Sierra Trip

These are the main questions, comments, and concerns as I see them
now. El Presidente you have been incommunicado, what's on your mind? (Click on the photograph to get a closer look at the mind-map that is developing for our upcoming trip.)

May 31: Snow Squall in the 'dacks!

One minute I am thinking about taking a break from making senior pages and going bouldering and the next minute we have an intense 30 minute snow squall.

Hock's totals

A pretty low volume week. With my travels to NYC and the end of school rapidly approaching, there is hardly any time for a quick workout. Nevertheless, I managed to boulder once, row on the ergometer a couple of times, do a couple of good yoga sessions, and top rope a few easy laps at the crag. No doubt with Mark out of work he has turned into a body nazi and will be more than ready for long alpine rock routes. (Click on the photograph to view the totals for the month of May.)

Three out of Four

On Friday my son Jon had three out of the four front page articles in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise. The articles were about: local CSA programs, Lake Placid hopes for stimulus money, as well as an outline of what Keene Valley is going to spend its 3.1 million dollars of federal money. (Click on the photograph to enlarge the image.)

Yoga and Bouldering

Yesterday I drove down to Union College to enjoy my 35 reunion. It was great to see a bunch of guys that I haven't seen in 5-10 years since the last reunions. The event was marred by a couple of "no-shows" ... Lenny, Stegs, and Harry ... get it together guys!) During the slack part of the day most of my buddies went for a two hour bike ride; I on the other hand did a great yoga and bouldering session at the Electric City Rock Gym. My rotator cuff area is pretty sore, as most of the problems were steep to wildly overhanging. The short video features Hock getting ready for alpine rock routes in the Sierras.

June 15-26: the options

NCS graduation is fast approaching, and so life is chaotic. However, my alpine vacation with Mark is also rapidly approaching and so I am obviously getting excited about that as well. Enclosed are some snippets of what we are talking about: Matthes Crest, the north ridge of Lone Pine Peak, the celestial aretes on Temple Crag, and the direct south face on Lone Pine Peak. (Click on the photographs to enlarge the images.)

New Construction

Hello Fossils. I am back in the Adirondacks after a quick 36 hour trip to New York City. The enclosed picture shows the Fossil Cabin and the retaining wall surrounding the foundation for the garage and apartment. (It is likely that we will eventually move the cabin to the other end of the property to get some views of Cascade.)

Memorial Day

It was a beautiful day and I finally got out of the office. I am at
the top of the crag, fixing a line to self belay some laps with my
soloist. Further down the cliff you can see the chains and belay
anchors for some of the harder routes, and further in the distance the summit of Algonguin. FOSSILS: send some pictures,
even if it is a photo of you wrestling with the remote instead of a
5.10c! (Click on the photograph to enlarge the image.)

Memorial Day Long Weekend: Sunday

Selden is getting ready to head out the door and put another long day of labor in with Allen - heavy machine guru - as they get the foundation of the garage/apartment squared away for the delivery of the kit on June 13. (Notice the tape job on her hands.) Gary is due at the house in 90 minutes for a morning at the NCS crag. (In the afternoon it is back to work on NYSAIS accreditation stuff.) Brian is climbing at the Gunks with his family (his email follows) ... "Hock, we are doing a family climbing trip tomorrow to the Gunks if you want to join. Bringing the dog too. Renting shoes for several folks and will likely monopolize a 5.4 route and set up a picnic and require all to do two laps to eat. Then swim the dog in the river and grab some dinner ourselves and head back. Leaving here at 7:30 and I will have my cell on."

Memorial Day Long Weekend: busy Saturday

Of course, it is not a long weekend here. It was a busy day at NCS - I made up my final geometry exam - as you can see Lucy was riding in her equestrian drill team. (Selden worked all day at our property as they were finishing the foundation; Jon hitchhiked into town.) As per the rock climbing department ... this morning I heard from Brian who climbed six pitches at the Gunks yesterday. Gary spent the morning top-roping, and he'll be up here to climb with me tomorrow. The word from Lake Tahoe was that Mark and Danny were going for a bike ride and then some bouldering at Donner. Finally, I bouldered yesterday for an hour, and this morning hiked up to the NCS crag and I did four laps of "One Taste" (5.5) using my soloist.

Great Mountaineering Classic

An amazingly good writer, one of the earliest proponents of guide-less climbing, and an alpinist that envisioned Himalayan ascents that were well before his time. Click on this text to access the link to the digital version offered on Google Books.

