The Ides of March

March 15: The days are longer and the sun is stronger. The big question this time of year on the sunny days is whether to go rock climbing or into the mountains. Yesterday, the snow slogging won. I skinned up to the Hermit Lake Shelters to pick up Sarah, who is cooking for a film crew this week, and we headed over to Huntington Ravine to climb Odell's gully. It was a bit hairy with some weird wind slab snow in places, but nonetheless a fun day, as they always seem to be with her.

Gear for a splitter spring day on Mt Washington:
Mountain Hardwear Chockstone Jacket
Polartec Test Jacket
La Sportiva Spantik Boot
Petzl Selena Harness
Sterling Marathon Half Rope

Newfoundland Adventure

It must be dark, cold January in New Hampshire, as I’ve found myself nostalgically recalling stories from a rock climbing trip to Newfoundland with Sarah Garlick and Kirsten Kremer in 2009.

The adventure started at friends Alycia and Timmy’s wedding on Cape Cod in late August. We picked up Kremer at Boston Logan airport the next morning, proceeded to New Hampshire to pack Sarah’s Previa minivan and continued on the 18 hour journey to ‘the island’. We had only a few weeks to play before Sarah’s wedding back in New Hampshire.

Once in Francois (pronounced France-way by locals, and only accessible by boat), we were essentially adopted by ‘the Georges’, George Durnford and George Fudge, and their families, who fed us food and information, gave us a ride to ‘Camp Paradise’ on the trusty Royal Oak, a beautiful cod fishing boat, and loaned us Rojito the red dingy and a few mismatched paddles to get around from our beach camp to various cliffs in Shaleur Bay.
The hospitality didn’t end there. They checked in on us regularly, offering a towline between climbs and camp on several occasions. George even gave us a lift across the bay one afternoon to drink sweet wine and munch freshly steamed mussels as the sun went down with a dozen other Francois-ans.



The day they came to pick us up to head home, there was a huge rack of antlers mounted on the front of Royal Oak. Moose hunting season had begun that day, so they’d spent the previous night camped out in the next bay over, succeeded in a kill at dawn, dragged it out, butchered it and loaded it up all before even picking us up that morning. We drank rum and cokes in celebration of our dual successes, and the Georges’ were received like heroes when they pulled into the Francois harbor with a boat full of women and meat.


The climbing? It was pretty good too. Check out the little video to see for yourself.

(Above photos by Kirsten, Sarah and me.)

Newfoundland: Wedding Sandwich Climbing Trip from janet bergman on Vimeo.

Some gear we used:

Mountain Hardwear Trango Tent

Mountain Hardwear Women’s Ultra Lamina Sleeping Bag

La Sportiva Women’s Katana

Sterling Marathon Ropes

Petzl Selena Harness

Sea to Summit dry bags and stuff sacks

Thanks to Joe Terrevechia and Karin Bates for photos and information that made the trip possible and to Jim Surette for being a patient husband-to-be while the girls went to play!

Landslide Gully, Mount Webster

Ducked out of the office for a fabulous morning on Mount Webster with the one and only Sarah Garlick on Thursday.
I put one of these images up on my Facebook page and it went wild with comments - there must be something about chicks on ice...











Gear:
Polartec test fabric hoody fleece
Mountain Hardwear Barisian jacket
Mountain Hardwear Scrambler Pack
La Sportiva Women's Nepal Top
Petzl Vasak crampon
Sterling Marathon 8.8 Rope

Roshambo, Newfoundland

Just home from an amazing trip to Newfoundland (that is pronounced by Canadians with an emphasis on the LAND part by the way). Here is a clip from our first day, a wicked game of roshambo between Sarah and Kirsten before heading up what was to become the Squid Cracks.


More soon on this fun adventure...

When It Rains...

When it rains it pours here in New Hampshire it seems. And that it did for about a month straight in June and early July. So what are we climbers to do?
Just when the forecast had us ready to relocate to California or Australia, Sarah Garlick and I decided we needed an attitude adjustment, and some time outside to clear our heads of working too much (another outcome of all the rain). So we headed out for a fun, wet morning of aid climbing on our local cliff, Cathedral Ledge. Sarah wanted to try out short fixing, so I got to jug lines and listen to the birds. Nice work Sarah!


Sarah, getting ready for the hook moves off the ground on Mordor Wall, Cathedral Ledge, NH

I will let Ed Webster give the description of the Mordor Wall (IV 5.7 A2+), from the Second Edition (the Third being the more current one) of Rock Climbs in the White Mountains of New Hampshire:

“Still regarded as one of the classic Big Wall climbs on the East Coast, much of the route has been free climbed in recent years…the blank, black-streaked wall in the center of Cathedral Ledge offers climbing similar to Yosemite Big Wall. It is a popular training climb; a standard aid rack should be carried, including bashies and pointed skyhooks…at the base of the wall is a curving, expanding flake leading into a narrow dihedral. DO NOT aid P1 with pitons.”

“History: Joe Cote and John Merrill aided the first pitch in 1967 with no intention of going any higher. In the Summer of 1970, Joe Cote and Steve Arsenault climbed the route to the sidewalk on Pendulum Route. The Mordor Roof was added later that summer by Steve Arsenault and Scott Brim, who approached the pitch from above. Arsenaults original lead of pitch two (ed: THE DEATH TRAVERSE!) used only one bolt, placed after friends on the ground convinced him he was risking a ground fall. In 1979 Ed Webster free climbed the Mordor Roof with Choe Brooks. Jim Surette led the first pitch free in 1985.”


Left page, Jim Surette, the sending machine, in his hand sewn lycra.


Here are some photos and video from that.


Sarah moves across the expando flake.


Sarah on the famous Death Traverse, now protected by several bolts and fairly straightforward if, unlike us, you remember to bring TWO pointed hooks!


Sarah, reaching a thank-god bolt after five bashees in a row.


Sweet rappelling video


Wet and refreshed.


A little sun goes a long way!