Alpinist Andrew's Adventures

Arrhh! Thar Be Ice in Vermont

(Pirate Theme This Year)

Nate arrived on December 9th for his 3rd annual Vermont ice climbing extravaganza. His arrival was perfectly synced with the freezing of the PNW and thus, highly accessible, rarely formed waterfalls (but hey, this usually happens when he comes out here). Conditions were a little thin here for this time of year, but we made do. Day one found us up in Smugglers Notch the "alpine" of Vermont, with a brutal one mile approach on a road. Makes those 5 mile bushwhacks in WA look like cake. First up was Grand Confusion (WI3+), which was fun. Next on the list was a major classic called Poster Child (WI4/M4). Last year when I climbed this route the mixed section was covered in ice. I had never really climbed much mixed, so there was plenty of skittering crampons on rock and figuring out how to properly torque my tools. The following day we headed back up to Smuggs and hopped on Ragnarock, a 3 pitch classic put up by John Bouchard in the '70s. Pitch one was thin WI3, with plenty of swings into rock. Pitch 2, normally rated M5, was more like M6 with the barely existent ice. Very fun pitch. Nate attempted the final WI4+ pillar, but it was quite hollow and sketchy, so we rapped to the ground. On day 3 we once again hit up "the Notch". Brutally cold barely describes the temperature this day. A quick jaunt up ENT gully (WI2+/3) was fun, though cold. The rest of the day was spent TR'ing a flow next to the road. The next day was a rest day; much needed. The last day we drove to Lake Willoughby in "The Kingdom" as they say in Vermont (The Northeast Kingdom), don't ask me why it's called this. Lake Willoughby is awesome. Home to WI5 and WI6 country. We did two WI4+, so I can only imagine what the 5's feel like. Climbed Twenty Below Zero Gully first. Why it's called a gully I don't know, so far from a gully. The second pitch of this route was a rain shower-read: soaking wet. Next climb was another WI4+, don't remember the name. Both climbs were amazing. Thickest ice we swung into all week. I'd also like to mention that we both slipped about a hundred times traversing to the climbs. I've never walked on ground this slippery. You were on your bottom, sliding down the hill before you even realized you had fallen...Awesome. Ice season is in fully swing. Couple more days of school and then I'll be swinging the tools again. Good times. Next year, Krista and I will be traveling to SLC to meet Nate for some ice.