Slide Climbing

If you were following the Spot feed, you may have figured out we didn’t climb Mt. Washington this past weekend.

The avalanche danger was too high and the weather wasn’t really worth it with two guides in tow. Ironically the weather and avalanche risk were perfect on Sunday when we left.

With two paid guides, we went ice climbing instead.

Not the “Cliffhanger” vertical ice extreme you might imagine, but ice none-the-less.

It was called Willey’s Slide and it’s located in Crawford Notch State Park. It’s a 600′ granite slab that’s covered with ice and snow for most of the winter. It was a good introduction to more technical climbing.

We split into two groups and each did 4 pitches.

Now that I’ve had a taste, I obviously want more. Not necessarily more ice or more extreme, but more opportunities for similar routes. Already I’ve learned the rating system and found comparable climbs throughout the regions I visit. Keeping it comparable also keeps it affordable. The gear the guides had was expansive and expensive – not a direction I can afford in either respect.

You can see the pictures here. I took lots and added descriptions for the instructional pieces.

There’s also some video.

Sean climbing:

Craig climbing:

– b