Will This Be Where The Fossils Gather?

Call it nostalgia. Call it great alpine climbing. However there is a movement building for a 30 year reunion in Chamonix ... oh and maybe do the Swiss Route on Les Courtes as well. (Click to enlarge the photo.)

50 Days on Snow

I just checked my log ... 50 days on snow since November ... How is
everyone else doing?

Another Movie Review From Jon

A scanned copy of his weekly movie review ... click to enlarge the image.

Fossil Clubhouse Library

Still only a modest collection however it includes: over 100 climbing magazines dating back to 1972, the collected works of Frank Smythe, a collection of Tami Knight's climbing cartoons, several climbing and skiing novels (Banner in the Sky, The Eiger Sanction, The Snow Gods, as well as Haston's Calculated Risk), the collected works of both Jack London and Robert Service, and finally a variety of well thumbed pot-boilers and page-turners.

Get Off the Couch

It is still winter - not time to put the skis away - but soon we will be pulling on little edges. So, start training. (The picture is a young John Gill doing a one-arm lever.)

Blast From the Past

Over 20 years ago when I skied for a factory marathon team.(Click on the slide to enlarge the photo.)

Come Visit

This picture was taken as I skied back to the cabin from olympic biathlon trails. Bring a sleeping bag, everything else is there ... a wood stove, sleeping loft, kerosene lanterns, an outhouse, a bottle of single malt, and my complete collection of mountain magazines dating back to my first trip to Europe in 1972. The cabin is adjacent to the biathlon trails at Mount Van Hoevenberg, as well as the Jackrabbit Trail, so it is perfect for running, hiking, mountain biking, or nordic skiing. (Click to enlarge the photo.)

Book Those Tickets

DANNY? MARK? ARE YOU GUYS IN?

Another article by Jon

Just published, an op-ed piece by Jon about the Bush Years and the end of his adolescence. Click on the link to read this 1,000 word essay.

NCS Student Project

Larry's students do a snow physics unit in the winter of their 8th grade year. The curriculum involves frequent snow pit analysis, avalanche search techniques, snow crystal identification, the dynamics of heat transfer through the snowpack, as well as a Powerpoint Presentation on a specific avalanche. Click here to see the text outline of one such project.

Three Minute Video

Fantastic, your arms will get pumped just watching this guy solo this steep ice route. Click on this link for the video.

Singing and Dancing in the Rain

A new movie just out starring Ginger Rodgers, Gary, and Hock.
48 hours ago it was -20, today it was 50 degrees although as we hiked
out from climbing the temperature was plummeting.

Clubhouse Mugs

After an arduous selection process the Fossil Coffee Mugs have been
chosen. The Lake Placid Pub is proud to be a sponsor of "Team Fossil."

Off the Couch

Gary and Hock climbed a few pitches on Sunday afternoon at Cascade Lakes.

First Biathlon Race

One of my 9th graders gearing up for his first biathlon race ... In
the Nor-Ams with the big boys.

Is there an easier approach?

For big, 6000 meter peaks, it doesn't get any easier ... a van ride to your horse-packers, then a casual 3-4 hour hike to base camp with a tiny day pack. Tailor made for fossils ... even a mug of coffee when you wake up!

Blast from the past!

More than 25 years ago I snapped this photo of Michael Franklin approaching the Black Dike on Cannon. (Click to enlarge this photo.)

Book Those Tickets

How many more years have you got? When was your last expedition? Will it be easier to do when you are 60? 65? Or 70? Three day weekends are nice, but don't you deserve a big climb once every twenty years or so? The West Face route on Tocllaraju goes right up the center ... 10 pitches of perfect 65 degree ice, with 3-4 pitches finishing up the steep South Ridge. (Click on this Powerpoint slide to enlarge the photo.)

Valentine's Day at NCS

The NCS tradition is that everyone dresses up in red-white-pink ... Hock
and his famous bow tie! Sitting next to him is Min Kyu, a fourth grader from Korea who is in Lucy's class.

