Trip Report
Northeastern Ice Shenanigans
Thursday February 27, 2014 4:50pm
So this TR is nothing special, so don't expect any harrowing tales of FA or anything like that. You've been warned. Just wanted to show you Californians that the NE is kinda the place to be for ice season this year. All these polar vortices and such have left us with some incredible flows. In between trying to not let my GPA take a dip in my engineering classes, I've been trying to get out as much as possible, because I'm still fairly new to ice and therefore super psyched about everything with smears of frozen water on it.

Cool climbing part 1 was something called Drop Swim or Die at the Palisades. To get there you have to walk about a mile over a frozen Lake Champlain.

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The one mile walk over Lake Champlain to get to the climbs
The one mile walk over Lake Champlain to get to the climbs
Credit: chick_on_ice
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Really windy on a -5F day
Really windy on a -5F day
Credit: chick_on_ice
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Once we got to the climbs the first time we went out there, we had to test the ice. It was early season, so the lake ice was only 2 inches thick in places.

pictured below is the climb we wanted to get on. I'm at the bottom right for scale.
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Photo cred to Caleb L.
Photo cred to Caleb L.
Credit: chick_on_ice
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My climbing partner voted me to be the ice guinea pig and to see if we could somehow get onto the ice flow without falling through the lake ice. Notice the open water hole at the bottom left of the photo.

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The ice guinea pig in it's natural habitat crawling across the 2" ice ...
The ice guinea pig in it's natural habitat crawling across the 2" ice to the start of the climb.
Credit: chick_on_ice
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It wasn't my most dignified moment, but a good choice, because the ice started creaking and groaning and fracturing, so I scooted away on my stomach looking like a weird, orange-colored seal.

Here's another photo of how ridiculous I looked as my partner looked on and laughed.

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Notice all the broken ice around me and the open water... Not my brigh...
Notice all the broken ice around me and the open water... Not my brightest idea
Credit: chick_on_ice
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So taking into account that it was -5F and the lake ice was really sketchy, we had to bail.

BUT, we came back a week later when the lake ice was 3 inches thick.

My partner led the first pitch like a champ after just starting to lead ice this year. I led the second spicier pitch.

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photocred Caleb L.
photocred Caleb L.
Credit: chick_on_ice
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Pitch 1.
Pitch 1.
Credit: chick_on_ice
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The whole climb in all its glory and appropriately named: Drop Swim or...
The whole climb in all its glory and appropriately named: Drop Swim or Die. If you squint, you can see my partner at the belay and my tiny figure above the difficulties and on easier ice
Credit: chick_on_ice
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The 2nd pitch had some pizzazz.

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Yours truly past the crux of pitch 2
Yours truly past the crux of pitch 2
Credit: chick_on_ice
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Pitch 2. Photo taken by Jacob K.
Pitch 2. Photo taken by Jacob K.
Credit: chick_on_ice
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There were some super aerated and rotten pillars, so I punched them to clear some placements for my feet. One was very solid and resulted in my having a nice bruise the next day:

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Ice climbing takes sacrifices, and I should not be so stupid next time...
Ice climbing takes sacrifices, and I should not be so stupid next time.
Credit: chick_on_ice
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More fun things I got to climb was a climb called Repentance. My partner was super stoked on it and fired it like a champ.

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At the start
At the start
Credit: chick_on_ice
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Beautiful, gorgeous day that I skipped class for.

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Crushing
Crushing
Credit: chick_on_ice
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You may know this climb from a video of Steve House soloing it. Everyone wants to know: did you go left or right at the top? We went left and took the insecure handjam option, although I levered on some shitty crimp instead (my hands were too small for the handjam).

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Pitch 2 crux
Pitch 2 crux
Credit: chick_on_ice
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Partner is psyched on us topping out
Partner is psyched on us topping out
Credit: chick_on_ice
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Onwards to more climbs.

I climbed a lot at a place called Frankenstein. One of my favorites is a climb called 'Dracula', but the only photo I have of it is after I led it and was about to simul-rap with my partner. Google it: it's a beautiful thing.

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Top of Dracula at Frankenstein Cliff
Top of Dracula at Frankenstein Cliff
Credit: chick_on_ice
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Hmm... what else? There were several mixed days, including an exploratory one where we hung a top rope over a slab.

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Mixed slab-TR-ing at its best
Mixed slab-TR-ing at its best
Credit: chick_on_ice
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We used anything and everything to get up that thing. Including the tree-assist.

