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Someday I'll summit a mountain again
Jan. 12th, 2009 06:28 amSaturday was my first time ice climbing since I tried it four years ago, but I still cannot believe how much I sucked. ( Read more... )
Yesterday we climbed Mt. Washington. It was snowing hard when we woke up and continued on our drive there, but it slowed as we started and it wasn't windy until our descent. ( How it went ) So, a nice walk in the woods with excellent gear and beautiful conditions. It was very dry, so the snow was like sugar, and I think the mountain is ever so much prettier covered in snow, instead of scraggly trees.
Speaking of gear, I *heart* my new zip-off pants and the rain jacket to which I treated myself at the REI flagship store. I climbed Mt. Washington wearing long underwear and those (and boots and crampons and double socks and gloves). The guide said afterwards that in bad weather, we might add a fleece and a down jacket. Oh, and my new ice axe worked very well: I found the guiding service's axes (made by Petzl) to be too wide for my hand, like the one on Rainier.
( The bad bits of the trip ) He provides a good service - I ran the numbers and it comes to less than if I rented a car and drove myself - so I'll probably go on more of his trips. I definitely want to ice climb more this winter and it's somehow easier to get in his van than get myself to Ellenville. He's got another trip in 3 weeks, but considering I've made no progress in the last month on BNE studying, I'm not sure I'm allowed :(
Thanks ya'll for the advice on tipping - turns out the rule about not tipping the person(s) who own the service helps a lot. ( Application )
The guide who helped me with my Camelbak has amazing experience - he's gotten offers to guide for Exum(!) and IMG, among others. We chatted about my climbing background and ambitions. I think 6 hours each way makes it unreasonable to drive myself to NH for a weekend of training, but I might be able to make it logistically work with Dynamic Outdoors. The guide told me they do overnights on the mountain, either sleeping in a cabin or, for those looking for a real expedition experience, sleeping in tents. Egads. He commented with an overnight, there's time for mountaineering or ice climbing practice. It would be a fantastic learning experience, but I'm trying to decide whether I could get just as much from another weekend just like this last one.
Yesterday we climbed Mt. Washington. It was snowing hard when we woke up and continued on our drive there, but it slowed as we started and it wasn't windy until our descent. ( How it went ) So, a nice walk in the woods with excellent gear and beautiful conditions. It was very dry, so the snow was like sugar, and I think the mountain is ever so much prettier covered in snow, instead of scraggly trees.
Speaking of gear, I *heart* my new zip-off pants and the rain jacket to which I treated myself at the REI flagship store. I climbed Mt. Washington wearing long underwear and those (and boots and crampons and double socks and gloves). The guide said afterwards that in bad weather, we might add a fleece and a down jacket. Oh, and my new ice axe worked very well: I found the guiding service's axes (made by Petzl) to be too wide for my hand, like the one on Rainier.
( The bad bits of the trip ) He provides a good service - I ran the numbers and it comes to less than if I rented a car and drove myself - so I'll probably go on more of his trips. I definitely want to ice climb more this winter and it's somehow easier to get in his van than get myself to Ellenville. He's got another trip in 3 weeks, but considering I've made no progress in the last month on BNE studying, I'm not sure I'm allowed :(
Thanks ya'll for the advice on tipping - turns out the rule about not tipping the person(s) who own the service helps a lot. ( Application )
The guide who helped me with my Camelbak has amazing experience - he's gotten offers to guide for Exum(!) and IMG, among others. We chatted about my climbing background and ambitions. I think 6 hours each way makes it unreasonable to drive myself to NH for a weekend of training, but I might be able to make it logistically work with Dynamic Outdoors. The guide told me they do overnights on the mountain, either sleeping in a cabin or, for those looking for a real expedition experience, sleeping in tents. Egads. He commented with an overnight, there's time for mountaineering or ice climbing practice. It would be a fantastic learning experience, but I'm trying to decide whether I could get just as much from another weekend just like this last one.