but near the top, lost his right crampon

Kevin and I selfie....it's too cold to smile!

Kevin

George leading some real nice, thin stuff!

Drone Camera - Standard Route - Multi pitch Ice Climbing

Standard Route  (WI3+)

Frankenstein Cliffs

Crawford Notch, NH

All last winter I had been asking him to go out ice climbing and he kept declining. So when I got Jeff B ’s email last week about ice climbing, I thought it was a joke and had to I read it several times. Jeff’s son Todd is a professional photographer/videographer and he needed some ice climbing shots/vids via GoPro Drone. http://toddjburgess.com/

I contacted Jeff S. and made sure to check the weather - Sunday was the better of the two. Originally I had chosen Cinema Gully but was told that it would be too thin. So when Frankenstein Cliffs was suggested, I choose the Standard Route because of its short approach and exposure. And I thought Todd should have no problems piloting his Drone for shots. Plus, it was “still in.” But I chose Standard Route mainly because it’s a very recognizable route at the cliffs. So Jeff S. lead both Jeff B. and I up the Standard Route. We had a perfectly beautiful day for ice climbing. The sun was out, temps warm and for the sake of the Drone camera, hardly any wind. Enjoy some photos taken of our climb.

At the tracks of the Standard Route

Gearing Up

Jeff S. on lead - 1st pitch

Jeff S. exiting the ice cave - 2nd pitch

Exiting the ice cave

Me at the 3rd belay station belaying Jeff S. up our last pitch

If we hadn’t been told that it was noisy, I would’ve thought that Todd’s Drone camera was a swarm of bees because that’s exactly what his drone sounded like. Yup, at time 0:37 our ropes are intertwined. But no worries, Jeff and I navigated around one another with no problems. It ain’t sketchy until it gets sketchy, right? :) 

Jeff S. (green jacket) on lead. With Jeff B. in dark blue jacket and me (light blue jacket & white helmet) cleaning pro. Here's the YouTube video!

Monkey Wrench & Upper Hitchcock - Spring Ice Climbing

At the base of Upper Hitchcock with Crawford Notch in the background

Left Hand Monkey Wrench (WI3)

Upper Hitchcock (WI3-)

Mount Willard

Crawford Notch, NH

Forecasts called for cloudy skies and some snow. But all that gave way to blue skies and sunshine by the time Jeff S. and I reached the base of the Hitchcock Gully. We pretty much broke trail up Lower Hitchcock, traversing right to Left Hand Monkey Wrench, then onto the base of Upper Hitchcock. It was slow going but we took our time anyways since there were only two other teams in the area climbing.

At the base of Upper Hitchcock

It was my very first time on Upper Hitchcock and it was a lot of fun, except when my calves cramped up. Attributed to, according to Jeff, dehydration and probably due to my just getting over a cold. I have had my calves ‘pumpy’ before but not so much that they cramped up. Had to have Jeff ‘take’ so I could rest.

Left: Looking down Upper Hitchcock from the Rap Station

Jeff and I at the Rap Station above Upper Hitchcock

I wanted to climb this second pitch of Upper Hitchcock. It's a short section just above the rappel station but didn’t want to take any chances with my calves cramping up again. So Jeff and I rapped the entire Hitchcock Gully, right down to the tracks.

Two weeks ago we couldn’t get onto Upper Hitchcock, but today was a different story. We had the climb all to ourselves and when we rapped down, Laura and Chris came up to check it out. They decided not to climb UH but took a couple of photos of Jeff and I before heading off towards The Cleft. 

East Face Slabs Left

I do cartwheels with Jeff's rope and he ends up untangling them. ;D

Jeff rapping down the Lower Hitchcock Gully. 

He stopped at this section to check out a piece of fixed pro.

It got warmer as the day went on and the sun stayed out until we got back to the parking lot. Surely a mellow day of Spring ice climbing up the side of Mount Willard!