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Tree-assisted rest
Tree-assisted rest
Credit: chick_on_ice
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One of my housemates is a total crusher and is going to feature prominently in some of the photos below, so meet my friend 'Z'.

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Modeling his only pair of jeans for us
Modeling his only pair of jeans for us
Credit: chick_on_ice
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It's super nice to have a climbing partner living in the same house as you several rooms over. His girlfriend also makes delicious baked goods and breads, which is always a plus in a climbing partner.

Below is pictured another housemate. This photo was too good not to be shared with the world, and I know it has nothing to do with climbing, but it gives you a sense of what kind of crazy grad students I live with (he really was part of a circus before he decided to do his phd in computational biology).

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Another one of my housemates. He doesn't climb, but was part of a circ...
Another one of my housemates. He doesn't climb, but was part of a circus at one point in his life.
Credit: chick_on_ice
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So back to 'Z'. He led this weird mixed climb at one of our local haunts on some old pitons and a barely-touched down pillar.

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The rope on the left is from another party
The rope on the left is from another party
Credit: chick_on_ice
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'Z' transitioning onto the ice
'Z' transitioning onto the ice
Credit: chick_on_ice
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So back to the most recent climbs I've done. I teamed up with 'Z' about a week ago to climb 'Mindbender' at Lake Willoughby. I followed the first time on that Sunday and then two days later came back with another partner on a Tuesday (skipping my Microfabrication of Thin Films lecture) to lead it.

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'Z' rocking some shades
'Z' rocking some shades
Credit: chick_on_ice
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Here are some photos from when I could hang back, relax and just follow the climb. You solo about 15 feet of WI2 to get to the base.

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'Z' on the first pitch of Mindbender looking like a ninja monkey all i...
'Z' on the first pitch of Mindbender looking like a ninja monkey all in black
Credit: chick_on_ice
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Here's a photo of the entire climb in one shot.

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The climb Mindbender in all its glory at Lake Willoughby with the smal...
The climb Mindbender in all its glory at Lake Willoughby with the small solo-able step at the start
Credit: chick_on_ice
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Cozy belay ledge with daggers
Cozy belay ledge with daggers
Credit: chick_on_ice
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I couldn't get the climb out of my mind, so I convinced one of my lab partners from my Fluid Dynamics class (who had climbed 4 pitches of ice ever in his life), that he should skip class and follow me up it on a tuesday afternoon.

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Leading pitch 1 of Mindbender at Lake Willoughby
Leading pitch 1 of Mindbender at Lake Willoughby
Credit: chick_on_ice
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Yes, yes, I know I need to place more screws. I just forget to sometimes because the ice is so good. And ice run-outs aren't really that scary anyway.

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Almost to the belay cave
Almost to the belay cave
Credit: chick_on_ice
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The weather was decent at the beginning and then deteriorated, just at the right moment. The crux is this 'swing-around-onto-vertical-pillar' move.

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At the belay of pitch 2 before the move onto the pillar and swinging m...
At the belay of pitch 2 before the move onto the pillar and swinging my hands to keep warm
Credit: chick_on_ice
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Checking to see if there's anything better around the corner.

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Crux
Crux
Credit: chick_on_ice
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Nope. Only way is to go up.

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Le Crux
Le Crux
Credit: chick_on_ice
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Working up pitch 2. Photo cred to K.M.
Working up pitch 2. Photo cred to K.M.
Credit: chick_on_ice
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It was pretty damn steep, but I was psyched. This was my 23rd ice lead! (and yes, I keep track with a spreadsheet because I'm lame like that and have a data-oriented mind)

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cheesing almost at the top
cheesing almost at the top
Credit: chick_on_ice
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We had to rap in the start of a blizzard and then race home in the car before the roads got to bad for us to make it back to campus on time for our 7pm lab.

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Rappeling in the start of a snowstorm
Rappeling in the start of a snowstorm
Credit: chick_on_ice
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The rap was also pretty-much free hanging which was absurd. Oh, and I rapped off the ends of my ropes (on purpose!) into a snowdrift, so we could get down faster. It was only about 2 feet, so whatever.

So the takeaway about the NorthEast is that there's great climbing, great partners to be found everywhere (although all of them seem to have significant others already. Just my luck I suppose...), and good beer.

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Heady Topper post climbing at Willoughby with good friends
Heady Topper post climbing at Willoughby with good friends
Credit: chick_on_ice
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Chatting on the way back to the car
Chatting on the way back to the car
Credit: chick_on_ice
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Oh, and I'm probably going to fail out of college if I keep skipping class to go climbing, but somehow I've made it work this season.

