Central Gully (Huntington Ravine) January 13, 2007

[HuiYeng]

This was a mountaineering workshop organized by Summit Sensations, a mountaineering club that I belong to. At first I was pretty bummed about the date crashed with the VFTT Winter Gathering, I wasn't sure I could make it to VT after the climb. But as it turned out, the climb wasn't too exhausting and drive to the Unfrozen Cave was the same as my drive home, so I made the drive and got to enjoy the best of both world .

I'm not much of a writer, guess I'll just share the pictures I took from the climb. Enjoy!

http://s94354335.onlinehome.us/hike/07centralgully/index.htm

 

[WSC]

Great pictures, looks like you had an awesome experience!
WSC

 

[cbcbd]

Cool pictures! It's great when you get up there and everything just clears up.
Finally looking like winter there, good to know! That's a nice gully

 

[sapblatt]

Wow 7summits - that is way cool - but truth be told, I would have turned my tail and ran downhill. The gully did not look as steep as I imagined it would, but the snow depth made it look like a tremendous amount of work.
Great pictures - nice job - thanks for sharing!

 

[spongebob]

Nice going Hui Yeng! <----Even though you only deserve a ".", but we live in punctuation inflated times.

 

[giggy]

awesome gully - now that you got the taste - your done hiking.......

Got a question for you.

I am heading up there this weekend with some freinds and I may or may not not hit central. Did you guys place pickets? just wondering if there was enough snow for them?

 

[cbcbd]

awesome gully - now that you got the taste - your done hiking.......

Ha! So true...

I may or may not not hit central.

So you ARE going to hit central...

 

[giggy]

Ha! So true...


So you ARE going to hit central...

I know I know - king of the typo's - I donno, have to see how conditions are, what looking good, etc.. avy, etc... supposed to get some snow friday, so the gullies might load.

 

[HuiYeng]

We didn't use picket but did use ice screw for a running belay at one point ...around the middle section??

The final 1/3 (or less) of the climb toward the top was on thin snow and we kicked right onto the rocks below it. The rest of the gully was covered with pretty thick snow and a short steep section covered with ice.

During the climb I needed to anchor down to belay one team member up, I used my ice axe for that, but I was protected by ice screw (in theory). Our group did carry pickets but didn't use it. I'll probably bring them, better safe than sorry.

awesome gully - now that you got the taste - your done hiking.......

Hehehe, I'm not sure about that, but I'm sure liking ice climbing more now.

...but truth be told, I would have turned my tail and ran downhill...

Same here, if it was clear day and I got to see the whole gully, i probably would turn away too .

Thanks for all the kind words (except for spongebob).

 

[roadtripper]

Fantastic photos. Makes me want to give winter climbing a shot.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Hollywood]

Photos

7summits,

You have a gift for capturing people in action with a camera, while at the same time doing some tricky climbs.

Thanks for sharing your trip reports!

 

[cbcbd]

Hehehe, I'm not sure about that, but I'm sure liking ice climbing more now.

WooHoo, let's go!!

 

[SABERG]

Central Gulley

Thanks for the photos, hey do capture the landscape and efforts.
The rope team was it all eight or broken up to smaller groups?
Thanks again.

 

[Chip]

Excellent ! Thanks for posting. I'm getting close to getting back into climbing.
Pictures like this are inspiring me on ! This one should be published !

 

[Carmel]

Wow.

-Carmel

 

[Jason Berard]

WOW!!!!! That looks like one heck of a sensation . Thanks for sharing Hui Yeng. GREAT pictures!!!

 

[TMax]

SWEEEEEEEET!
Nice job, great photos... The West and all it's climbs are waiting for you.

 

[albee]

Huntington's sure is a magical place. I've done central gully before and it was a blast. I would say it is the least technical of the mountaineering routes in Huntington's. Have any of you succeeded on Pinnacle or Odell's or Yale? I'm curious to see how those different routes would be compared to how straightforward pushing up Central was.

I don't want to sound like this wasn't an achievement, though. It is great to experience the thrill of some tricky climbs - you are definitely putting your life on the line up there but from the sounds of it you were with a competent team and you took plenty of precaution. Every successful outing like this gives you a bit more of a skill set to draw upon for your next adventure.

I won't even get into how inexperienced I was on my trip up there, but I will sum it up with the fact that everything went 100% according to plan and I topped out, but I totally got the point-of-no-return, "no fall zone", living on the edge feeling. (And I loved it!) Hope you felt the same way!

 

[cbcbd]

Have any of you succeeded on Pinnacle or Odell's or Yale? I'm curious to see how those different routes would be compared to how straightforward pushing up Central was.

I have climbed ice as hard as Pinnacle but haven't done it yet... but I'll get back to you in two weeks... or one

Central and South are rated WI (water ice) 1 - ice or snow climbs 50 degrees or less. Pinnacle and Odell's are WI 3 - short sections or bulges of 70-90 degree ice. Yale is WI2 - up to 60 degrees.

On WI 2 and up you should have belayed pitches with solid multi-point anchors at belays, experience with regular climbing rope management, two ice tools, stiff soled boots, crampons with aggressive front and secondary points, and it goes on...

So it's quite a jump from Central to Pinnacle or Odell's - risk, climbing technique, and equipment (technical ice equipment gets real expensive) all go up.

But man, it's a rush

Here is a good site with the Huntington routes:
http://www.neclimbs.com/index.php?PageName=routes_locationList&SortID=1&LocationID=26&ClimbingType=2

 

[DougPaul]

7summits: Nice climb.

Huntington's sure is a magical place.

That it is.

I've done central gully before and it was a blast. I would say it is the least technical of the mountaineering routes in Huntington's.

Central and South Gullies are the easiest routes in the ravine.

Have any of you succeeded on Pinnacle or Odell's or Yale? I'm curious to see how those different routes would be compared to how straightforward pushing up Central was.

I've done Pinnacle, South, and part of Central.

Central is usually mostly a snow climb. South was a pure snow climb both times that I did it. Pinnacle is a 3 pitch ice climb. All of these routes are highly variable depending on the snow and ice conditions.

Ratings (Wilcox, 1982)
Central: grade I, NEI 1
Pinnacle: grade II/III, NEI 3+
South: grade 1, NEI 1

BTW, Pinnacle is the prominent gully to the left from the base of Central. It is not visible from lower down. http://www.tuckerman.org/photos/huntington/pages/image010.html
Looked a bit more like this when I climbed it: http://www.tuckerman.org/photos/03-04hunt/pages/image008.html

Doug