Fossil Alpinism

An article published in Atlantic Monthly about John Bouchard and his first ascent of the Black Dike, a New England classic ice climb on Cann...

CLICK HERE FOR THE LINK TO THE PHOTO-MONTAGE.

Just completing the M7/8, above the head heel hook in a crack, to get out the 4' roof (NEI 5+) with the figure four. (Click on the photo...

Yesterday Larry took students to "Pitchoff Left" and "Three Flows." Today just before sunset I was on "Cascade Fal...

These two pictures are from an out-of-print book by Pause and Winkler called Extreme Alpine Rock: the 100 greatest alpine rock climbs. (Clic...

FIRST WEEK OPTIONS: Chere, Jager, Contamine-Mazeud Couloirs Germain, and L'Infidele couloirs Eperon Cosmiques North Face of Tour Ronde S...

The South Face of Washington Column.(Click on the picture to enlarge the photo.)

Spring has not come to the Adirondacks as it is -5 degrees as she heads out to chores in her Carhartts. Notice the two bottles ... One wit...

Before there was Global Warming and Climate Change ... The enclosed photo is from the warmest mid-January day on record, at the top of new H...

Currently doing seismic fieldwork, Greg has this to say ... I'm currently developing some virgin stone in East Africa at an undisclosed ...

(Click on the text to enlarge it.)

No cobras or leashless tools! No plastic boots or rigid crampons! No expresso screws or screamers! No cams or stoppers! But, lots of chut...

From the vaults of Turner Classic Movies, comes "Three on a Rope," a 10 minute Sierra Club instructional rock climbing video. (Cli...

My new guidebook arrived in the mail from Michael Chessler. The number of ice routes in the vicinity of the Cosmique Hut is astronomical.

This five minute video snippet covers an entire ski traverse of the Alps. (Click here to watch this short film.)

The third day of spring brought single digit lows and 15 degree climbing temperatures. Larry is leading the NEI 4 variation to "Three ...

All cleaned up after our first - unsuccessful - Alaskan trip to the Cassin Ridge.

We have a year to get fit ... what do you think about entering a fossil team in this premier ski mountaineering event in the Alps? (Click he...

Mark Twight sounds off on leashless tools.(Click here for his op-ed piece.)

If the gods are not on our side, and we run into bad weather, three easy (but high quality routes) that can be done after snowstorms or in m...

Entre Terre et Ciel ... Between Earth and Sky. This is a snippet of the full length documentary (and book) shot in the 1950s, featuring a y...

The Chere Couloir ... A short walk from the hut, fixed rappel descent, and climbable even if the weather is marginal ... what more can you a...

Repentance has never been climbed by a fossil. It is the consensus pick for the "best NEI 5" in all of the East, and possibly the...

Laps on the school climbing wall with my alpine boots ... Let's go climbing!

Three decades ago I spent a winter up here as the caretaker. Last weekend in Huntington Ravine, and this weekend in the Adirondacks on ...

This video is four minutes long but it is awesome ... skiing the Colorado 14ers! Strictly FYI ... I use to work Outward Bound courses with L...

Larry and I went climbing out on the school's crag. Here he is halfway up the M7-8 route, which followed the thin crack in the left cor...

Day light savings is great! I did a great 12K ski to Ausable Lake and got out at 7:00 PM, just before it got dark. (Click on the photo to e...

A short stroll from the Cosmique Hut, ice up to 80 degrees, and a fixed rappel route. (Click to enlarge the picture.)

I grabbed my nordic race gear and skied 12K this afternoon to check out conditions ... in a word superb. The view is of the slides on Wright...

The heavy rain - adding to the posted "considerable avalanche danger" - caused us to turn around at the 4800' level. Hilman...

After looking at ice crags, the warm temperatures suggested caution. And so, at almost the crack of noon we did the long approach to Hunti...

I just snagged some ice gear from the Fossil Clubhouse, and went for a short 40 minute - sunset - ski tour. I am heading over to New Hamps...

After out growing Michael's "farmer john" climbing garment, Hock passed it along to Sel. After a decade of twice daily barn c...

Click here to look at a final option ... at 25 pitches, 5.8 A1, the Gervasutti Pillar is probably a bit too stout ... good weather, good kar...

Click on this link to see two more great options within an easy walk of the Cosmique Hut.

Click on this link to see a topo of more moderate climb, in case the weather is unsettled. At five pitches, this Rebuffat route goes at 5.7 ...

Click on this link to see three famous ice routes - all showing early summer snowy conditions - which vary from 4-12 pitches. All of them a...

A short 30 minute cable car ride from the valley. The Rebuffat route is ten pitches long, and is officially graded 5.10c, although most peop...

The fourth belay on the Rebuffat route on the South face of the Aiguille du Midi. Another possibility if the Fossils rendezvous in Chamonix.

Call it nostalgia. Call it great alpine climbing. However there is a movement building for a 30 year reunion in Chamonix ... oh and maybe ...

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

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

Still only a modest collection however it includes: over 100 climbing magazines dating back to 1972, the collected works of Frank Smythe, a ...

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 youn...

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

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...

DANNY? MARK? ARE YOU GUYS IN?

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.

Larry's students do a snow physics unit in the winter of their 8th grade year. The curriculum involves frequent snow pit analysis, aval...