Mt. Willard, Crawford Notch, NH
December 17, 2010
This past Friday I met up with climber Derek Trembley or “DWT” as he is better known on the popular Ice Climbing website, http://www.neice.com/. Derek expressed an interest in getting together and climbing some ice. I had only climbed with him one other time earlier this year. We had a casual outing on Sliding Board
DWT
We decided the classic route; Cinema Gulley in Crawford Notch would be an appropriate first winter outing together. I had ambitious goals: I figured if things went well, we could run up Cinema, do a quick lap on the local moderate route: Upper Hitchcock, then head back down to the road to finish the day on another classic, Shoestring Gulley.
Derek getting psyched for a big day out!
Patrick and I had climbed Cinema Gulley on February 1, 2010 and the conditions of the route were fantastic. The ice was thick and protection options were plentiful. As you read further, you will learn that this was not the case for DWT and me.
Depending on which climbing partner I am with, the start time of my day will vary greatly. However in comparison to the norm, we got a late start. By the time we were racked up and ready to go it was 10:45am. From the ground, the quality of Cinema Gulley looked ok. A soloist passed us walking on the railroad approach trail as he was returning from a lap on Willey's Slide. He mentioned that he opted to climb the slide, as Cinema looked really thin. I analyzed the route again and decided there was plenty of stuff to climb on.
Cinema Gulley - Mt. Willard, NH
Derek does lead, but he’s still getting his ice legs under him. Therefore, I was assigned the sharp end for the day....SCORE!
I headed up the first pitch. Things were thin, but climbable. I got to the spot where I built a solid belay last February and I heard Derek yell: "10 feet left!”
"Oh dear, something has gone terribly array" I thought to myself. That belay station where I built a bomber three piece anchor was just a snow covered choss pile. The ice in all directions, except below me, was none existent. I evaluated my options: A) Old school hip belay while front pointing on rock. B) attempt to build an anchor with small rock gear in heinous choss C) Retreat; down climb the verglas I had just ascended, except now that verglas was just rock because my beasty-self smashed all available ice off the wall. D)Pound and equalize 2 lost Arrow pitons in terrible rock for my first and only protection on the pitch and traverse 40 feet to my right to a mediocre tree via a rock slab covered in about 5 inches of snow.
I had never climbed ice with DWT and we are not the lightest climbing team, weighing in at a combined 450+lbs. That factor alone immediately eliminated options A & B.
If I was going to get burnt ice climbing, it was going to be my fault. I chose option D. I made it to the tree after a tenuous traverse.
Derek on the Traverse
We headed up pitch 2, and although there was actually climbable ice on this portion of the route, I was only able to sink an airy BD stubby for protection. I finally reached another section of ice and was able to construct an anchor composed of 2 tied-off ice screws and 2 ice tools placed in 2 inches of corn-snow. I belayed off my harness to avoid unnecessary weight on the “anchor”. Please DWT...Don’t fall.
Ice Manker
DWT on some snowy slab
We made it through that pitch as well as the 3rd – where I was able to construct a similar death-anchor. As I started the fourth and final pitch I was excited. My mind had been in full-focus mode since we left the ground and I was ready for a break. The final pitch appeared to offer a lot more ice, therefore potential for realistic protection. Wrong. The ice was plentiful compared to the rest of the route, but it was detached from the rock and aerated. Protection was a joke, but the climbing was more enjoyable to me than scratching my way up snow covered rock. When I reached the top out, things got exciting real fast.
Final Pitch - Finally some ice!
I was standing on an ice dam that was not bonded to the mountain at all, and the final moves consisted of technical mixed movements on slabby rock.
I made it through and was relieved when I was finally able to hook a rotten tree root at the top.
DWT and I hiked through the woods to find Upper Hitchcock Gully. The guide book explains a hike on a small trail, but at this point in the season, no such path existed. We ended up rapping down the route abandoning our plans for a multi-route adventure. We reached the car at around 5pm, only to find that some thief took $120 bucks out of my wallet. (DWT left one of his truck doors unlocked).
A great outing overall.
Happy Holidays and Climb Safe!
Jason
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