Fossil Gives Slideshow

Hock - who in his other life - is the headmaster of a small farm school, was the Sunday evening speaker this past weekend. His 15 minute presentation entitled, Big Walls, Alpine Routes, and Expeditions" was set to a sound track featuring The Rolling Stones, Hot Tuna, Bob Marley, and Bob Dylan. The spirited Q & A session that followed featured such queries as: Why was the northeast fork of the Kahiltna called the Valley of Death? What was the longest leader fall I had ever caught? And finally, can I climb M-7? Kids say the funniest things.(Click on the picture to enlarge Hock's opening slide.)

Peru Possibilities

The West Face is about 10 pitches of 60 degree ice before you join the south ridge for the final 3-4 rope lengths ... an awesome high quality routes ... let's go! (Click here to enlarge this photo.)

Rumors are Flying

That "El Presidente" and the "Silverfox" have been logging on to Travelocity.com and checking out airfare to Peru. Is this the long awaited trip to the Cordillera Blanca? (The enclosed picture is of Jon on the four hour hike to basecamp as his gear is carried by horse and mules. Note that this trip was during his "animal rights activist" days, and there is some question as to the ethics of having animals do all the heavy lifting. However, reporters close to the scene say he never mentioned anything about this dichotomy.)

Lucy Racing for the Gold

Posing at the finish at the one kilometer, 12 and under race held just
before the loppet wax clinic.

Fossil Takes Second Place

Gary skied an impressive 50K race in 3:51, the demanding Olympic
course had 3700' of climbing. Admiring fans thronged him for
autographs so I picked up his medal pictured here. (More importantly,
all five of Hock's students picked up merchandise in the raffle that
followed the race.)

Banff Mountain Film Festival

Click on this link details about the 'World Tour." I just saw it this past weekend and it was fabulous. The "King Line" featuring Chris Sharma deep-water soloing is outstanding.

Lake Placid Loppet

Two fossils to ski in the big race this weekend. Gary will do the 50K classical while Hock chaperones some of the kids in the picture around the 25K loop. As Brian knows, this is a very hilly course ... 1750' in climbs for each lap!(Click on the picture to enlarge the photo.)

Fossil Query

Forget sunscreen on your last 6000 meter peak? Focus in on those juicy lips! We all know that sometimes, even on a successful route you get your butt kicked. I am asking for folks to send me those flattering pictures that show the aftermath of your alpine heroics. Of course, all pictures will be posted for Fossil commentary!(Click on the picture for an exquisite closeup of those post-Peru lips.)

Scouting Big Walls

As he was solo this was not a true "fossil" trip, however fossil friend Greg just finished a field report: 2 feet of snow in Yosemite Valley and 4 feet in the high country. The "Big Stone" is "in," as is the Leaning Tower. Rumors are flying that "El Presidente" and Greg are planning an early spring ascent of the West Face. To that end, we are hearing reports of "El Presidente's" massive upper body workouts ... countless reps with the snow-blower and power sessions with the snow shovel.

Backgrounder: Tower Ridge Climbing Video

First climbed over a century ago, it is still a challenging route. Hock, Jon Waterman, and Jim Balog spent all day on this classic, climbing it in "full Scottish conditions," descending Gardyloo Gully by headlamp in a complete whiteout and during severe avalanche conditions. The "Yanks" were rewarded by an invitation into the mythical C.I.C. Hut for a long session of stories and single malt. Of course, by the time they got down to the Glen Nevis Youth Hostel at 3 AM, it was locked and they had to bivvy outside the front door until it opened at 7 AM. (Click on the link to play the four minute video.)

Old Buddy Wins Galen Rowell Award

Jim Balog, an old Outward Bound instructor, has won this prestigious award for his photography. Back in the late 1970s Hock, Jon Waterman, and Jim Balog took an ice climbing trip to Scotland, which was the first climbing article commissioned by Outside magazine. The weather was horrific, and we managed only the Aonach Eagoch Ridge as well as Tower Ridge on Ben Nevis. Once the rains moved in, Jon and I left for Chamonix and did a winter ascent of the North Face of Tour Ronde (D+). (Click on this link for the full story details.)

Chouinard: Let My People Go Surfing

Click on this link to read a chapter from his most recent book.

Chouinard: Let My People Go Surfing

Click on this link to play the seven minute video from "60 Minutes."

