Last Day On Skis

Hiked up Whiteface and made some turns on Mountain Run it was crusty, rotten, dirty snow. However there were some nice views, it was good exercise, and it was nice to see that my AT setup can handle crappy conditions. After this weekend's board meeting I am pulling out the rock gear.

North face of Droites

The climbing weather has continued to be good, watch this short video - posted recently - of a party climbing the Twight route on this big ice face which starts with a bivy on the Argentiere glacier.

More on Ueli Steck

This short video has footage of his recent speed ascent, which was his third 8000 meter summit.

Ueli Steck Climbing Shisha Pangma (8027m) from Mountain Hardwear on Vimeo.

Yosemite and National Geographic Society

A fantastic website with video, interactive El Cap route map, and essays about the new breed of valley climbers. A must read.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE WEBSITE.

Eigerwand Photo Essay

No, this is not about the new speed record, just an ordinary climb up the 1938 route. However, the parties make quick work of the route as the Eiger is in perfect conditions! What makes this worthwhile is that it has some of the best photographs of key features that you are every likely to find ... Thanks ALPINE EXPOSURES.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THIS WONDERFUL PHOTO ESSAY.

City of Rocks Management

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE WEBSITE AND PLEASE PASS ALONG YOUR FEEDBACK. IT IS IMPORTANT FOR CLIMBERS TO GET INVOLVED IN THIS PROCESS.

Fred Beckey ... the man, the myth, the legend

A terrific and historically important silent film history, of Beckey's early climbs. He is believed to have done more first ascents than anyone in climbing history ... and he is still going strong!

Lucy's Mount Marcy Trip

The weather was decidedly un-spring like, with gale force winds, and lots of snow above 3500'. Needless to say there was no panoramic summit views on this day, although as you can see it was mellow down at Marcy Dam!

End of a wonderful Nordic season

This picture, taken on April 24 (Easter), was the last official ski of my Nordic season. I managed to find a 1k patch of decent snow on the Porter Mountain loop and I skied for 40 minutes. It was a terrific season. My first couple of days on snow were in mid-October, however by November 8th I was Nordic skiing pretty regularly for the rest of the season. There will be snow on the ski trails of Whiteface, so I may skin up a couple of sunny days in May on my AT gear, just for the novelty of it.

Carter ... next winter in Chamonix?

Next time in Chamonix this is how you approach the ice from Grand Montets ... Hopefully there will something easier for me to climb!

nuit blanche ice climbing from marcel on Vimeo.

Get Psyched for Rock Climbing

This is a short trailer for ASGARD JAMMING, which I gather you can see on various torrents on the Internet, so no need to wait for the Telluride or Banff Ilm Festivals. (Who can afford to attend those anyway?)

Trailer Asgard Jamming from Filmfest St. Anton on Vimeo.

What was the last mountain book you read?

My latest is the story of the circumnavigation of Everest. However other recent titles that I have read include: STRAIGHT UP: John Harlin the life and death of a mountaineer, MURDER IN THE HIGH HIMALAYAS, and EVEREST: the west ridge. What mountain oriented books have you read recently? Send me an email so I can share the titles with our readers.

hock@nct.org

More About Dougal Haston

Late in the summer of 1964, after Harlin had climbed a new route on the Blatiere, and had failed on new routes on the Eiger and Dru, he teamed up with Haston for one of the earliest attempts on the yet, unscaled ice route on the North Face of the Grand Jorasses. They retreated on the second day, into the face of a vicious storm. One can only imagine how hard the climbing must have bee given the rudimentary nature of the ice gear!

BLAST FROM THE PAST

I STUMBLED ON AN OLD SUPERTOPO DISCUSSION THREAD ABOUT ICE CLIMBING IN THE 1970s ... IT IS FANTASTIC AND BROUGHT BACK SO MANY MEMORIES, CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THIS TREASURE TROVE.

Shoulder Seasons

In some areas the change of seasons, and the change of sports, is clear and unambiguous; not so in the Adirondacks. Here you can see Dave, out for a little mountain bike workout in conjunction with a 10k nordic ski. In a day or two I am going to post my annual "How Many Days Have You Skied This Winter Poll."

Jimmy Marshall and Scottish Winter Climbing

A short trailer for the film THE ARCHITECT, which features two hot modern alpinists (Macleod and Turner) climbing on the Orion Face, with segments of an interview of legendary Jimmy Marshall (70+) as the sound track ... hard to imagine he did all those routes back in the 1950s and early 1960s. Amazing.

