Mooney Mountain Guides: December 2011

Icing Around in Crawford Notch!

Great ice climbing conditions were found in Crawford Notch yesterday. Matt, Phil and I took Alphonzo's lead and went to Willard. He posted a few enticing pictures on NEIce the day prior.

Matt was hungry for steep ice so he chose the Great Madness. The route was in good shape, very steep and candled ice but that is the norm for the route. After the Madness we could not pass up the beautiful looking Snot Rocket. The route was in the best shape that I have seen, very fun technical climbing up to a cool belay cave.

Matt gearing up the mind for the steep Great Madness.

Phil happy to be getting out for his first time.

Matt in the business - winding in a screw.

Great Madness NEI 5 Crawford Notch NH.

Bonus climb - the Snot Rocket in great condition.

Great day out with the MMG guides.

Happy New Year,

Art Mooney

Newfound Conditions

It will take another week for the ice to fully form at Newfound. The temperatures need to drop and stay cold for a few days or more for these route to build thick enough to climb and place pro. Right now the ice is hollow, thin and unbonded in places. From the reports the best ice to be found is in Crawford, Franconia Notches and Huntingtons - Tuckermans Ravines right now.

Red Headwall coming into shape.

Bloodline has open spots with lots of water running. Needs colder temps.

Duo fold - looks thin and unbonded, lots of water running.

Art Mooney

The Big Prize - A Presidential Traverse.

The Presidential Traverse is one of the most sought after mountaineering objectives in New Hampshire's White Mountains. Last Thursday Bill, James and Dan made a 17 hour drive from Indiana to meet and climb with MMG guide Jim Gagne. The goal was to complete a three day, 21 mile Presidential traverse over the weekend.

It is not often that one can plan a traverse like this and arrive in NH with a good forecast for the three planned days. The temperatures were cold but there were no storms in the area. The second day which is the longest day was clear, with almost no wind which made it perfect for this exposed and committing part of the traverse.

Looking fresh and strong as they reached the summit at mid day on the traverse.

Trail conditions are quite tough as we have had little to no snow. The team toughed it out and were able to completed the traverse in three days.

Thanks to the Indiana boys for joining Mooney Mountain Guides on this great trip. Thanks to Jim Gagne for another successful traverse. There are only few guides in the area who are as excited as Jim to take on a project like this.

Art Mooney

Monday on the Black Dike.

The news is out, and The Black Dike on Cannon Cliff is in!

Paul and I met in Plymouth at 6am, got on 93 headed to Cannon Cliff in Franconia Notch State Park. This is what we live for. Springing out of bed, strong coffee, approaching ice climbing objectives in the dark, sun rising on cold cliffs, connecting with the mountain environment, and spending time with cool folks.

Climbing in the winter is different. Rock climbs are always "in shape." Ice climbs are more fickle, being dependent on a wide variety of weather conditions. This is part of the allure. We wait, we watch, we sometimes even hike for an hour to find unsuitable climbing conditions. We speculate, and pray for cold weather. We hope for rain followed by extreme cold. We drive very slowly with our necks craned out of our vehicles, getting tailgated by busy commuters.

We are essentially "ice hunters" fanatically searching out our next opportunity to suffer, smile, and ascend tannin stained icicles dripping off of windy, spindrift spilling granite crags.

As we headed north on 93 we passed a guide friend of mine that I knew was gunning for the same frozen paradise. I told Paul to drive faster. Luckily we got there first. We had the 'right of way' on a climb that acts as a funnel for falling ice, therefor, only allows a single climbing team at a time. This is winter and the race is on. Next time we may not be the first in line, forcing us to change our plans, flexibility is the name of the game and adventure is our vice.

Every once in a while we get to have perfect days in the mountains like Monday on The Black Dike. Nice work Paul! You crushed!

Matt Ritter

MMG Guide

A True Presidential Contender.

Mt Washington - known as the home to the worlds worst weather. Holder of the world record wind speed for many years at 231 mile per hour, land of extreme cold temperatures down to -minus 46, can have multiple days of hurricane force winds and frequent whiteout conditions.

Today was a different story it was bluebird - clear above with unlimited visibility. We did have a frigid cold air mass on board which kept us moving through out the day. Our breaks were short but needed to fuel our bodies with gu gels, warm drinks and to manage our clothing layers to keep us reasonably dry throughout the climb. We reached the summit at 12:30 with our ascent time coming in at 5 hours.

After a short lunch break we returned to the base via the same route, down the Crawford Path to Lake of the Clouds then down the steep Ammnoosuc Trail to the Marshfield Cog Station. We arrived at our cars just as the sun was setting.

Mt Washington from the Ammonoosuc Trail.

Steve and Chris just below the summit buildings.

Adel taking a break to fuel up the body.

Mark and Chris in the zone.

Great times with good friends on the mountain.