  Trip Report Views: 3,274
chick_on_ice
About the Author
chick_on_ice is a trad climber from too many places to name.

Comments
bpope

climber
Mountain View, CA
  Feb 27, 2014 - 04:56pm PT
nice! definitely makes me miss being at school in boston.
chick_on_ice

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Feb 27, 2014 - 05:00pm PT
Ugh. Adam. I'd like you to know that my friend Mark got a lot of sh#t from me for his 'she's a man-eater' comment. I'm never going to live down that day on Daff Dome when I let Mark talk to you.
tradmanclimbs

Ice climber
Pomfert VT
  Feb 27, 2014 - 05:12pm PT
Awsome!!!! although that sh#t messing arround with that lake ice was terrifying and Stooooopid... someone gets killed every year or so going through the ice out on the lake but it's usually drunken ice fisherman Not Ice climbers.. We are supposed to be smarter than the rednecks;)
anita514

Gym climber
Great White North
  Feb 27, 2014 - 05:21pm PT
awesome stuff
super jealous
OldEric

Trad climber
Westboro, MA
  Feb 27, 2014 - 05:23pm PT
Nice going "C". Better watch out for that "Z" character though - pretty sketchy.
this just in

climber
Justin Ross from North Fork
  Feb 27, 2014 - 05:23pm PT
This was my 23rd ice lead! (and yes, I keep track with a spreadsheet because I'm lame like that and have a data-oriented mind)
This is great. TR even better, good pics and climbing. Jesus might have walked on water, but did he climb it?
labrat

Trad climber
Erik O. Auburn, CA
  Feb 27, 2014 - 05:33pm PT
"don't expect any harrowing tales of FA or anything like that"

The scary thin ice belly crawl counts!

Thanks for posting up!
Erik
chick_on_ice

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Feb 27, 2014 - 05:36pm PT
Better watch out for that "Z" character though - pretty sketchy.

Haha Eric who would've know you were on this site! And yeah, I had to watch the Z character stuff some climbing shoes into the oven today. I decided to check things out when I heard "Turn the oven up to 250 degrees please". Was not disappointed by the sight I saw.
John Duffield

Mountain climber
New York
  Feb 27, 2014 - 05:36pm PT
wow Great!!!

The ice equivalent of "Drop, Fly or Die!!!
chick_on_ice

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Feb 27, 2014 - 05:42pm PT
You mean this climb at Spider's Web? It went up to my top 5 favorite climbs ever list when I got to climb it this fall.
John Duffield

Mountain climber
New York
  Feb 27, 2014 - 05:51pm PT
The Spiders Web, Indeed

http://www.mountainproject.com/v/drop-fly-or-die/106073694


Roots

Mountain climber
Somewhere Fun
  Feb 27, 2014 - 07:16pm PT
Nice!
Ezra Ellis

Trad climber
North wet, and Da souf
  Feb 27, 2014 - 07:38pm PT
Way to shred the GNAR!!!!
Thank you, nice ice!!!! Chick!
wilbeer

Mountain climber
Terence Wilson greeneck alleghenys,ny,
  Feb 27, 2014 - 07:58pm PT
Very Cool ,great looking Ice!

And you damn Green Mountaineers have got to start sharing Heady Topper.
NutAgain!

Trad climber
https://nutagain.org
  Feb 27, 2014 - 07:51pm PT
Beautiful pics, excellent looking adventures.

And in terms of treading water, I'd be more worried about my insulation layers getting soggy and pulling me down than the crampons. At least your partner could have thrown you a rope, so it wasn't completely insane, just mildly alarming ;)
BMcC

Trad climber
Livermore
  Feb 27, 2014 - 09:57pm PT
Nice pics and TR - thanks for sharing your adventures!

btw: clearly lots more ice than in sunny California.
tradmanclimbs

Ice climber
Pomfert VT
  Feb 27, 2014 - 10:05pm PT
for the lake ice Make sure your pack is unstrapped and only slung on your weak arm shoulder and you have an ice tool in your strong hand and please don't go on the sketchy thin stuff. you can get seriously killed that way......
Jaysen

Big Wall climber
NYC
  Feb 27, 2014 - 10:15pm PT
If everyone here could climb at the spiders web, there wouldent be anyone in the valley. Dont let the secret get out!
neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
  Feb 28, 2014 - 07:54am PT
hey there say, chick-on-ice...

wow ... not all the pics have loaded yet (dial up)...
but i saw some very impressive ice in one, so far...

not sure what the 'falling into water' and such is about?
i did see one pic of someone walking over the iced lake--
it seemed (YES, just reread, 2 inches was mentioned)...

