Ice Climbing --- 1/13/2012 - 1/16/2012 --- Adirondacks

"Screaming Barfy Fest?" --Emily

Bitter cold ice climbing weekend. Climbing in temperatures mostly around 0F. I didn't take too many pictures because my fingers were too cold to work the camera.

1/13
Tammy and I drive to the Albany airport where we collect Guy. Then head to Tammy's cabin in the Dacks. We arrive around 2:30am.

1/14
0F to 5F all day long. Strenuous approach. Thin, hard, brittle ice. We climb Eye Of The Needle on the north side of Pitchoff (in the shade all day long... oops). My pitch is a full 200' rope stretcher. The climb itself is pretty easy but the conditions make it terrifying. Mostly snow and verglas covered rock with occasionally bits of hard, brittle ice that will maybe take a stubby. It is one of those days that makes me swear I'll never lead ice again. But I survive :) We barely finish rappelling before dark. My calves actually gave out on my pitch. Never had that happen before.

1/15
It is -7F this morning. We wait for it to hit 0F before climbing. It is brutal. Ice is as hard as concrete. Everything goes numb. We go to Pitchoff Quarry and set a short toprope. We each climb it twice (actually I climb it 1.5 times) and call it a day. Shout out the NEice.com crew who brought hot soup for the ADK Mountain Fest climbers and me.

1/16
-3F in the morning. A warming trend! It reaches a balmy 10F as a high for the day. We close up the cabin and head to Mineville Pillar near exit 30. Set a toprope on the right side and all take a run, then swap ropes with the other party there so we can climb the left side. Best climbing of the trip! Breaking down early so Guy can make his flight, we enjoy a traditional road trip pomelo on the drive to the Albany airport. Tammy and I send Guy back to Ohio and ourselves back to Ithaca.

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