Abalakov Thread

Last month was the 63rd anniversary of the death of one of the Abalakov brothers. Hugely important in the history of Soviet mountaineering, to the western alpinist it is the Abalakov thread that is most important. I found this bit of history on a neat little website called THOSE WHO DARED ... Check it out.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE ARTICLE.

Heli-skiing?

MOUNTAIN NERD is an interesting blog that focuses on the history of British Columbia's mountains. However, the article pictured below covers a topic of broader value, and essentially asks the important question, are the high and wild places of the Earth eventually all going to be accessible for heli-skiing.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THIS SHORT ARTICLE.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Robin Smith wrote a classic and poetic essay about his climb on Carn Dearg Buttress (Ben Nevis) with Dougal Haston. "The Bat and the Wicked" was printed in the SMC Journal ... Well worth looking up.


" Then there came a sort of squawk as Dougal found that his ledge was not. He got a hand on it but it all sloped. Rattling sounds came from his throat or nails or something. In his last throes to bridge he threw his right foot at a straw away out on the right wall. Then his fingers went to butter. It began under control as the bit of news "I'm off," but it must have been caught in the wind, for it grew like a wailing siren to a bloodcurdling scream as a black and bat-like shape came hurtling over the roof with legs splayed like webbed wings and hands hooked like a vampire. I flattened my ears and curled up rigid into a bristling ball, then I was lifted off my slab and rose five feet in the air until we met head to foot and buffered to a stop hanging from the runners at the roof."

Episode III: On the road with Solitaire

The on-going filming of a ski mountaineering film in the Cordillera Blanca. In this episode the crew is trying to paraglide over the glacier at 18,000' with camera in hand. Fantastic footage.

On the Road with Solitaire Episode III: The Raptor from Sweetgrass Productions on Vimeo.

MARK THE MOUNTAIN GUIDE ... Interesting children's book

Mark the Mountain Guide from Mark Seaton on Vimeo.

I have done a previous post about this book, however the Cold Thistle blog has pointed me toward vimeo. Check out this short video which introduces this children's book about the adventures of MARK THE MOUNTAIN GUIDE ... Perfect for the young alpine tyro ... Check out the cool via ferrata for kids! The author Mark Seaton is a real mountain guide.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THE BOOK AT AMAZON.COM.

SCANDAL?

I did not see "60 Minutes" this Sunday, however I hear it was scathing. Selden read quite a bit of Krakauer's online expose and she said it was devastating. Whatever the truth is, there is quite a bit of doubt that has been cast upon Mortenson and his endeavors. These doubts focus on his rescue from K2, the actual number of schools he really constructed, what they cost, and maybe how much he owes in taxes.

CLICK HERE TO READ AN ARTICLE IN THE LA TIMES.

We are still Nordic skiing in the North Country

The base on the Porter Mountain Loop is down to about 3-5 inches of ice, however we got a couple of inches of fresh snow on it today, so the skiing was pretty good. Tomorrow I may skin up one of the trails on Whiteface since it is closed.

A new Eigerwand record

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO GET ALL THE DETAILS.

Chamonix Just Before We Showed Up

A short video of the Vallee Blanche with the very steep Capucin Couloir thrown in for extra measure! It seems that a great deal of stuff was done before and after our trip ... cest la vie!

Capucin Couloir from Charlie Boscoe on Vimeo.

Profit-Perroux Gully

It is not in the guidebook but this 5 pitch routes on the Aiguille du Midi looks like a "must do" for a next winter trip to Chamonix.

Three very good trp reports with many photographs provide more than enough information to do the route:

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS ONE OF THE DESCRIPTIONS.

More Dougal Haston

1975-76 were hugely important years, as it was the time that climbers began to believe they could climb the biggest and hardest routes alpine style and/or with very small parties ... Messner and Habler on Hidden Peak, Boardman and Tasker on Changabang, Charlie Porter solo on the Cassin Ridge, and Scott and Haston on a new route on the South Face of Denali.

Himalayan Speed Climbing

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE DETAILS OF UELI STECK'S BOLD CLIMB ... TRULY THE SWISS MACHINE.

It's been years since I joined the AAC

CLICK HERE TO READ THE AAC STRATEGIC PLAN AND LISTEN TO PHIL POWERS TALK ABOUT THE FUTURE.

Into Thin Air Redux

CLICK HERE TO READ THE NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLE ABOUT A CLIMBER'S JOURNEY BACK TO EVEREST 15 YEARS AFTER THE INFAMOUS DEBACLE.

