Mt Washington Ice Festival-- A TR of sorts
BKR
TR but this is how it stands for now.
bkr
Mt. Washington Ice Festival 2002
So last year was the first. First season for ice-climbing that is. I
started out sometime in January 2001, on a little 20 footer in Great
Falls, VA and I was hooked from my first swing. I knew I would be, which
is one of the reasons I resisted the urge for so long. Finally it (the
urge) and my climbing friends got to be too much and I yielded to the
temptation. My life has not quite been the same since. Now when I look
at ice I don't think cold, or frostbite, skis or snowboards, I think
picks and screws. Am I insane? Probably, but that is another trip report
in and of itself. I only made it out once more last year, my first trip
to the Mt. Washington Valley Ice Festival in North Conway, NH. I had a
blast and vowed to return again as often as possible.
That brings us to this year...a pretty crappy weather year (crappy
meaning inconsistent...not ice and snow filled) that meant little
opportunity to hone my skills on the ice. In fact, the only trip I got
to take was the return to the Ice Fest. It was worth it though. When we
left last year I had a clear intention of getting lots of practice this
season and returning to do Dracula on Frankenstein cliffs. It just
looked too sweet to pass up. Such was my goal, but it was not to be.
Instead, we pulled some easier stuff and I got to learn a lot (I
think/hope) about different types of ice and what to expect in less than
perfect weather conditions.
I met with Morgan on Thursday night and we left my place around 2130.
Last year we drove up in a storm and the trip took a little over 13
hours. (MapQuest says the trip from my door to North Conway is 552 miles
and should take 10.5 hours.) This year we made the trip in 9 hours and
Morgan and I were well rested and relaxed when we met up with Ian at IME
at 0800 Friday morning.
We decided to do something on Frankenstein to make sure we got on it
before the "crowds came in for the weekend. With the weather being what
it was, we weren't sure there would be any ice left worth climbing after
Saturday. We made the trek in to the wall sometime around 1000 and
decided, after looking around a bit, to try our hand at standard. Ian
led the first pitch which is a nice, fairly easy section of WI2+ or WI3
ice up to the right hand cave, and I cleaned. It was a very nice warm up
and I felt no fear or worry at all. Ian and I sat under the curtain
while Morgan made his way up to the anchor. We talked briefly and Morgan
led through to the second anchor, out the left side of the cave. As
Morgan led this section another group came up and the leader decided he
wanted to lead the curtain. Ian and I were both pretty nervous about
this, as it was fairly thin, (maybe 8 to 12 inches at it's thickest
point.) but it turned out okay and nothing fell on our heads. What
seemed like an eternity later, we finally got the signal from Morgan
that he was off belay and had set up the second anchor. Again I cleaned
(I hate being the newbie...) and froze my fingers trying to figure out
the best way to remove screws. Ian and I were both very nervous, sitting
in the cave looking at what to us was a very precarious start to the
second pitch, but once I stood up and stepped to the "edge" I realized
how unfounded our fears were. I stepped around the left curtain and
virtually ran up the climb but tried to get some advice from the other
leader as I passed him at his anchor. He gave me some pointers about my
footwork and how he removes screws. Once I reached Morgan, Ian followed
and then led the third pitch. Again, I cleaned (did I mention I hate
being the newbie) and Morgan closed us up and we prepared for the walk
off. Coming down we got a good look at Dracula and my mind just started
racing. I wanted it so badly I could almost taste it, but neither
Morgan, nor Ian was interested in leading it or letting my first lead be
on a WI4+ climb so, like I said, it was not to be. Next year, I swear.
After the walk off and retrieving our packs we decided to call it quits
for the day and take in some food and shopping and slide shows. As it
turned out, the crowds really hit for the slide shows and we were turned
away at the door with the school gym having reached max capacity. We
decided to head back to the Hiker's Paradise hostel in nearby Gorham.
Great deal if you don't want to spend a load of money on hotels in the
area and don't mind a little extra drive.
Saturday came and we decided to do Central couloir on Mt. Webster (near
Shoestring) and I have to say I much prefer vertical climbing to
gullies. We simulclimbed after the hike in and the climb up was
reasonably enjoyable but not really my cup of tea. We ended up branching
off and downclimbing another small gully right before the rock section
at the top (which looked pretty nasty to us), so no top out on Saturday.
We spent nearly 2 hours postholing our way back down though with many
cuts and bruises to show for our efforts. When we reached the bottom we
decided again to call it a day and get some food and body modifications
(for me anyway) at Crow's Creations. Then we headed over to the slide
shows and had a good time watching Steve Koch's show and less of a good
time with Conrad Anker who spent a great deal of his slide show
proselytizing and telling us we'd never be able to climb here but he
did. Quite annoying actually, not to mention long winded. Enough bitching.
Sunday we decided to head back to Frankenstein before an early departure
so we were actually starting the climb at around 0930. This time we did
waterfall and again Ian started us off. He led about a third of the
pitch and lowered off, getting a little nervous. Morgan then resumed the
lead and took his time on a few sections. By the time he was finished I
was pretty cold so I put my layers back on (it was supposed to be a
quick run up, rap off and go home) and finally convinced Ian to clean so
I could have one good climb without stopping to remove gear. Ian had
some trouble with the climb due to fatigue after a week plus of climbing
and hiking so he was slow going. Once he finally reached the anchor I
started up and tried to stay on the more vertical left side, which had
steps of nice vertical stuff instead of a steady slope upward. Like I
said, I prefer truly vertical ice. Anyway, after cleaning all my other
climbs, this one seemed to go by all too quickly and I reached the rock
section at the top. I hadn't been paying attention to how the other two
had gotten around the 8 foot section of rock so it was definitely a
learning experience in some dry tooling as well as working my feet. It
was a nice climb though. We rapped off and started our long journey home
after taking some pictures and talking to a few spectators.
All in all, the trip was excellent, and like I said, I learned a lot
more about what real ice climbing can be like. In warm weather anything
seems to happen and we heard folks talking about 75 foot sections of
things falling down. This may have been an exaggeration but from the
warmth we had, it may not. I saw several large chunks come off and got
hit with more than one softball size pieces of ice from above. Mother
nature sure is fickle.