JeffT
New member
The three of us decided to take the True North Slide
(Ribbon Slide) up the left side of the face of
Gothics. None of us had summited Gothics before, so I
tried to find as much information from VFTT and
adkforum that I could. I found a good aerial shot of
the mountain and some instructions on how to find the
bottom of the slide. We were told that the slide had a
NEI 2 rating, so we decided to go with
crampons and mountaineering axes.
We came in from Garden trailhead, late Friday. After
about a 2 ½ hour bare-boot hike, we arrived at Orebed
lean-to. We had intended to camp, but there was too
little snow for snow anchors, and the group was too
frozen for stakes. We opted for the lean-to. We ate,
and got to bed at around 3:00, waking up around 9:30am
despite our intentions to wake up at dawn.
We were packed out by 11:00am and headed up the Orebed
trail. After ½ a mile we found the brook that we were
to take to the base of the slide. The ice was unstable
for the first 1/4 mile and we broke through in a few
spots but didn’t soakers thank god. We climbed up the
brook for about a mile which was a lot of fun as it
involved a bit of climbing with the aid of the
mountaineering axes.
Mid-way up the brook, a team of three Scottish
climbers caught up to us. They intended to climb the
same slide, but we’re equipped with ice tools instead
of mountaineering axes. We were told that they had
never done this climb either.
The other group went ahead of us, and after a while,
we noticed that their tracks left the brook and went
to the left. We decided to follow them, and they went
to the bottom of a slide. At last, we had found the
bottom of the slide, or so we thought. After climbing
thin ice (where 12 point crampons would have been more
suited for), we became aware that it was not the
Ribbon Slide.
At the top of the short slide, we caught up with the
Scotts and noticed that there was another slide to the
east that looked like the Ribbon Slide as it looked
thinner than the wide open we occupied. A short
bushwhack took us over, and we began to slide the
slide, which was easier than the previous slide.
Because of the lack of snow fall, and because it was
early in the season, climbing was still difficult, but
doable. The Scotts decided that there wasn’t enough
light left in the day, and turned back.
To our confusion, we once again quickly found
ourselves at the top of the slide. I of course
remembered that there was supposed to be an island in
the middle, so I started to suspect we were further
astray. We heard some hikers up from the top of the
ridge between Armstrong and Gothics, so my climbing
partners reasoned that we near the top, and that we
could bushwhack our way up to the ridge. I had my
doubts since the trees were still tall at our
elevation.
It was getting late, as we started to bushwhack
through what quickly because 3 feet of snow. After a
heated argument, I convinced my companions to abandon
the summit, and to return to camp, thinking that we
did not have correct bearings, and that we would be
stuck in 3 foot deep snow when the sun went down
We hiked back down to the slide, which gave us
perspective of how slow were had hiked through the
snow in such a long period of time. Then we had a
blast, sliding down the slide. This also gave us the
perfect opportunity to practice self-arrest, which was
necessary at a few points. We followed the slide to
the bottom where we found the brook we used at the
approach.
At the lean-to we decided to hike out instead of
spending another night. After the long, dark hike to
the Garden, we had dinner at the Ausable Inn,
where we had excellent ribs!
Despite, not finding the Ribbon Slide, we had a most
excellent trip. Climbing up the brook and it’s small
water falls was especially fun. The slides we climbed
had were little ice and snow. We reasoned that it
would be better to climb the area later in the season.
We will perhaps return in early March.
I took a look at the aerial photo when we got home. It
looks like we were supposed to get off of the brook
much early than we had. I have attached the aerial
photo below. The red represent where we should have
gone, and the yellow represents where we actually went
(sorry, I have a shaky mouse hand).
I have also uploaded some pictures in the link below.
http://community.webshots.com/album/264190057jpWdYi
(Ribbon Slide) up the left side of the face of
Gothics. None of us had summited Gothics before, so I
tried to find as much information from VFTT and
adkforum that I could. I found a good aerial shot of
the mountain and some instructions on how to find the
bottom of the slide. We were told that the slide had a
NEI 2 rating, so we decided to go with
crampons and mountaineering axes.
We came in from Garden trailhead, late Friday. After
about a 2 ½ hour bare-boot hike, we arrived at Orebed
lean-to. We had intended to camp, but there was too
little snow for snow anchors, and the group was too
frozen for stakes. We opted for the lean-to. We ate,
and got to bed at around 3:00, waking up around 9:30am
despite our intentions to wake up at dawn.
We were packed out by 11:00am and headed up the Orebed
trail. After ½ a mile we found the brook that we were
to take to the base of the slide. The ice was unstable
for the first 1/4 mile and we broke through in a few
spots but didn’t soakers thank god. We climbed up the
brook for about a mile which was a lot of fun as it
involved a bit of climbing with the aid of the
mountaineering axes.
Mid-way up the brook, a team of three Scottish
climbers caught up to us. They intended to climb the
same slide, but we’re equipped with ice tools instead
of mountaineering axes. We were told that they had
never done this climb either.
The other group went ahead of us, and after a while,
we noticed that their tracks left the brook and went
to the left. We decided to follow them, and they went
to the bottom of a slide. At last, we had found the
bottom of the slide, or so we thought. After climbing
thin ice (where 12 point crampons would have been more
suited for), we became aware that it was not the
Ribbon Slide.
At the top of the short slide, we caught up with the
Scotts and noticed that there was another slide to the
east that looked like the Ribbon Slide as it looked
thinner than the wide open we occupied. A short
bushwhack took us over, and we began to slide the
slide, which was easier than the previous slide.
Because of the lack of snow fall, and because it was
early in the season, climbing was still difficult, but
doable. The Scotts decided that there wasn’t enough
light left in the day, and turned back.
To our confusion, we once again quickly found
ourselves at the top of the slide. I of course
remembered that there was supposed to be an island in
the middle, so I started to suspect we were further
astray. We heard some hikers up from the top of the
ridge between Armstrong and Gothics, so my climbing
partners reasoned that we near the top, and that we
could bushwhack our way up to the ridge. I had my
doubts since the trees were still tall at our
elevation.
It was getting late, as we started to bushwhack
through what quickly because 3 feet of snow. After a
heated argument, I convinced my companions to abandon
the summit, and to return to camp, thinking that we
did not have correct bearings, and that we would be
stuck in 3 foot deep snow when the sun went down
We hiked back down to the slide, which gave us
perspective of how slow were had hiked through the
snow in such a long period of time. Then we had a
blast, sliding down the slide. This also gave us the
perfect opportunity to practice self-arrest, which was
necessary at a few points. We followed the slide to
the bottom where we found the brook we used at the
approach.
At the lean-to we decided to hike out instead of
spending another night. After the long, dark hike to
the Garden, we had dinner at the Ausable Inn,
where we had excellent ribs!
Despite, not finding the Ribbon Slide, we had a most
excellent trip. Climbing up the brook and it’s small
water falls was especially fun. The slides we climbed
had were little ice and snow. We reasoned that it
would be better to climb the area later in the season.
We will perhaps return in early March.
I took a look at the aerial photo when we got home. It
looks like we were supposed to get off of the brook
much early than we had. I have attached the aerial
photo below. The red represent where we should have
gone, and the yellow represents where we actually went
(sorry, I have a shaky mouse hand).
I have also uploaded some pictures in the link below.
http://community.webshots.com/album/264190057jpWdYi
Last edited: