Ice Climbing --- 1/6/2006 - 1/8/2006 --- Adirondacks

Ice climbing with Jesse and Rayko in the Adirondacks. I had dinner with the Darflers on Friday night, so we got a late start. It was 3am when we arrived at the Chapel Pond campground. We quickly stomped down some snow, set up our tent and went to sleep. In the morning I was feeling poorly, and took extra time to get ready. We finally made it out and hiked just a short way down the valley to climb Ice Slot and two lines on Hot Shot. All the climbs were WI4- or WI4. I was sloppy on my first climb, but felt much better on all the other climbs of the trip. Part of the problem was using the club's BD Shrike axes which don't have nearly enough bend to the shaft. When I was able to borrow Rayko's Quarks I was much happier. I've used lots of different axes and the Quarks are my favorite. I broke down the Hot Shot anchor just as darkness arrived. The Cliffhanger cafe in Keene Valley is closed. So we ate at the Noon Mark diner, famous for their homemade pies (we had blackberry crumb). It was nice to get a hot meal. We deliberately didn't bring a stove on the trip, just to make our lives easier. We even commented on how stupid it was to go ice climbing without a stove, but we did it anyhow. Of course, this meant keeping snacks in an inside pocket for an hour before eating them, and thawing water bottles inside the sleeping bag at night. But we survived. After dinner we met Simeon and Leslie at a nearby bar. They were climbing with Jim and others in the area. By 10pm we were exhausted and ready to return to our tent.

Sunday morning both Jesse and Rayko were nursing black toenails. Jesse hadn't trimmed his before the trip and all the kicking left them damaged. Rayko had new boots which were too small for him. One year earlier I suffered a set of black toenails from ice climbing in the Adirondacks, so I appreciated their predicament. We made a quick stop at the Mountaineer so Rayko could buy boots a half size larger. Then drove to Pitchoff where we intended to climb Sisters Left or Right. They were both occupied, so Jesse led a route between the two. It had a tough 12' pillar which was beyond vertical. After we finished that climb we got on Sisters Left which was in fat condition. It was a long, mellow pitch that felt easy even with the Shrikes. A nice finale to our trip.

Jesse led every climb of the trip. He was climbing very well. Rayko and I were also happy with our climbing. Nobody hung on the rope during any climb of the weekend.

Lesson Learned #1: A snowboard helmet is better for ice climbing than a climbing helmet. It is warm and provides excellent coverage. But there is no place to attach a headlamp and you look like a bumblie.

Lesson Learned #2: A digital camera is great for ice climbing as long as you can manually set the white balance. But you have to figure out a way to keep the batteries warm.

Lesson Learned #3: Make sure everyone on an ice climbing trip trims their toenails before the start of the trip. Otherwise your car keys may end up in the toilet.

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