Mountaineering Literature

Long established as a standard reference work worldwide, this is a thorough bibliography of all mountaineering books that are of practical use to climbers or for reading pleasure or historical interest. Documenting more than 2000 books of mountaineering literature, it also includes nearly 900 climber's guidebooks, a sampling of more than 400 works of mountaineering fiction, plus journals and bibliographies. Click on this text to access a link to a digital copy of this book in the Google Book project.

Video: "Hock's Blessing" (5.6)

I spent an hour at the crag with NCS students and staff. For those that don't know, we have a 200 foot long, 40 foot high crag, about a 15 minute walk from our main building. The crag has between 35-40 routes ranging in difficulty from 5.0 - 5.11a. This afternoon I did 5 laps on "Hock's Blessing" (5.6) and a single lap on "Perry's Corner" (5.6). This is a perfect place to get fit for some alpine climbing, and I have less than I month before I head to the Sierras with Mark. This short video profiles Eli who will run the climbing program for Camp Treetops this summer. The background grunting noise is Dave working on the "Get Some" and "Want Some" link up ... 5.10d which he did complete with no falls today.

Sierras: circa 1990

Jon is now 6'4" ... this picture was taken in Squaw Valley at the Ewing residence, after our two families spent a week camping and hiking in Tuolumne. For more updates on our family the best - and most literate - resource is Selden's blog (http://fairhopefarm.wordpress.com/) ... an excerpt from which is enclosed below ...

"How can this big 6′4″ handsome man be my little boy? This week Jon is interviewing Paul Schrader, the writer/director who wrote the screenplays to Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, American Gigolo, The Last Temptation of Christ, among others.

I’m not sure there’s any greater pleasure than watching your children grow in confidence and skill. When my kids were little I used to swing each one up on my hip and dance around the living room, singing You are My Sunshine as they giggled and hiccupped."

Bouldering and Yoga workout

I spent 50 minutes out on the back end of campus doing some laps on easy and moderate boulder problems. The Yurt boulder is about 15 feet high and is a 10 minute walk, located out behind the NCS sugarbush. I usually mix laps on different problems with various yoga poses from the warrior to the plow! This short video is a quick tour of the 10-12 problems on the boulder.

One of the Options: venetian blind arete

After our two warmup climbs in June - on Cathedral and Lone Pine Peak - one of the options for the second half of the trip will be on Mount Temple. (The fossil team of Mark, Hock, and Michael Franklin first visited this peak - Moon Goddess Arete - 30 years ago.) The route we would do this time is the Venetian Blind Arete ... Grade III/IV, 12 pitches, 5.7. The skyline ridge in the accompanying photographs is where the route is located.

It's Official: the range of light

Mark and Hock are heading to the Sierras from June 16-26. The back of the envelope itinerary sketched out thus far: warm up on the 5.6 route on the South Buttress of Cathedral Peak (enclosed picture), the 5.5 route on the North Ridge of Lone Pine Peak, and then finishing with some combination of the following more ambitious routes (South Face Lone Pine Peak, Venetian Blind arete, or traverse of the Sawtooth range).

Great Slide Show

Two dozen photographs from Jim Dockery's time, in and around Chamonix. Spectacular pictures of the fantastic alpine climbing to be had. (Click on the photo to enlarge his image of the north wall of the Argentiere basin.) Then click on the text to access the link to the full slide show.

A Nice Day on the Mer de Glace

Just checked some of the webcams that I have bookmarked. Chamonix is enjoying a run of good weather. You can see the Walker Spur on the Grand Jorasses, off in the distance pretty heavily snowed up; looks like nobody will get up that classic nordwand until July. Larry and I have great memories from last year, and I know that Danny, Mark, and I carry fond memories from that summer over 30 years ago when we met.

Humor ... The Inappropriate Yoga Guy

So now that El Presidente and Tori have gotten me into yoga, looking for some information the other day, I found this hilarious short video about Ogden, the inept and inappropriate yoga teacher-trainer. Click on this text link to get to this YouTube vignette watched by almost a quarter million people. You can find all his episodes on the Yoga Journal website.

Climbing with NCS students

I spent part of the afternoon out at the crag with Dave, and a bunch of mostly beginner rock climbers. Here you see a sixth and a fifth grader tackling a damp and somewhat muddy "Too Late Dave" (5.5) and "Buried Treasure" (5.1). I managed to do both climbs as well as "Unexpected" (5.7) in my mountaineering boots.

