It was 15 degrees this morning at school, and yesterday in the mid-day sun, there was stil ice in the pass ... WINTER IS COMING,
Monday, October 31, 2011
Ice Forming By Cascade Lakes and Chapel Pond
It was 15 degrees this morning at school, and yesterday in the mid-day sun, there was stil ice in the pass ... WINTER IS COMING,
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Saturday, October 29, 2011
First Ice Climbing Of The Season
While stuck in a blizzard on Route 84 (4 miles in four hours) and stopped for an accident, I read a twitter posting about a climb of Damnation Gully in Huntington Ravine today
Quote of the Week
From steep Edge Films, SKIING THE SKY BELOW, a film about the first female skiing from the top of Cho .
Friday, October 28, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Hiking in Santa Fe
Saturday was a relatIvely light work day - only one appointment - so I logged a couple of hours and almost 2,000' vertical. Beautiful day and a good workout, although I was a certainly not acclimated to the 12,000' summit.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Bivy in Zuccotti Park
My son did three bivies in the park to participate in Occuppy Wall Street ... His photos and some quotes were picked up by AP news. My gear came back a little worse for wear.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
A Different Look At The Early Everest Expeditions
I have just read the first 50 pages of this brilliant book. The author flips back and forth between climbing exploits and stories of climbers who gave the last full measure in World War I, to stories of those serene days in the hills at the dawn of a new century to the memorial services in those same hills after the war. CLICK HERE TO READ A REVIEW OF THIS PROMISING, AND VERY DIFFERENT CLIMBING BOOK.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Getting Ready For Ice Climbing Season
Now is the time when many of us start checking the straps on our crampons, check the leashes, tighten the bolts on our tools, sharpen our ice axes, and maybe even send our ice screws out to be professionally sharpened. It is also the time of pre-season sales, and so many of us start asking the question: Do I have all the clothes that I need this season? The picture is of Dane, a serious alpinist, and a serious gear fanatic, he also happens to write the Cold Thistle blog. Here he has everything on, fully kitted up for a winter bivy in the bathroom at the summit of the Aiguille du Midi ... been there, done that, and it ain't no fun.
CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT WHAT TO WEAR FOR ALPINE ICE CLIMBING, HE ALSO ASKS THE QUESTION OF TWO BRITS JUST DOWN FROM THE COLTON-MCINTYRE ROUTE ON THE JORASSES.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Sunrise Over Lake Champlain
Lucy took this spectacular photograph on a recent overnight camping trip.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
The Weather Has Finally Turned
However, I did manage this sunset shot earlier in the week before the rain started ... Selden is doing a great job with Fairhope Farm.
BLAST FROM THE PAST ... Kahiltna glacier
To those that climbed in Alaska in the late 70s into the 80s and 90s, Frances was a fixture at the "landing strip." She handled the radio chores for the bush pilots, was a font of information, seemed to speak a dozen languages, played her violin at odd hours of the night, occasionally handed you a beer coming off a route, and often sat sunning herself on nice days. When she found out she had cancer she decided to quit her job and head north to Alaska.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Adirondack Bouldering
It looks like it could go any day now. Dave has got the crux middle moves wired, and the exit moves are easier on some bomber jams. Seems like it will go at hard 5.12 or easy 5.13 ... GO DAVE GO!
Yoga, Maureen Dowd, and the New York Times
I rarely ever bring one of my favorite political columnists - Maureen Dowd - into a Fossil Alpinism post. However, given that many fossils do some form of yoga-like stretching just to be able to bend over and lace up their scarpa rock shoes, I thought a link to this hilarious column appropriate. (On a related aside, I will spare you the link to the New York Times article about the heated educational debate on whether one may say "om" or "namaste" if you are teaching yoga in school.)
CLICK HERE TO READ MAUREEN DOWD'S COLUMN.
On The Trail Of The Glaciers
The second of five expeditions in a multiple-year climate change study has just returned. The goal is to compare and contrast glacial conditions now and back in the day of the "golden age of exploration.". The scientists will take photographic sequences from the exact spots that Vittorio Sella and other 18-19th century explorers used. The areas to be visited include the: Karakorum, Caucasus, Alaska, Andes, and the Alps. CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT THE EXPEDITION, BE SURE TO WATCH THE AMAZING VIDEO.
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Fantastic Weekend
On Saturday I explored the new slide on Cascade and then did a little cragging, and on Sunday afternoon I climbed with Gary.
Quote of the Week ... About the Andes
"... Everything here is grander and more majestic than in the Swiss Alps, the Pyrenees, the Carpathians, the Apennines, and all the mountains I have known."
Alexander Humboldt
Friday, October 7, 2011
Alex Honnold and 60 Minutes
Last Sunday Rooney may have retired from the show, however it was the 13 minutes segment about free-soloist Alex Honnold that captured all the press. CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT HIS SOLO OF THE CHOUINARD-HERBERT ROUTE ON THE SENTINEL
Social event at the Fossil Cabin
We have just had a couple of spectacularly beautiful days, with morning temperatures in the low 20s but highs in the low 60s. Some of the staff and their children gathered for a few hours at Fairhope Farm ... After everyone left I had a wonderful sauna ... Gary is up tomorrow for some rock climbing.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Lots of Big Routes Getting Done In Chamonix
With several weeks of fine weather many of the long, hard, classics are getting crowded. The ice conditions are fantastic as you can see from these pictures of the Colton-Brooks on the North Face of the Droites. FYI ... the Argentiere hut is under repair in case you are planning a late Fall trip.
CLICK HERE TO READ A TRIP REPORT FROM ALLY SWINTON.
Monday, October 3, 2011
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Jonathan Waterman ends his book IN THE SHADOW OF DENALI with a quote from Robert Service's poem "The Spell of the Yukon."
There's a land where the mountains are nameless,
And the rivers all run God knows where;
There are lives that are erring and aimless,
And deaths that just hang by a hair;
I enjoyed re-reading the book, it touched on some great times that I had with Jon in New Hampshire, in Scotland, and in Colorado. It also reminded me of so many alpine stories on Denali, including my 1992 trip with Gary, Danny, Matt, Tommy, and Bear when so many people died while we were there ... Including Mugs Stump.
Chamonix Weather
It looks like the run of great Fall weather in Chamonix may be coming to an end. I am hearing of lots of great routes being done, including the recent ascent of No Siesta on the north face of the Jorasses by Will Sim and and Jon Griffith.
CLICK HERE FOR AN UPDATE ON THE COLD THISTLE ALPINISM BLOG.
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