MTN Fest Weekend

 Whoa was it cold.  We got up into the valley at noon on Friday and prepped for some afternoon fun.  Because it was so cold we headed out to Chiller Piller to climb in the sun. We dropped a line over it to get climbing quickly and stay warm.

It was Ryan's first time out there so he went first and had a great time up on the steeps while going leashless. It was in great shape but running a bit because of the sun. Well this was to be the last of the warmth for the valley.

Saturday dawned with temps well under zero and came up a bit to around 10. Sunday and Monday just got worse with Monday in Keene starting out at -14.

Ryan had a great day in a Steep Ice clinic with the one and only Don Mellor while Janet and I ventured out to the Polar Soldier area.

The clinic was held in the Quarry wall and gave Ryan probably 200 feet plus of technique pumping vertical climbing while Janet and I got skunked.  We broke trail in a foot plus of powder to get to the base of a hollow sounding free standing piller which goes to a ledge to start the climb.

I ended up backing off and squeezing up a chimney to the right to get to the ledge. From the ledge I  started up the main part of the climb to get some screws in and then drop a screw into powder.

Rollie Circle

With WTH going through my head I put to good screws in and backed off again.  I took the long hike around to the   top of the cliff to drop a line and rap to get my gear.  As I was rapping in the whole flow sounded hollow and detached. I was glad to have backed off when I did and didn't end up tip toeing up the shell of ice.

While I didn't get much done yet during the weekend these guys GOT IT DONE ! They put up a killer variation to a wicked climb out on Pokomoonshine.
  
Click it !!!

http://www.vimeo.com/18940546

Sunday we headed to the ever quiet Three Flows area to shred some ice by ourselves. Not many people want to do the walk across the lakes and slog up the short hill. But if you do you are rewarded with a nice area with plenty of open ice. Ryan got his post clinic first steep and leashless lead in and did a great job in cold tough conditions.

Still chilly after hiking in w/ our Puffys on

Monday started with temps at -14 so we took our time in getting out the door.  We gave it the ol' JRZ try and headed out the door with the thermometer reading zero and when we got to the climbit it was a balmy 5 degrees.  Haggis and Cold Toast was on the menu or as Janet said Cold Toes. It was extremely fat and interesting and the hardest conditions I've ever done it in. Maybe it was the brittleness and low temps but it took a lot of thinking to get up it. It was also the first time I went leashless on this climb.

I'd put it at a WI 3+++.



Headed home to warmer temps in NJ with some great climbs, tough conditions, good slide shows, awesome spaghetti dinner and a tough Rollie Circle competition behind  us equaled a great Dacks weekend.