(EDIT: OKAY--just found what i was missing... did't see this bit:

My climbing partner voted me to be the ice guinea pig and to see if we could somehow get onto the ice flow without falling through the lake ice. Notice the open water hole at the bottom left of the photo.


very nice share, though, i will see it later, again, when i can wait
and hope for the pics to load....

my autie died, falling through the ice on her pond... it was a
milder winter, it seemed... something went very wrong, :(


glad to know, if folks were?? on ice, that you were all safe, :)

thank so very much for sharing... NE or calif: ice is still
a very interesting share, FA, or not... :)
jopay

climber
so.il
  Feb 28, 2014 - 08:26am PT
Nice report, looks like some fun ice, and I second some of the comments about the thin ice, throw a rope on next time. Good job nice leads.
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
  Feb 28, 2014 - 08:32am PT
Thanks for sharing your great photos.
That climb off the frozen lake looks wild - sounds wise to wait until the base ice was thicker.
I used to climb at Lake Willoughby back in the day (1977) - did the FA of Mindbender and a few other things.
10b4me

Social climber
Lida Junction
  Feb 28, 2014 - 10:39am PT
Thanks for the tr. looks very cool.
tradmanclimbs

Ice climber
Pomfert VT
  Feb 28, 2014 - 11:58pm PT
Clint. didnt you do the FA of Called?
philo

climber
  Mar 1, 2014 - 01:32am PT
Dayum that was a wickedly cool TR. TFPU.
Very beautiful ice you got there. And kudos to you for getting after it like you are.

And now for your entertainment some thin ice shenanigans.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KkXy83WlLY4
And this could be your theme song.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTKu-L1b--o&feature=kp
Ed Hartouni

Trad climber
Livermore, CA
  Mar 1, 2014 - 01:37am PT
more ice in Cali?

more rock to climb this time of year too...

thanks for the NE winter season stoke. Those were the days.
chick_on_ice

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Mar 1, 2014 - 09:43am PT
I used to climb at Lake Willoughby back in the day (1977) - did the FA of Mindbender and a few other things.

That's just wicked cool. So incredibly rad. 1977. That's insane.

And in response to all the thin-ice concerns, the walking across the lake wasn't sketchy (we chopped holes every time we came to a new section of ice to assess the conditions). The sketch part was where the ice met with rock, and because of all the ice that had fallen before, it had punched through, so the lake ice below the crag wasn't nearly as thick as the rest of the lake. When I was crawling on my stomach I had an ice ax in hand and knew that if something happened, the thicker ice wasn't too far away (so I wasn't just going to flounder and die), plus my partner was there with a rope coiled to toss and I trust him with my life. All in all, I actually am quite proud of us for bailing that first time at Drop Swim or Die because of the mounting objective hazards; backing down doesn't come easily to me (especially after you slog a mile in the windchill to get there).
tradmanclimbs

Ice climber
Pomfert VT
  Mar 1, 2014 - 09:50am PT
I think you have your thin ice testing procedure all backwards. You should send the fat guy 1st to test the ice:)
WhiskeyToast

Social climber
Hawaii
  Mar 4, 2014 - 03:01pm PT
Awesome TR. Haven't climbed at the lake since 86'. Thanks
radair

Social climber
North Conway, NH
  Mar 4, 2014 - 05:47pm PT
You are a badass. Mindbender is one long chunk of steep ice; very impressed with your lead. The lake route looks awesome, well done.
Vitaliy M.

Mountain climber
San Francisco
  Mar 4, 2014 - 06:14pm PT
Nat, you are too bad ass! Even "Mixed slab" is overhanging! :) Can't climb with you again some day, keep truckin!
jdoles

climber
berkeley, ca
  Mar 4, 2014 - 08:41pm PT
Ps - I find this way impressive as well. Mindbender is f-ing steep. I would venture to guess there are only a few women in the greater new england area that are currently up to leading ice at that level.

Keep up the stoke!
TradEddie

Trad climber
Philadelphia, PA
  Mar 4, 2014 - 10:24pm PT
Wow, thank you, great pictures!