Guides Wall

In the Tetons in the late 1970s. We climbed Baxter's Pinnacle, Guides Wall, one of the south face routes on Symmetry Spire, and an attempt of Blackfin on Mount Moran. (Click on the photo to enlarge the picture.)

Bivvy on Denali

South face, -35 degrees, no stove or tent, cramped lumpy ledge at 12,000,' as Mike Brochu and Mark Ewing get ready to "rise and shine." Day two of our retreat off the West Rib. (Click on the picture to enlarge the photo.)

30 Years Ago

Mark and Hock fresh from their first shower in five weeks, and hour after being flown off the Kahiltna Glacier. (Click on the picture to enlarge it for a close-up of these two studs!)

Another Michael Franklin picture

Michael at the base of the first pitch of "Dracula" (NEI IV+) which Hock dispatched with his chouinard piolet and north wall hammer with the home-made teeth. Michael took a head first dive off the crux, just 15 feet from topping out; he was held by a pound in cassin ice piton. The route is in New Hampshire at Frankenstein Cliffs. (Click on picture to enlarge it.)

Blast from the past: south face of the column

Hock clearing the A2 pitch 100 feet off the bivvy at Dinner Ledge ... first time he ever placed a Friend!

Memories of Michael

So, what is your favorite mountain memory of Michael Franklin? And what is the next route that we will have a quorum on to spread some of his ashes? The picture above ways taken on top of Pinnacle Buttress on Mount Washington. Hock and Michael had just completed the four pitch Pinnacle Gully (NEI III+).

The Good Old Days

"The Fat Boys Come Back Skinny Expedition." Hock and Mark moments after unloading their gear from the plane. Notice the feed bag dangling from the neck, and the 50mm nordic racing boots. The unseen details include: one toothbrush between us, one book between us, no down parkas, only single mountaineering boots, and the barest minimum of climbing gear. Mark was under 11 days for the roundtrip Reno-Denali-Reno. (Click on picture to enlarge it.)

Larry R.

Friend of fossils taking NCS kids climbing in our own backyard. Hock
also got a few laps in too.

The New Heifer

Katika had a little baby that we named Hope. In another 3-4 days Selden will be back milking her and skimming off the cream. So, fossils it is time for a visit ... nothing like fresh heavy cream in your morning tea and coffee, not to mention the homemade heather bar crunch ice cream.

NCS students storm Rummey N.H.

Several weeks ago Larry R. - friend of fossils - took a bunch of
8th and 9th graders ice climbing on their "invitational only" trip.
Routes up to NEI IV+ and M5 were climbed.

Gary in Peru

Here is Gary at 18,500' at the base of the West Face, as we stalled out -- trying to forgo the advance basecamp -- and do a one-day blast from 14,000.'

Air fares are low, book that flight

Multiplication Gully (NEI III) will be our warm up ... how does mid-February sound?

Jon to write movie reviews

Click here to read a draft of Jon's first movie review for the Lake Placid News

Pre-Christmas Fossil Trip

The final rappel getting off the "Eye of the Needle" NEI 3+ on the backside of Pitchoff.

Amazing video trailer

If this doesn't get you energized nothing will. (Click on this link.)

Old, Tired, and Tattered

Kind of like us fossils. The original guidebook is pretty worn and
well thumbed ... When we going back?

Wildman of the Alps

On top of the Aiguille de Argentiere outside of Chamonix in the summer of 1977. Notice a few period pieces, the puffy Gerry down jacket which I still use and is now held together by duct tape. The army surplus mittens, with the trigger finger just visible. And the "slightly" unkempt beard. On a related note, the astute may pick out the Swiss Route on Les Courtes directly behind me, which did not have its first American ascent until 1965 when Chouinard and Kor climbed it some thirty years after the original ascent. The really keen eyed may be able to pick out the "Shroud" on the Grand Jorasses directly behind Les Courtes. SO DO ANY FOSSILS SEE THESE ICE ROUTE IN THEIR FUTURE?

An unusual posting

While skiing around campus yesterday I came upon this scene, one of my students pulling out a 13 inch lake trout while ice fishing. Hello Fossils, when are you coming for a visit? If the ice climbing is too daunting we can always go fishing?