TR: The Road to GunksFest
Fred
IV, 5.2, WI2, M3, A1
3 pitches, 450 miles
As it’s been the case for now four years in a row, I left Quebec City in
the middle of the night of December 25 to 26, intending to drive all the
way to the Gunks to participate to the GunksFest. According to the
weather channel, some snow was expected to fall in the Montreal region,
but nothing so bad as to make the route really hazardous. Having done
the Road to GunksFest many times before, it’s certainly not three or
four snowflakes that would keep me from another redpoint of the route...
Immediately after starting, the conditions turned from asphalt to mixed.
The going was slower than planned, but still not that bad. A hundred
miles into the first pitch conditions deteriorated some more and wind
started to pick up. Drifting snow made the route harder than it usually
is, but it didn’t stop me from getting closer and closer to Montreal.
The highway 30 section of the pitch proved much easier than expected, so
it’s with renewed confidence that I started the last section, the
highway 15. Here the topo says that you should stop at the one truck
stop that’s open during Christmas night in order to relax for a moment
and get some more energy, i.e. coffee and gas for the car. That last
section to the truck stop is short but feared for its long stretches of
asphalt crossing miles of wind-swept farm land. The problem was that the
asphalt was nowhere to be seen: the route was covered by roughly 2 feet
of fresh snow. The going went slower and slower as snow depth and wind
speed increased. I started to wonder about the sanity of the whole
venture when the wind speed reached 200 mph, thus reducing the
visibility to a mere 6 inches because of the drifting snow. That’s when
I decided that I’d take an extended break at the belay station, i.e. the
truck stop located a couple of miles farther, before deciding whether I
should commit to the rest of the route or bail.
The idea was good, but that was without counting on the 7 feet of snow
that were now covering the route. So the inevitable happened: I got
stuck. One hour was lost trying to dig out my car using my avalanche
shovel (never forget the 10 essentials!) but to no avail. I finally
could get back on route by doing an aid move with the help of a passing
party, namely a tow truck.
The last miles to the belay station went uneventful, and it’s with much
relief that I waited out the storm on that unplanned bivy. By 8am the
storm relented enough to allow me to start the second pitch of the
route: another 4 miles of winter horror fest ending at the Canada-United
States border.
That next belay station was crowded by countless other parties when I
arrived. I had to wait 45 minutes before doing the mental crux of the
route, i.e. making absolutely no joke about terrorists in front of the
customs officer, and convincing him that I didn’t carry any beef meat.
That crux was surmounted surprisingly easily and I soon started the last
pitch of the route. This one went uneventful. The route conditions
quickly improved, wet asphalt at first but quickly drying, and I reached
the end of the route at 12.30, early enough to get some climbing in
before it got dark...
GunksFest 2003 Awards
“ Longest yet graceful leader fall ” Award: Gabriel
“ We didn’t expect him to show up but are glad he did ” Award: Mike
“ Living legend ” Award: Rich and Larry
“ Best GunksFest TR ” Award: Tom
“ Guess of the year ” Award: Dawn
“ Most unnatural yet fun move ” Award: The Dangler’s crux move
“ Move that demanded the most care ” Award: prying on that loose-looking
block high on Annie Oh
“ Most surprising fact ” Award: Actually meeting many climbing parties
that weren’t part of the GunksFest.
Special mention to Larry, Gabriel, and Rich for attending their first
GunksFest
Honourable mention: Mother Nature for her good work
--
Marc from Quebec
http://pages.infinit.net/emah
Home of the Rec.climbers' Personnal Pages Directory
and the Climbing in Québec Page.
Tom Cikoski
>The Road to GunksFest
>IV, 5.2, WI2, M3, A1
>3 pitches, 450 miles
That TR describes one hellish journey just to do some
wintry climbing with a few like-minded nuts. Are we
talking dedication?
And here's what he said when he showed up:
"Sorry I'm late. I ran into some snow."
Marc, you are THE MAN.
--
( )_( )
\. ./
_=.=_
"
Dawn Alguard
> “ Most surprising fact ” Award: Actually meeting many climbing parties
> that weren’t part of the GunksFest.
I can't believe you didn't tell the story. It must be told.
Dawn
A. Cairns
Fred wrote:
> The Road to GunksFest
> IV, 5.2, WI2, M3, A1
> 3 pitches, 450 miles
Nice, unusual TR.
> the mental crux of the route, i.e. making absolutely no joke
> about terrorists in front of the customs officer
Sure you didn't get that backwards? From another recent crossing into the
US by a Canadian:
"Where are you from?"
Vancouver.
"No, where are you *from*?"
Vancouver.
"No, where were you *born*?"
Oh, Tehran.
"Pull over there."
Bill Z.
> From another recent crossing into the US by a Canadian:
>
> "Where are you from?"
>
> Vancouver.
>
> "No, where are you *from*?"
>
> Vancouver.
>
> "No, where were you *born*?"
>
> Oh, Tehran.
>
> "Pull over there."
Would they have let him through if he had clicked his heels together
and said, "Heil Bush"? ;-)
Some years ago, I spent a week visiting Canadian friends and climbing
in Squamish. On the way back through U.S. customs, an official of some
sort asked me if I was a U.S. citizen. I almost said, "Sure am, eh,"
after a week of my Canadian friends' influence. Fortunately, I managed
to stifle the "eh."
Bill
--
My real name backwards: nemuaZ lliB