TE
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
  Mar 4, 2014 - 10:43pm PT
Clint. didnt you do the FA of Called?
Called on Account of Rains, yep. (It was formed once, so we jumped on it).
Also Plug and Chug, and Crazy Diamond.
My future wife (Nancy) did the FA of Renormalization with my main climbing partner, John Imbrie, while I was doing Plug and Chug.
The best stuff (Promenade and The Last Gentleman) had already been done, but there were a few FAs left.
We made a little guidebook to Willoughby, too.
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
  Mar 4, 2014 - 10:44pm PT
All in all, I actually am quite proud of us for bailing that first time at Drop Swim or Die because of the mounting objective hazards; backing down doesn't come easily to me (especially after you slog a mile in the windchill to get there).
Big points for that in my view, too.

I was a bit too aggressive with my ice climbing.
A year after doing that stuff at Willoughby, I was trying to do the
FA of Alchemist's Dream at Whitehorse Ledge.
I made it up the barely attached pillar which bridged the overhang between two slab layers.
But one of my tools pulled on the thin ice above.
I didn't have any pro in, went about 40' down to the slab below,
broke my back at T12 and broke my leg.
I was paralyzed from the waist down for a couple of weeks,
but my spinal cord was only bruised and not cut.
I was lucky to be able to walk (and pee, etc.) again, still have a pretty weak
ankle and a permanent limp.
So I haven't ice climbed again.
I do still rock climb, though.
Jorroh

climber
  Mar 4, 2014 - 10:47pm PT
"The best stuff (Promenade and The Last Gentleman) had already been done"

disagree...always thought "Called...' was the best on the cliff.
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
  Mar 4, 2014 - 10:54pm PT
It is a bit longer and has a nice view from up high, down to the lake, etc.
Those other two looked good to my eye, and at least in those days they seemed to form more regularly.
We were "too busy doing FAs" and I never got around to doing them before I got hurt. John did go back and climb them, though.
happiegrrrl

Trad climber
www.climbaddictdesigns.com
  Mar 4, 2014 - 10:54pm PT
You made me wish I had tried to get some ice climbing in this year(I haven't yet tried it).

Really glad that you didn't go through the ice - I was cringing at the text and images. My brother was one of those ice fishermen, and he died because he was on a lake with thin ice and underground streams. Three days before he died, we happened to drive past a lake with what looked like fisherman walking in water. He said "One inch of ice is enough to hold a person's weight." I told him to promise me he would never go out on ice like that and he looked at me and said "I can't make that promise."

Thin ice is nothing to fool with. Even if you do get out, you still need to get back to a warm place before succumbing to hypothermia.


But the climbing looked fun! For some reason I especially liked that second line.
Kalimon

Social climber
Ridgway, CO
  Mar 5, 2014 - 12:04am PT
Thanks for the most inspiring combination of commentary and photography . . . nice effort all the way around.
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
  Mar 5, 2014 - 01:23am PT
Wow, Terrie, that is a tough one with your brother.
How old was he?
mcreel

climber
Barcelona
  Mar 5, 2014 - 02:45am PT
Though my interest in ice climbing is now strictly from the arm chair perspective, that was a great TR!
tradmanclimbs

Ice climber
Pomfert VT
  Mar 5, 2014 - 06:33am PT
Happy I am sorry for your loss. The thin lake ice photos scared me pretty bad which is why I barked at the OP...

Clint. Called is the most pump I have encountered at the lake though I only followed it. The Gent is perhaps the most climbed classic in that section of cliff simply because it is the easiest and most reliable. called is by far a more impressive tick!
slabbo

Trad climber
colo south
  Mar 5, 2014 - 10:56am PT
Hell, I'm old, but Clint was already climbing hard when i started ! There was a tremendous amount of hard ice done in New England from '75-78..stuff that is still rated pretty hard.

strand
tradmanclimbs

Ice climber
Pomfert VT
  Mar 5, 2014 - 06:18pm PT
Called got upgraded to 5+. it is not super reliable so it is a coveted tick,
slobmonster

Trad climber
SF (via NH & CO)
  Mar 5, 2014 - 06:34pm PT
Super nice. Like some others here I also cut, sharpened, and thereupon wore down my teeth climbing ice in northern New England. You guys are getting after it, that's great!

Repentance looks like it's in phenomenal condition, too. Love that route.
divad

Trad climber
wmass
  Mar 5, 2014 - 06:39pm PT
Nice TR. Bravo!! Mindbender was my first WI5 lead. Was planning to do Plug and Chug but Mindbender was open so what the heck.

