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I'm going to try something new this trip report. Both my partner, Brian, and myself, Mike, will be bringing you play-by-play commentary.
For your reference:
 Talks like this. He wears a Wild Things suit or TNF Ama Dablam jacket, both yellow. He is very small.
- Brian: Talks like this. He wears a mango Arc'Teryx jacket and dark blue Arc'Teryx bibs accented with duct tape.
And now, on with our story.
Brian: Excuse me. Despite what Mike says, Arc' Teryx refers to the jacket as "Tabasco" which is way cooler sounding. If anybody cares, or is looking for a new one, the whole Arc' Teryx Alpha line kicks ass. VERY lightweight, functional and a trim cut to boot. No articles that look like parachute outfits.
That's all well and good, but there is no hex value for "tabasco," so mango it is. Somebody needs to remember who's editing this sucker and who has upload rights... And my WT suit was cut big. It's not my fault. I'm very small.
As I was saying, Brian and I flew up to New Hampshire to get in three days of ice climbing and one day of backcountry skiing over Martin Luther King, Jr. weekend (I'm sure the doctor would have wanted it this way). We had hoped to do the following routes and ski tour:
- Willey's Slide (NEI 2+) - a great beginner's slab, and a classic route, on Mt. Willey offering up to 6 pitches of moderate ice and short, steep bulges near the top of the route. Brian and I had both climbed ice separately but never together, and this seemed like a good route on which to work out a system and would be a good warmup.
- Shoestring Gully (NEI 2) - a long and striking alpine line on the west face of Mt. Webster. I had first seen the route last year while on Willey's and was very keen to try it. Mt. Webster's Horseshoe and Shoestring gullies are pictured above.
- Hitchcock Gully (NEI 2 to 3+, depending on who you talk to) - a classic mixed gully slashing the upper southeast face of Mt. Willard. I had done the route the year before and was eager to return for another go.
- Mt. Garfield (S1) - a long, moderate ski tour up the south side of the mountain via the Garfield Trail.
That was the plan. We flew in, checked into Nereledge Inn, per usual, unpacked, repacked, then went to Moat Mountain for dinner. For some reason never fully identified (nerves, flu, botulism?) the beef brisket I'd consumed that night on arrival made a second appearance the next morning around 3am. I got up that morning feeling a little out of it and a lot dehydrated, but it didn't matter. We were here to climb! And suffer!
"And we would continue in good style..." |
