Ice Is Done

After weeks and weeks of really cold great ice climbing weather, it broke and broke fast.

Our (Craig and I) last trip was Monday night March 2nd.

There was a multi-pitch gully we’d heard about in the Jim Thorpe area, but all we knew was that it was near the rail-road tracks, which meant some distance up the Lehigh River Gorge.

A week or so prior to our trip, Craig made a reconnaissance trip to find it.

Found it he did.

Climbed it he did.

Solo all the way to the headwall.

He decided we both needed to come back.

I got out of work late that Monday (late for having planned to leave early), so we didn’t really get to the parking lot until 7:30 or so.

It was nearly a full moon that night, so lights weren’t necessary to hike back the gorge trail.

It was a beautiful night. The mountains were covered in snow. The river was nearly frozen over. Everywhere you turned there was something amazing to see.

Then I saw a glow in the snow high up on the mountainside in the bend ahead of us.

About the time I could say, “What the hell is that?”, the shooting star came into view overhead and burned out over the horizon.

Whether we climbed anything or not, the night was already made.

After a half hour or so of walking, we found the start of the climb. The first obstacle was to climb the 8′ wall from the trail and up to the tracks. Luckily crampons and corrugated plastic drain pipe work well together.

Over the tracks and it was time to climb ice. The first “pitch”/bulge was a steep 12′ section right off the tracks. From there we climbed patches of snow to three more 8′ or so tall bulges until making the headwall. From the tracks to the headwall was about 230′ feet up.

At this point it was roughly 9:30 at night. We were tired and it was late, but I didn’t come all this way (this route, this night, this season), not to try the headwall. Craig anchored himself to the rappel tree and belayed me on lead.

I picked what looked like an easy WI2 line up toward a large pine that appeared to have a rappel anchor. It was probably 40′ in length. Maybe 60′ if you included the short platform in the middle.

On the first vertical section (8′) I set a screw, stuck my picks and went to step up.

It’s always at this point that things like your mortgage, kids, job, angry wife come slamming into your head. It’s at this point if you continue and fall, you’re really likely to get hurt. If you’re this far from town, you’re also going to get really cold waiting for anyone to come help. There’s a thousand different uncomfortable situations that race through your mind.

I stepped back. Told Craig I wasn’t sure I could do it. He was cool with that. Said to take my time.

I thought some more.

Stared up at the ice.

He said he could try, though previously expressed absolutely no interest in leading this at night this late.

That did it.

Damn it.

You’re not going to say all that stuff about having no interest then offer to do it, when I back off.

Screw that.

I stuck my picks again, then stepped up.

Spin – repeat.

Stick picks, then step up.

There were a series of “ledges”, so I had breaks and easy places to set screws. I even girth hitched a large icicle, which I now regret because I couldn’t reach it and clean it coming down.

Up and down, then it was Craig’s turn to top rope it.

Once he was done, we set up our rappel to get back down. It was 10:30 at night.

We had climbed on our twins that night, so the rappel was a full 206′ to just above the bulge off the tracks. From there we rappelled again, but all the way down across the tracks and over the wall to the trail. As Craig finished and began pulling the rope, we heard a rumble in the valley. Looking upstream, we could see a light coming around the bend and headed our way.

It was a train.

Craig got the ropes off the tracks in time and we de-geared (removed crampons, harnesses, tools) as the train rumbled by.

Got home and in bed by 2 that night. Really late, but really worth it for what we didn’t realize at the time was the last trip of the season.

– b