NCAA Quarterfinals

No mountains today! I flew down to Annapolis join some NCS alumni and watch Hopkins play Virginia, followed by the Duke-UNC game. The first was a blow-out won by Virginia and the second was a nail-biter won by the Blue Devils. The game was played at the Naval Academy stadium.

Lucy Bouldering

Here is a short 15 second video of Lucy working on a 5.5 problem on the summit of Owl's Head ... next time we will remember to bring her rock shoes!

Owl's Head

Lucy and I did a short hike - 40 minutes, 2K, 350' - so that she could get some Mountain Cake miles for Cascade House in the annual NCS Spring hiking competition. We did a little bouldering on top, and this video shows Hock third classing the 5.2 corner.

A long, long, time ago ...

My kids were poking through the fossil photo archive and here is what they came up with ... A napkin from the bar where we spent the night before our first appointment with the Cassin ridge on Denali, a picture of Mark bouldering at Deadman's Summit in the Sierras, and a picture of Hock and 3-year old Jon "climbing" in Tuolumne Meadows.

Selden's Building Project

The enclosed picture is the foundation for the garage and apartment that Selden is building this summer. The fossil cabin is just visible in the upper left hand corner. Click on this text to access Selden's incredibly well written and literate blog.

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Wapta Icefields

On his way back to Africa, from the Yukon, fossil friend Greg did a ski mountaineering trip to the Canadian Rockies. As you can see from his pictures this is superb alpine terrain. Moreover, it has - as does most of Canada - a phenomenal system of huts, making haute route like traverses possible. I spent five months bagging peaks in the Banff-Jasper area, in the Fall of 1974 bagging peaks, including all the ones in these pictures. (Greg and Tory are heading to Mount Kenya for some alpine climbing in June.)

Get psyched for Rock

Click on the text and access a three minute video snippet of Lynn Hill free climbing the Nose, topping out in the dark. What an amazing rock climber!

Article: Bouldering as Training

Written by Eric Horst, click on this text to read an analysis of how to get the most out of your sessions.

Kletter-gardens

Owl's Head is one of the three places I commonly train on as, as I get ready for Mark to decide what will be the alpine flavor of next month! This 50' crag is a 15-20 minute hike, and it has a dozen routes in the 5.2 - 5.11 range. A typical session might be a few third class laps on the left hand corner (5.2), a lead up the right hand crack system (5.5), and a top rope attempt on "sticky fingers," the thin finger crack in the middle (5.10a). If we are going to head to the Alps I will do the former two in mountain boots.

Of Course ...

Mark is also thinking about the Frendo Spur ... 5.7, 60 degree snow, 1200 meters long! So El Presidente, say the word, what are your alpine day-dreams? (Oh, and with twenty-plus respondents the polling is clear: 36% believe our two fossils should head to Chamonix, 31% suggest Peru as the alpine destination of choice, 18% see Alaska as the mountaineer's dream, and only 13% suggest the tried and true Sierra rock climber's paradise as the ideal two week vacation.)

Mark's thinking about the West Ridge!

Of course, he was supposed to call me an hour ago to discuss the pros and cons of Alaskan alpinism ... he must be making the morning oatmeal or maybe out for a 40 mile bike ride.

A Piece of Fossil History

Enclosed is a 35mm slide taken over 30 years ago, and moments before our tent burned down on the South Face of Denali. Visible in the background is the West Ridge of Hunter, a route that is still on the Alpine "Hit List" ... when will we nab it El Presidente? (Click on the photograph to enlarge the image and text.)

Climbing at NCS

This morning we hosted our annual freebie - a Pancake Breakfast - for the surrounding community. After a hearty breakfast, families toured the barn and greenhouses, did a variety of crafts taught by our students, or climbed on our indoor wall. Sammy - from Antigua - one of our hot 13-year old rock jocks cruises up the wall as a demo for the guests.

A Bit of History

Alpinist 26 has a great article on climbing in Saxony. It reminded me that almost three decades ago I started, but never finished, an essay on the the mythical Oliver Perry-Smith. I say mythical in that his rock climbing and alpine exploits (pre-WWI) were off the charts, but almost unknown. Many, if not most of his climbs were solo, and he was the first person to in history to climb at the 5.9 level, almost three decades before it became commonplace. The enclosed picture is a 5.6-5.7 rock pinnacle outside Dresden that he is doing a headstand on. He essentially quit climbing when his family moved back to America after World War I, however if you click on this link you will access a short biography that suggests he soloed the Flatirons outside Boulder well into his seventies.