Clint, I ran into and climbed with your Mindbender 1st ascent partner, John Imbrie a couple of years ago at the Otter Cliff in Acadia. We climbed A Dare By The Sea after he admitted to not have climbed in 12 yrs.
StahlBro

Trad climber
San Diego, CA
  Mar 5, 2014 - 07:09pm PT
Beautiful
le_bruce

climber
Oakland, CA
  Mar 5, 2014 - 07:50pm PT
This pic has got a feel to it:

tradmanclimbs

Ice climber
Pomfert VT
  Mar 5, 2014 - 08:12pm PT
That pic is terrifying!
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
  Mar 7, 2014 - 04:39am PT
David,
Clint, I ran into and climbed with your Mindbender 1st ascent partner, John Imbrie a couple of years ago at the Otter Cliff in Acadia. We climbed A Dare By The Sea after he admitted to not have climbed in 12 yrs.
John has been fairly busy raising kids, but he still climbs and skis.
He probably doesn't ice climb all that much, since he lives in Virginia.
He has done some stuff in the Alps, like the Gervasutti Pillar.
In 2008 we did the Lost Arrow Tip
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/685450/Lost-Arrow-Spire-Tip-photo-trip-report-7-22-08
and the Chouinard-Herbert.
He also did Charlotte Dome a couple of summers ago with his son.
happiegrrrl

Trad climber
www.climbaddictdesigns.com
  Mar 5, 2014 - 09:15pm PT
Clint, My brother was 22 years. He was 51 weeks older to the day than I and because he had been held back in 6th grade(he had Dyslexia) we we were in the same school grade for junior/senior high years. We were almost like twins.

Death by drowning in frigid water is horrible beyond belief, and the retrieval of body is...well... Be careful out there on thin ice, people.
Clint Cummins

Trad climber
SF Bay area, CA
  Mar 6, 2014 - 03:45am PT
Wow, that had to be brutal for you and the family to lose him at that age.
My wife lost her older brother when he was age 26, in a climbing accident on Denali.
It's so hard on the parents. Not easy on the siblings either, especially when close in age.
Prod

Trad climber
  Mar 6, 2014 - 10:01am PT
AWESOME!!!!

Prod.
SCseagoat

Trad climber
Santa Cruz
  Mar 6, 2014 - 12:07pm PT
This trip report is absolutely special. Such balls to the walls adventure.
Thanks for taking the time to do this report…
and what Ed said
thanks for the NE winter season stoke.
Susan
Roxy

Trad climber
CA Central Coast
  Mar 6, 2014 - 01:18pm PT
holy cow, that pic of you crossing the ice...looks like it might be an ad from a glossy catalog. Like le_bruce said, "It has a feel to it"

Great TR!!

neebee

Social climber
calif/texas
  Mar 6, 2014 - 03:21pm PT
hey there say, chick-on-ice...


wow!!! i can see all your neat pics now, :)

thank you for sharing, once, again... :)
chick_on_ice

Trad climber
Author's Reply  Mar 6, 2014 - 06:40pm PT
How'd you guys get this shot?

A friend from my college is an art major (doesn't climb), came along the second time we went out there and took photos from a quadcopter setup.
And that photo of my walking across the lake is my favorite because of the patterns the wind made with the snow. It's straight out of a fluid dynamics textbook on boundary layers, viscosity, Reynolds numbers, vortices..... I was super nerding out at that point and asked my climbing partner to snap a photo so I could show it to my fluids professor.

Thanks for all the support guys! Let the training and stoke for Alaska commence!
Brian

climber
California
  Mar 6, 2014 - 07:28pm PT
Wow. Repentence is FAT this year! Was much thinner every time I went to it while living in Boston. What does Remission look like?!? Way in the Wilderness?

Bravo for getting after it. Looks like you a cruising some brilliant routes! Thanks for the TR.

tradmanclimbs

Ice climber
Pomfert VT
  Mar 6, 2014 - 07:42pm PT
Repentance was back in more normal form last weekend;) crux was rotten, baked and seriously abused. None of those screws would have held a fall INMOP...
JohnnyG

climber
  Mar 18, 2014 - 12:46am PT
nice stuff, N. I came here for some stoke after climbing Mindbender and it's neighbors yesterday and found this sweet write-up. Looks like you hit it hard this winter.

Clint--you got to tell us more about those FA's. You were really on the cutting edge of the sport. Were you intimidated and scared? Or did you realize you could inhabit the vertical after the first few of those climbs, and then it just seemed natural to be up there?

Were you still in college? Were there mentors or did you mostly figure it out on your own?

-John
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