Steve moving smoothly as he arrives at Lakes.

Steve and Mark bearing down for the final push to the summit.

MMG Guides Matt and Art with the team on the summit.

Beautiful lighting at the end of the day. Golden skies to the west and the alpenglow over the Presidential range to the east.

Thanks for a great climb.

Art Mooney

Its coming soon!!!

Expect the colder weather next week to start forming routes like this.

Meet Up on Mt Lafayette.

This weekend a few members of the Boston Meet Up group came up to NH for some winter mountaineering activities on Mt Welsh and Mt Lafayette. The photos are from Matt during the spectacular day they all had in the mountains last Sunday. Enjoy

We chose the Greenleaf Trail for our ascent of Mt. Lafayette. Here is Ashwini, Ken, and Julia at the trailhead, where the elevation is 1200 feet. In the background is Eagle Cliff with Eagle Pass on its right side. From the start the trail sidecuts a boulder strewn hillside before gaining the impressive pass at 1.5 miles. Eagle Pass is at an elevation of 3000 feet with granite walls smattered with ice on either side.

In 2.7 miles we reached the Greenleaf Hut, elevation 4245 feet. Here we earned our first real views of our objective after gaining 3045 feet over 2.7 miles. Thats 1127 feet per mile, which feels a lot like mountain climbing! Pictured here is the "Dream Team" with Mt. Lafeyette still 1015 feet higher, and the Franconia Ridge in the background.

This is a shot of Ken, Ashwini and Julia along the 1.1 miles to the summit from the Greenleaf Hut. Mt. Lincoln and the rest of the Franconia Ridge is their back drop.

After gaining another 1015 feet over 1.1 miles, we reached the summit in perfectly calm conditions and clear skies. 4060 feet of climbing over 3.8 miles... thats pretty close to what we do on Mt. Washington, and we are rewarded with this view, here is Ashwini and Julia with the Presidential Range behind them.

Thanks to Ken, Julia, and Ashwini for another beautiful day in the mountains.

Matt Ritter

MMG Guide

Well worth the wait.

Matt, Jay and I ventured into the Franconia Notch today with hopes of finding reasonable ice conditions on Cannon. We all were pleasantly surprised as we rounded the base of the Whitney Gilman Ridge and saw a complete runnel of ice all the way up the route. Todays conditions were good but it reminded me of early November type conditions. The temps were below freezing in the shade but on the sunny wall it was a different story. Large slabs of ice were falling all day long in the mid section of the cliff. Let's hope for cold temperatures to come back soon as there is plenty of water flowing and this could freeze into some very fat ice routes.

Black Dike and Fafnir on Monday morning Dec 12.

Matt stepping out onto the steep ground on pitch two.

Trying out my new Petzl Quarks for the first time. An excellent tool for sure.

I am calling this a manchor. Three old pins, two fixed stoppers, and one ice pick driven into the crack.

Jay enjoying the steep technical climbing on the final pitch.

Great day with good friends.

Thanks to Matt and Jay.

Art Mooney

December rock in Vermont!

All of us at MMG are eager for the ice to come in, and thankfully, it looks like this weekend it will. Still, we’re not above squeezing in a last day on the rock when the opportunity presents itself, and recently, it did! Dennis and I headed out to Vermont’s 82 Crag and were treated to perfect conditions. Warm, crisp and dry rock in the December sunshine! The “82” is one of New England’s best kept secrets, featuring a selection of exceptionally high quality 2 pitch face routes, as well as some of the best hard sport climbs in the region.

It's quite a pretty spot as well.

Here, Dennis focuses on the devious 5.10 crux of Crimp Chimp’s second pitch. This tricky sequence is simply a joy to puzzle out: Perfect rock, great position, and aesthetic movement!

Dennis is pscyched with his send as we head back down for our next route!

The stiff uphill approach tends to keep traffic down, and on this perfect afternoon, there was only one other party at the cliff.

We finished off our day with an ascent of the super classic Year of the Dog. It was gorgeous on the cliff top, belaying Dennis in the evening light. What an afternoon. Now let’s SWING SOME ICE TOOLS!

Derek Doucet, MMG

Mt Washington NH - Overnight at the OBS!!!

MMG's first overnight trip on Mt Washington was an excellent adventure. with a solid group of 11 climber coming together from NH, PA, NJ, and CT. Our climb to the top was quite rugged as

trail conditions on the mountain are frozen hard with patches of slick black ice hidden under the dusting of snow. We all enjoyed this tough but leisurely paced climb to the top in moderate temperatures. A very unusual experience on a mountain with the Worlds Worst Weather. The summit staff greeted us warmly inside the Observatory. Our chef Nicole served us a plentiful dinner and breakfast which refueled our bodies for our journey down the mountain. This two day Mt Washington Observatory Overnight Trip is a great way to see the mountain in a variety of lighting and weather conditions.