ADK Cabin Trip 2017

Due to cabin availability, the ADK trip was early this year. We also scheduled it over a bit of the weekend, which meant some of us could head up early on Friday and get more time up there.

Craig, Sean, Scott and myself did just that.  Got up there Friday night to play all day Saturday before heading into the back country on Sunday. Since weekend roadside climbing is typically very crowded, Craig, Sean and I (Scott went climbing with some people he knew up there) headed to a new place to try that required a bushwhack.

We quick spent some time with the map and read the description in the book, then headed off into the woods.

We found ice, but later realized it wasn’t the right ice. The book described it as 40′ to 70′ tall. What we found was shorter and as it turns out in the wrong location.

At least now we know exactly where we screwed up our navigation and where the actual ice is.

All was not lost and there was still plenty of daylight to do some roadside climbing, so we headed to Quinn the Eskimo.

I lead, while Craig and Sean each got a climb on top-rope. I went up a second time to clean the route and rappel in the almost dark of evening.

The next day we headed into the back country.

After the mud debacle last year, pulling the sleds over snow was obviously appreciated. Though the one benefit of not having any snow last year was that we found some new trail side ice on the way in, which we were excited to try this year.

The trail side ice turned out to be pretty good. Some was just tall enough to require ropes, but the rest was a good height to play on.

Unfortunately we were dressed to haul sleds and not to stand around in temps in the teens and falling, so we played a bit but ultimately had to move on.

There were 7 people in the cabin this year, myself, Sean, Craig, Scott O., Jamie, Chris and a new guy named Bruce. Our first day there we all decided to climb Bennies slide to the top.

Bennies is a landslide that happened off of the north side of Lower Wolf Jaw following Bennies Brook. Hurricane Irene made it bigger and more varied at the top.

The conditions were a mix of snow and ice. Ice where the wind exposed surfaces and deep drifts where the snow got caught. About half way up, Craig, Bruce and I decided we’d split from the rest of the guys and pick a steeper more narrow route to the east that appeared to go buy a large overhanging rock that we wanted to investigate. The rest of the group decided to take the main route to the top.

Our route was pretty tough going. The snow had drifted up to our waists most of the way and it was significantly steeper than what we had done below.

In contrast, the route the other guys took remained very similar to what we’d seen below if not a little more icy.

When we reached the point where we needed to cut in toward the over hanging rock that we’d seen, we changed our minds and headed on to the top. After trudging our way through so much snow, the dense snow covered evergreens that we’d have to bushwhack through weren’t that appealing. Nothing worse than getting off course and having snow dumped on your head trying to find something you can no longer see.

The bushwhack from the slide to the peak and finally onto the trail was taxing enough. Thankfully it was short and the peak was within sight the entire time.

The trees on top (elevation – 4K’) had what I call cartoon snow on them – thick and fluffy. It was cold and had been a long day. Time to head down back to the warmth of the valley and the cabin there within.

The second day was a little more open for some of us. Craig, Bruce, and I didn’t have any specific plans. The others decided on an extra long ski adventure to Marcy Dam (where I’ve taken the girls from the other side of the High Peaks.). After spending most of our time on Bennies looking back at the ice on Big Slide, Craig, Bruce, and I decided we’d head there for more exploration. The ice on Big Slide is where we’ve spent a lot of our time in the last couple of years. We’re rarely disappointed, why not go back.

As you can see, there’s plenty of stuff to play on. This was also Bruce’s first time around ice of any kind, so we wanted to pick something with lots of variability.

In addition to the ice we wanted to try and have a fire. There’s a corridor of land where fires are legal and we were within that corridor. Often we ask, “what if you needed to start a fire? Could you find enough tinder/kindling/things to burn in all the snow? Could you find a spot not 3′ deep where a fire could burn?” Granted there wasn’t 3′ of snow this time, but still fun to try.

A little fire, some sausages and coffee. It was perfect.

Time to climb some ice.

As cool as that looks, we only played a little here. This part of the cliff band gets a lot of southern exposure i.e. sun, so the ice is not well formed and was particularly drippy that day.

Below this band is another that is better protected from the sun. It’s not as tall, but the ice was good.

Another key aspect is that it was more vertical than the other stuff we were playing on. The bottom 8′ – 10′ was very straight up and down, which significantly changes the experience. The top half was nice and slopey.

Though the pictures look decent, I really made a mess of it. My feet were never as stable as they should have been and I fell back to all the negative moves you could imagine. It’s really kind of crazy, or actually similar to riding a motorcycle. The moves you need to make to be comfortable and strong on the ice require a lot of trust/confidence in the ice and your positioning. The moves that make you feel more comfortable/protected are horrible and cause great strain. It’s basically the difference between simply standing still on your two little toe points, or hanging from your tools driven into the hilt. You can only hang for so long. You can stand forever. On a motorcycle going into a corner too fast you want to hit the brakes, but that’s exactly what will prevent you from making the corner.

As I said it was short, but enough vertical to offer challenge and practice which I need.

And that was it for the winter 2017 ADK cabin trip. Considering the mild winter we’ve had here at home, it was extra nice to go somewhere where winter is still real.
– b