Well, it's been awhile since I hijacked this hiking forum with a climbing trip report, so here we go. The beginning of this ice season has been awesome. I've been climbing ice practically every weekend since November 6th. Last year, it wasn't until December 6th when giggy and I cruised up Central Gully in lean conditions.. so needless to say, I've been pretty happy with the way this winter has been going. I thought I'd give you all a little synopsis of what early season ice in White Mountains is like.
After my trip up Lincoln's Throat on November 6th [trip report] there was no turning back for me.. I was going to climb ice, no matter how thin it was.. rock was now OUT in my mind. Weeellll.. with the exception of a crazy warm-up we had and I found myself in King Ravine barefoot bouldering near the lip of the headwall in Mid-November.
But let's get to the good stuff. During the long Thanksgiving Weekend nothing appealed to me more than to spend it up north solo. I had three days planned to climb by myself and on the fourth day I was excited to have my go-to-guy, Adam Wilcox, join me. The first day yielded favorable weather conditions so I found myself in my favorite place to climb, Huntington Ravine. Early season ice hunting is a great past-time. It's the unexpected that I enjoy. I liked heading into Huntington that day not knowing what I'd find.. it was possible there would be nothing climbable for me.. but when you find a little something.. it feels like a great discovery and adventure. Compound that with the fact that I wouldn't see another soul in the Ravine that day.. a recipe for an awesome day out. When I got into the Ravine I decided to shoot for Odells Gully which looked to be the thickest ice and the safest solo passage for me. It was crazy fun. After I topped out, I zipped across the Alpine Garden and down the Lions Head Trail.
The second day started out a little windy, rainy and snowy so I opted for a shorter day out and headed up Shoestring Gully on Mt. Webster. I've been up there a few times before and it's one of my favorite solo routes so it seemed to fit the bill for the day. I found good stuff to stick my tools in and again found myself alone in there. Shoestring Gully is a beautiful place with high reddish rock walls that almost form a roof over your head. Even if I didn't find any ice to climb that day, it's just well enough to be in a spectacular setting on the side of a some cool mountain. At the end of the gully, it's just a short easy whack to the Webster Cliff trail and then a few miles back to the road.
On the third day I wanted to head back into Lincoln's Throat and see how the ice was building. It was the longest and most demanding day, mentally and physically, I had out of the four. You are hiking for 9 miles, most of it hopping back and forth across a brook in a wide rocky drainage, then it's time to climb. After that you have a mile above treeline to the Falling Waters Trail and a long 3ish mile jog back down. I had the tunes filling my eardrums during the weekend for all the approaches and descents. Since it was a Saturday I did see a few climbers on their way into the Throat as well.. although they opted to climb up the headwall while I headed right on the upper slabs and again found myself in sweet solitude. iPod off for the climbing. The upper slabs on Mt. Lincoln are wicked exposed.. as you climb up you are looking down at hundreds of feet of air below you and it requires a great deal of focus and concentration to climb up. Any fall would be unforgiving. I actually balked twice but then found a good line I was comfortable with climbing without protection. Once I got to the summit of Mt. Lincoln, I was blasted by full-on alpine conditions for the entire way to Haystack. I won't soon forget that day out.
On the fourth day, I was psyched to climb with Adam. We headed into Tuckerman Ravine, as we've both never been there for ice before and our goal was to cruise up the headwall. Weather conditions and a late start prevented us from topping out, but we did enjoy a climb of the route named Open Book at the base of the Ravine. The following weekend, the first in December, the weather was favorable and we switched leads on 4.5 pitches taking a line straight up the middle of the headwall. Kick ass.
I kept the momentum going for the rest of December as much as I could, heading out every weekend but Christmas. Adam and I got chased out of Huntington the next weekend, but we took full advantage of the improved conditions the following weekend on the 18th and headed to climb ice in Madison Gulf. It was a long alpine-type day and right up our alley. We hiked up Valley Way, across Star Lake and dropped into the Gulf. There was a ton of ice and we made quick work of the bushwhack to the base. We picked the longest line of ice which is a route called The Point. It was 3 pitches long. Being out there in the middle of Madison Gulf with no one around definitely had that backcountry feel. We topped out and whacked to the Buttress trail back to Star Lake.
Bottom line, early season ice climbing is about strategy, good timing and alot of luck. I love to try to predict where the ice is going to be on a particular weekend.. and the best part is, it's impossible to predict. Most wait until the ice is guaranteed IN and fat.