Rainy Day Workout

After dinner I fell asleep reading Alpinist 26, but then I rallied and went over to the Main Building at 9 PM for a climbing workout. For forty minutes I bouldering on our climbing wall interspersed with yoga. So, for Mark the question I pose is: when are you going to pick up the phone and nail down this Sierra trip? And for Brian and Gary the question I pose is: can you get a weekend off in June or July to do the classic Whitney-Gilman on Cannon or the Diagonal on Wallface?

Wayne Merry and El Cap

The Atlantic magazine website has a podcast and slideshow featuring Wayne Merry talking about the first ascent of the Nose in Yosemite Valley. Click on the text to access this interesting video link. It is hard to believe that this is the 50th anniversary, and it is also hard to believe that it took months to accomplish instead of hours, they used prussiks instead of jumars, carabiner brake rappels instead of air traffic controllers, and cotton anoraks instead of goretex parkas. These guys were stout!

Hello From Gary

Doing some rock climbing (easy bouldering, top roping and 5.4 leads) in between rain drops. It has been damn wet this spring. Also managing some good bike rides. Running is limited to refereeing girls' lacrosse games 4-5 times a week as I'm having some heel issues. Plantar fascisitis (sp?). The usual; ice, ibuprofen, and stretching. Also got some superfeet for my ref shoes. Holding its own.
Have a job interview today! Facility manager at the Berkshire Theatre Festival. This is where I started my theater career in 1970 as the 2nd carpenter. Full circle, perhaps. We shall see. Also interviewing for facility manager at a local boys summer camp. Both jobs are year round, if summer intensive. Could work out very well.
Hope everyone is hanging in there. Cheers, Gary

Visions of Robert Service

Or maybe Yukon Jack! Fossil friend, geologist, and adventurer - Greg - is just back from the far north. In his recent email, our intrepid sourdough says, "Just got out of the field in the middle of nowhere in the western arctic. a good expedition. lots of caribou meat!!" I believe he is on his way back to Africa. (As an aside, are any of you fossil mountaineers fans of Robert Service poems? Check it out, the bard of the Arctic is a lot of fun.)

Click on this text link to read a few of his most famous poems - including The Cremation of Sam Mcgee and The Shooting of Dan McGrew - from his volume of poems entitled The Spell of the Yukon.)

Pouring Concrete

Selden is pretty excited as the foundation is moving along nicely. The big 18 wheeler, drops off the "kit" on June 13th. Actually, Hock-Selden-Jon off load the ton of materials for the garage, apartment, and breezeway project on that day.

NCS: the crag

Today was my first trip out to the crag. I climbed an easy 5.4 (Perry's Corner) and then belayed an 8th grader trying to make the first student ascent of a difficult 5.11+ route. This short ten second video clip features one of my staff - Dave - the man that found, developed, and put up many of the routes.

Tele-dude

The pictures are back from the developer. No doubt you will all be impressed by the stellar form, as Hock masters the steep and deep slopes of the Wasatch range ... Hmm ... it seems that someone must have substituted a picture of him warming up on an intermediate groomed piste! (Click on the photograph to enlarge the image.)

Another Blast from the Past!

My son - ace investigative reporter - found this article from 1988. It was an end of season costume race; memory tells me that it was held on a hilly course and the wax of the day was gobs of red and silver klister. This archival print is hard to read ... "Dave Hochschartner won the costume contest and turned in the second best ski time to win the Fly Five K ski race at Mount Van Hoevenberg Saturday. Hochschartner, wearing a Hawaiian print shirt and bright turquoise skisuit, completed the course in 20 minutes, 46 seconds." (Click on the photograph to enlarge the image.)

Lambing season

The second lamb was born a couple of days ago, Selden named her Lily. Selden is keen to point out that they are pure-breed cluns despite the spotty patches.

Another bouldering session

Back on the summit of Owl's Head I am doing a bouldering session - 10 laps of the 5.1 corner - pictured in this one minute video. At this end, the cliff is about 35'- 40.' Just visible in the right portion of the video is the 5.10a thin finger crack called "Sticky Fingers."

What are you reading?

Along with books for professional development, and a bit of fiction to relax, I always have some climbing related book in progress. At the moment I am reading a book by Bob Bates (of Alaska and K2 fame). The book - Mystery, Beauty, and Danger - was actually his Ph.D. thesis, written shortly after World War II, and recently published as a slim volume. As one might expect, pretty scholarly, however he is a very good writer. (To enlarge the illustrations just click on the photopgraph.)