Time to catch up, I guess...

So we've been slacking a bit on updates. Lots of playing and good times haven't left time for much else.

Backing up to two weeks ago, there was a huge warmup in the Daks. We got one of day climbing in when it was in the 40's and decided to work around the house on Sunday when it was in the 50's.

Here's Rachel leading Chouinards Gully.

And here she is putting some finishing touches on her latest woodworking project. Bunk beds for the guest room.

This past weekend was Mountainfest! Attendance seemed really high this year, which is a bit of a catch-22. It's nice to see the tribe so vibrant, but we're used to being able to get away from the crowds. Even Lock Ness was a complete shit-show, which was a huge surprise. We tried in vane to get on some obscure lines and ended up climbing some of the usual suspects. Anyway, the sideshows were excellent every night. Every one had its own twist and Majka, Freddie, and Ian were awesome.

Unnamed line in the woods at Nessy. Damn, it was cold.

Awesome line at the upper wall.

Same line.

Awesome mixed line at the right end of the cliff. I didn't get to lead it, but there were some cool folks from Buffalo that let me take a rip on their TR.

Looking for frozen lines.

Chouinards Right.

Rachel leading Dogleg.

One of the awesome things about the fest is seeing people get on stuff like this.

Rachel's dad getting after it.

Yes, kids, Santa is an ice climber.

Who says it has to be above zero to have a bonfire?

In between all this real climbing, we've been doing a lot of mileage on the basement wall. Ben has been super busy throwing up new routes and we've had a lot of fun having folks over for weeknight throw-downs.

Buzz wondering if mixed climbing might be cooler than bouldering.

Erin showing us how it's done.

Aiden making it look easy.

Rachel working out one of Ben's new routes.

And I came home to this tonight. How can you not get jazzed over a pile of brand new BD screws?

Buck up...

After freezing our butts off on Saturday, we decided to at least try to be in the sun and what better place than Roaring Brook Falls. There's been a seemingly never-ending stream of climbers on it the past couple weeks. True to form, we passed seven climbers walking out as we were walking in - that must have been an interesting conga line.

There were a couple guys finishing the first pitch, so we had a few minutes to stand around. As Rachel's looking up at the route, she says, "I should just suck it up and lead this thing." Music to my ears, so I swapped ends of the rope with her, she racked up, and off she went. She led the first and last pitch in high style (we kind of just walked the middle pitch). I was super proud to see her lead a 3+ route and to do it so confidently. Her climbing was bomber and the protection she set was great. The only thing she's going to have to learn is not to giggle while she leads ice routes. Hardmen don't giggle.

First pitch, look out.

It's a lot steeper in there than it looks from the belay.

Last pitch.

After we got down, we headed up to the pond for a quick rip on Crystal Ice Tower. The right side was so stepped out, I think it could have been climbed barehanded without crampons. Luckily, the left side was in great shape and was a blast to climb.

Just finishing a rip up the left edge. Not toproping, just soloing and dragging a rope.

Same line looking down on rap.

Before we were done, we walked up to the bottom of Power Play. This is the year.

Power. Play.

The Sisters

Good day today. We spent most of it watching the sun bathe the Cascade Lakes, our car, Rt 73, and basically everything but us. A little positive pessimism: It was windy all day, but at least we were in the shade.

The girls looking good.

We finally got around to climbing Sisters Right and Left. We probably should have started on Left to get our brains and arms warmed up, but we never were that smart. Instead, we did Right to start. Speaking of brains, I think mine spent most of that climb back at home sitting on the couch watching the stupid box. I spent most of the climb just trying to get myself fired up. Espresso instead of coffee tomorrow morning. The one part that I would do again and again was the first sequence of moves up to and through the cave - just brilliant fun.

Having way too much fun leaving the cave.

Brain, engage. Please...

Top of the hard stuff.

After we got back to the bottom, we took a run up Sisters Left. Good damn times. Besides the ramp part way up, the whole climb is a bit steeper than it looks from the ground. Instead of the normal curtain at the top there was an awesome pillar on the right side. It was only five or six moves long, but it was pretty fragile and in an awesome position.

Bottom of the route from above.

Top of the route from the same spot.

On the way out, I scoped out Cysty Ugler. This definitely looks like a line we're going to have to get on this year.

(Alternate) Realities

So we're back among the working until quitting time tomorrow. It's been a bit of a whirlwind past few days. New Years day was spent working on Base Camp - first shoveling off the roof, and then taking care of a couple things in the basement we procrastinated for far too long. After ten days of climbing and goofing off, we were both still jonesin' to climb, but knew we had two feet of cemented snow waiting back in the driveway in Syracuse. It took both of us over an hour of shoveling to get the driveway clear. That's OK, back home in Keene tomorrow and back to some fantastic conditions.

Our last couple days of climbing were Sunday and Monday. Both days were spent around Chapel Pond. Sunday, we were headed down the Canyon and found Lions empty, except for two nice guys. We threw a quick warmup on Rule of the Bone and then climbed three different lines on Lions. We probably should have been more ambitious and headed to another climb, but it was fun to fire a bunch of leads on some relatively steep ice without really working for it.

Monday was a fantastic day. We headed back up to the canyon hoping to get on Hot Shot, but fully expecting to find it occupied. Amazingly, it was empty and I got to put up a lead on a climb that I can remember not being able to top out on top-rope four years ago. Good times. From there, we decided to head down to Haggis and Cold Toast. This was our first time on this route and it was fantastic. Very deceiving, this climb kind of lulls you in to thinking it's going to be easy. Wrong. Everything is foreshortened from below and the pillar in the middle is pretty darn steep. What a scrappy route and it was relatively thin and brittle so it was definitely full-value.

Chapel Pond is looking good.

Hot. Shot.

Rachel in the rabbit hole.

The rest of the pictures were taken while rappelling.

Looking up the top of the pillar.

Looking down from the same spot.