So I have some big plans for my 2011 ice season and hope I'll be able to report some success in that department. We'll see. Thanks for putting up with the forum drift!
After my trip up Lincoln's Throat on November 6th [trip report] there was no turning back for me.. I was going to climb ice, no matter how thin it was.. rock was now OUT in my mind. Weeellll.. with the exception of a crazy warm-up we had and I found myself in King Ravine barefoot bouldering near the lip of the headwall in Mid-November.
But let's get to the good stuff. During the long Thanksgiving Weekend nothing appealed to me more than to spend it up north solo. I had three days planned to climb by myself and on the fourth day I was excited to have my go-to-guy, Adam Wilcox, join me. The first day yielded favorable weather conditions so I found myself in my favorite place to climb, Huntington Ravine. Early season ice hunting is a great past-time. It's the unexpected that I enjoy. I liked heading into Huntington that day not knowing what I'd find.. it was possible there would be nothing climbable for me.. but when you find a little something.. it feels like a great discovery and adventure. Compound that with the fact that I wouldn't see another soul in the Ravine that day.. a recipe for an awesome day out. When I got into the Ravine I decided to shoot for Odells Gully which looked to be the thickest ice and the safest solo passage for me. It was crazy fun. After I topped out, I zipped across the Alpine Garden and down the Lions Head Trail.
The second day started out a little windy, rainy and snowy so I opted for a shorter day out and headed up Shoestring Gully on Mt. Webster. I've been up there a few times before and it's one of my favorite solo routes so it seemed to fit the bill for the day. I found good stuff to stick my tools in and again found myself alone in there. Shoestring Gully is a beautiful place with high reddish rock walls that almost form a roof over your head. Even if I didn't find any ice to climb that day, it's just well enough to be in a spectacular setting on the side of a some cool mountain. At the end of the gully, it's just a short easy whack to the Webster Cliff trail and then a few miles back to the road.
On the third day I wanted to head back into Lincoln's Throat and see how the ice was building. It was the longest and most demanding day, mentally and physically, I had out of the four. You are hiking for 9 miles, most of it hopping back and forth across a brook in a wide rocky drainage, then it's time to climb. After that you have a mile above treeline to the Falling Waters Trail and a long 3ish mile jog back down. I had the tunes filling my eardrums during the weekend for all the approaches and descents. Since it was a Saturday I did see a few climbers on their way into the Throat as well.. although they opted to climb up the headwall while I headed right on the upper slabs and again found myself in sweet solitude. iPod off for the climbing. The upper slabs on Mt. Lincoln are wicked exposed.. as you climb up you are looking down at hundreds of feet of air below you and it requires a great deal of focus and concentration to climb up. Any fall would be unforgiving. I actually balked twice but then found a good line I was comfortable with climbing without protection. Once I got to the summit of Mt. Lincoln, I was blasted by full-on alpine conditions for the entire way to Haystack. I won't soon forget that day out.
On the fourth day, I was psyched to climb with Adam. We headed into Tuckerman Ravine, as we've both never been there for ice before and our goal was to cruise up the headwall. Weather conditions and a late start prevented us from topping out, but we did enjoy a climb of the route named Open Book at the base of the Ravine. The following weekend, the first in December, the weather was favorable and we switched leads on 4.5 pitches taking a line straight up the middle of the headwall. Kick ass.
I kept the momentum going for the rest of December as much as I could, heading out every weekend but Christmas. Adam and I got chased out of Huntington the next weekend, but we took full advantage of the improved conditions the following weekend on the 18th and headed to climb ice in Madison Gulf. It was a long alpine-type day and right up our alley. We hiked up Valley Way, across Star Lake and dropped into the Gulf. There was a ton of ice and we made quick work of the bushwhack to the base. We picked the longest line of ice which is a route called The Point. It was 3 pitches long. Being out there in the middle of Madison Gulf with no one around definitely had that backcountry feel. We topped out and whacked to the Buttress trail back to Star Lake.
Bottom line, early season ice climbing is about strategy, good timing and alot of luck. I love to try to predict where the ice is going to be on a particular weekend.. and the best part is, it's impossible to predict. Most wait until the ice is guaranteed IN and fat.
So I have some big plans for my 2011 ice season and hope I'll be able to report some success in that department. We'll see. Thanks for putting up with the forum drift!
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