THE SWISS MACHINE DOES IT AGAIN

CLICK HERE TO READ THE STORY OF THE SPEED ASCENT OF SHISHAPANGMA.

The Skiing-Climbing Conundrum

A great posting on the Cold Thistle blog, wish we had chatted about this in the Cosmique Hut!  Dane tells it like it is, and clearly talks about the dynamic tension between having your climbing gear dialed in, and the inadvertent trade-offs you probably made getting to the route on skis.  His objective was the North Face of Les Droites, the tone and tenor of the article is summed up by this quote: "That morning I came to the conclusion one could be easily killed just getting to a climb in Chamonix.


CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE ON COLD THISTLE.

Video: another avalanche airbag deployed

Raw Footage - edit to follow from Jeff Wyshynski on Vimeo.

SO HOW MUCH DO THESE THINGS COST?

A New Climbing Book Review

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THIS IMPORTANT REVIEW ON THE COLD THISTLE BLOG.

Logan and Greenland routes given the nod

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ALPINIST MAGAZINE SUMMARY OF THE 2011 PIOLETS D'OR.

Harvard study on barefoot running

I previously reviewed this book in the blog, but I wanted to remind everyone that it is a fantastic read. Even more importantly a new Harvard study suggests there is hard scientific data to get you out doors in your bare feet!

CLICK HERE TO READ A SUMMARY OF THE HARVARD STUDY.

Wasatch Ski Tour

After several days of riding the lifts, yesterday I skinned up a cat track for an hour and 750'. Today After three hours of lifts I toured up into Grizzly Gulch for 75 minutes and topped out on a knob on the ridge. Spectacular views, as you can see, as well as recent avalanche activity and some large cornices ready to go.

Interview with author Robert Macfarlane

CLICK ERE TO READ THE INTERVIEW IN THE GUARDIAN.


CLICK HERE TO READ AMAZON.COM REVIEWS.

Alex Honnold

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE DAVID ROBERTS PROFILE IN OUTSIDE MAGAZINE.

Wasatch Range: mount superior

It is going to be another great day. It doesn't get much better than the sunsets and sunrises from Alta Lodge.

Wasatch Powder

Alta got a foot of powder last night and it snowed all morning. This picture was taken from the top of the Supreme lift around 12:30 pm when the sun started to come out. Fantastic day!

Colin Haley ... A pretty good week!

CLICK HERE TO READ COLIN HALEY'S BLOG.

Alta Ski Reunion for Camp and School

I had an alpine start today as I was up at 2:30 am, and managed to ski a half-day at Alta. The picture of Devil's Castle was taken at the end of the day from the top of the Sunnyside lift. (I know, it's all easy terrain, and what was I doing there? Simple answer: Heading to Alta Java for a cup of the best chai anywhere.)

As you can see the storm is moving in, and we are expecting a foot of new snow tomorrow. Sometimes the life of the headmaster can not be beat!

2011 Les Piolets d'Or

The action began yesterday, as the alpine "glitterati" gather in Chamonix.

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO READ THE COVERAGE FROM THE CHAMONIX INSIDER.

History of Ski Mountaineering Races

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ESSAY ON THE SKI THEORY BLOG.

More About Tibet

An article from the New York Review of Books offers a historical look at the friction between Tibet and China which goes back several hundred years. (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO READ THIS SHORT ESSAY.

Tibet ... murder in the high himalaya

I just finished Jonathan Green's book about the shooting of a nun attempting a crossing of the Nangpa La, to escape into Nepal. An engaging story, which on some levels almost makes you ashamed to be a western himalayan climber. One wonders: What would I have done?

CLICK HERE TO READ THE AMAZON.COM REVIEWS.

More Pictures From Our Alpine Adventure

While Carter and the Kenney boys headed to the Monte Rosa Hutte, I joined the Union College guys on their last day for a 4,000' descent from Gornergrat. We got separated as they headed in search of untapped powder and with my sore knees I stuck to the easier piste. The variety of ski lifts in the Zermatt area is highly varied, from cog railways to trams and on to surface drags.

Jim Goodwin

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE OBITUARY ON THE ADIRONDACK BACKCOUNTRY BLOG.

Porter Mountain Loop

VIDEO: real life ABS deployment

A pretty routine helmet-cam ski video until about the four minute mark, when the proverbial #%*! hits the fan. Hard to get better PR than this real life video from the field.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE French TV Mountain footage.