percious
Well-known member
A crisp clear morning greeted us as we packed up our gear for the short trek up to Huntington ravine. An earlier check at the logs told us we were likely to be the first in the ravine this morning. We passed one party, and one gentleman sped by us as we marched the trail up from Pinkham notch.
Pretty soon we were donning our harnesses and crampons. Another party arrived. We would be the first on the ice, but probably rushed by the people waiting below. The sun was warm against my face and there was no wind.
Doug(cbdbd) flaked out a rope while I set my belay anchor, two stoppers embedded into the pinnacle buttress. The shade from the butress was a stark contrast from the warm snow-reflected sun.
A third party arrived and asked to share the ice, cutting in front of the party before us. We all obliged. Doug started up. The low-angle ice quickly turned steep and Doug did a great job with it. He stopped periodically to place some screws and soon I was shouting 20 feet! and he placed three more screws for an anchor. I was getting cold in my poly-pro shirt.
While Doug finished setting the belay anchor I broke down my own and headed up to his first screw and removed that. I had to get moving because I was getting cold in the shade. Soon I was on belay, and removed the second screw. It began to get steep, as the woman climbing to my right was cursing the wet ice.
I was extracting the last screw when a wild feeling raced through my body. I found myself ready to vomit. I thought I was feeling that way because I was nervous about leading the second pitch, but I told myself doug would probably be happy to lead it if I asked him to. Then my hands started to burn. I guess they had gone numb without me realizing it. I should have switched to my ice gloves instead of wearing my light fleece ones. The "screamy pukies" persisted, as I b*tched and moned looking down at the patient party below.
The feeling subsided and I reached the belay. Doug helped me find my jacket in my pack and I was warm again. I headed out on lead, placing an early screw. Traversing right, I found a good place for a second screw when Doug pointed out that my last draw had come disconnected from the first ice screw. "Strange, " I thought. I was at a good stance and easily placed the next screw. I headed up the next ice bulge. Soon after, someone pointed out that I had dropped a screw, which I hadn't even realized. Not really sure about that one. It was looking like a pretty horrible lead so far.
Anyway, I went left up the next bulge to find it very brittle. I just could not get good placements for my axes. I was running low on screws, having placed two of them too early, and having sent one flying down the ice, so I was down to two stubbies and a 15er. I backed off the brittleness and looked right to find a nice cleft in the rock. The ice was wet and soft and took good placements so I carried on for a bit and found a nice spot for my red TCU. Doug was soon following me up.
At this point the woman had passed me up, carrying on through the brittleness since she had a bunch more screws than I. She was soon out of sight, screaming "Beeg Ice" before a large chunk would come flying down. Doug caught up and was soon on the sharp end again. He ran the pitch to some sun-bleached ice and was out of rope. I removed the rope from my belay device to give him a few more inches, and to simul-climb if he so desired.
Soon Doug and I were together again in the sun which felt great. I took a quick break on the belay before heading up to the talus slope and flaking out the rope. We caught up with the guys who had passed us up and they gave Doug back his screw. I was grateful for its return.
Doug and I then made our way through the alpine garden and finally to right gully in order to avoid the slog down Lion's Head. We watched a skier head down "the chute" and butt-slid to the base of the bowl. There we greeted Hiker Amiga and Bob who was heading up the bowl for a run. We chatted with the rangers and a snowboarder as we descended to HoJo's. The remainder of the hike was a slog.
All in all a great day out! Thanks Doug.
-percious
Pretty soon we were donning our harnesses and crampons. Another party arrived. We would be the first on the ice, but probably rushed by the people waiting below. The sun was warm against my face and there was no wind.
Doug(cbdbd) flaked out a rope while I set my belay anchor, two stoppers embedded into the pinnacle buttress. The shade from the butress was a stark contrast from the warm snow-reflected sun.
A third party arrived and asked to share the ice, cutting in front of the party before us. We all obliged. Doug started up. The low-angle ice quickly turned steep and Doug did a great job with it. He stopped periodically to place some screws and soon I was shouting 20 feet! and he placed three more screws for an anchor. I was getting cold in my poly-pro shirt.
While Doug finished setting the belay anchor I broke down my own and headed up to his first screw and removed that. I had to get moving because I was getting cold in the shade. Soon I was on belay, and removed the second screw. It began to get steep, as the woman climbing to my right was cursing the wet ice.
I was extracting the last screw when a wild feeling raced through my body. I found myself ready to vomit. I thought I was feeling that way because I was nervous about leading the second pitch, but I told myself doug would probably be happy to lead it if I asked him to. Then my hands started to burn. I guess they had gone numb without me realizing it. I should have switched to my ice gloves instead of wearing my light fleece ones. The "screamy pukies" persisted, as I b*tched and moned looking down at the patient party below.
The feeling subsided and I reached the belay. Doug helped me find my jacket in my pack and I was warm again. I headed out on lead, placing an early screw. Traversing right, I found a good place for a second screw when Doug pointed out that my last draw had come disconnected from the first ice screw. "Strange, " I thought. I was at a good stance and easily placed the next screw. I headed up the next ice bulge. Soon after, someone pointed out that I had dropped a screw, which I hadn't even realized. Not really sure about that one. It was looking like a pretty horrible lead so far.
Anyway, I went left up the next bulge to find it very brittle. I just could not get good placements for my axes. I was running low on screws, having placed two of them too early, and having sent one flying down the ice, so I was down to two stubbies and a 15er. I backed off the brittleness and looked right to find a nice cleft in the rock. The ice was wet and soft and took good placements so I carried on for a bit and found a nice spot for my red TCU. Doug was soon following me up.
At this point the woman had passed me up, carrying on through the brittleness since she had a bunch more screws than I. She was soon out of sight, screaming "Beeg Ice" before a large chunk would come flying down. Doug caught up and was soon on the sharp end again. He ran the pitch to some sun-bleached ice and was out of rope. I removed the rope from my belay device to give him a few more inches, and to simul-climb if he so desired.
Soon Doug and I were together again in the sun which felt great. I took a quick break on the belay before heading up to the talus slope and flaking out the rope. We caught up with the guys who had passed us up and they gave Doug back his screw. I was grateful for its return.
Doug and I then made our way through the alpine garden and finally to right gully in order to avoid the slog down Lion's Head. We watched a skier head down "the chute" and butt-slid to the base of the bowl. There we greeted Hiker Amiga and Bob who was heading up the bowl for a run. We chatted with the rangers and a snowboarder as we descended to HoJo's. The remainder of the hike was a slog.
All in all a great day out! Thanks Doug.
-percious
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