NCS climbing awards

There are at least 40 climbs on our crag, with at least 30 that have
been done by students. Larry and Dave have broken them into three
categories: beginner (up to 5.5), intermediate (up to 5.8), and
advanced (5.9-5.10). When you have successfully climbed the first
group you get a pink piton, all the intermediates a blue biner, and
all the advanced a special T-shirt and your name inscribed on the
trophy.

Today at lunch council I received my pink piton. Yahoo!

Pigs to market

With Selden's piggies going off to the slaughterhouse, that can only mean one thing ... Lots of fresh pork in the freezer for when the fossils visit. Check your calendars, how does the third weekend in December look for some Adirondack ice climbing?

Cris Sharma - Yoga - Squaw Valley

Enjoy this short video of arguably the best rock climber in the world meeting up with the "New Age" yoga sensation in the northern Sierras. So, my question is: Was El Presidente in attendance?

Chris Sharma Does Wanderlust from Prana Living on Vimeo.

Light The Wick

The trailer for the new Teton Gravity Research ski video. Just start the video, and then click the video again to enlarge the screen.

Hiking and Third Classing

One of my favorite short 45 minute aerobic workouts, is to do a 3k lap up and around our ski hill with a stop to do ten laps up "Buried Treasure," a 30 foot 5.2 at the NCS crag. The music comes from the movie "The English Patient." (As always, click on the video to start it, and then click on it again to be transferred to the larger You Tube site.)

NCS Slideshow

Get a close look at what a year at North Country School is like. (For best viewing, start the video and then click on the screen again, so that it takes you to a larger version on my You Tube site.)

A Good Site To Bookmark

Every so often I visit "Daily Climbing Tips.". This web blog has concrete and down to earth tips and tricks for climbers, as well as some pretty good gear suggestions. The picture is from the recent entry on how to handle your heavy pack on a rappel.


CLICK ON THIS LINK TO ACCESS THE WEBSITE.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

A picture from our first Denali trip in the mid-1970s. Mark is snapping pictures on the Kahiltna and Mike Brochu is yucking it up. Don who became the bane of our existence is strategically out of the picture. (As always click on the photograph to enlarge the image.)

Haute Route 2011

As we will finish in Zermatt I thought I would point out that we will ski right underneath the North Face of the Matterhorn, the most photographed and painted mountain on earth. (This picture is from the Les Alpes de Livres, probably the premier vendor of first edition mountaineering books, paintings, and engravings.)

You might want to bookmark the following site which - as the season get closer - may have some excellent information (in English) about the European ski mountaineering scene. At the moment they have a vibrant forum going on the subject of "The Haute Route: AT or Telemark?"

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO PISTE HORS.

Giant ... Lucy gets another 46er

Yesterday, one of the NCS trips hiked up Giant. With over 3,000' of climbing, and a start at 10 AM, they made good time and got to the summit by 1:00 PM. (Lucy wants everyone to know that the reason she looks all puffed up, was because the wind was blowing so hard and billowing our her fleece.)

For the next trip to the Cordillera

The New York Times travel section was devoted to South America, this article has some wonderful ideas of where to buy some high end indigenous crafts.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THIS ARTICLE AND OTHER INFORMATION ABOUT TRAVELING IN SOUTH AMERICA.

Quote of the Week

I am re-reading this wonderful slim volume, EVEREST: THE WEST RIDGE. The cover picture alone is worth the price of the book. What an amazing, balls to the wall, way before it's time, route. Unsoeld and Hornbein hung it out there, pulled it off, and this book is brilliantly written.

Many sections lead off - or end - with evocative quotes. This one by Nancy Newhall is one of my favorites:

"Out of all resources, the most critical is Man's spirit.
Not dulled, not lulled, supine, secure, replete does Man create,
But out of a stern challenge ... "

Cragging

Today was a beautiful day in the Adirondacks, cool and crisp. I joined the NCS students up at the crag for a few laps in my mountain boots ... Getting ready for the Hornli Ridge this winter.

Hiking the NCS trails

Yesterday, just before dinner, I did an easy 4k hike on our perimeter loop, aside from getting a little exercise, the goal was to see how wet the crag was. It was still damp, however it looks like it will be dry by noon today, and so I will head out for a few laps, after I work on plans for my alumni trip to Asia. (Last night we had a hard frost with temperatures in the upper 20s.

Fairhope Farm

Selden has almost finished clearing the land and making it ready for more pasture for her animals. The peak on the left is Pitchoff and the one on the right is Cascade. (AS ALWAYS, CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE THE PHOTOGRAPH.)

Video: skiing in the Himalaya

This is a short trailer for a cultural documentary about skiing in Kashmir. Gulmarg has the highest gondola in the world and there are miles and miles of untracked terrain above and beyond it ... Of course there is a problem ... Pakistan and India have a decades old - but flaring up now - violent border dispute.

"AZADI: Freedom" Official Trailer from b4apres media on Vimeo.

NCS Climbing Wall

It started to pour this afternoon, and so instead of taking students to the crag, we relocated to our indoor climbing wall. Almost all of the students were new to the sport, and so outfitting, knot and belay instruction took up a good deal of the session. The weather is predicted to be quite nice this weekend ... any fossils able to come up to the 'dacks to climb some pitches?

Cassin Ridge Goes Up In Price

While climbing in Alaska has it's costs - a long flight, bush pilots, high in-state prices - it has often been a bargain compared to the Himalayas and the Alps. With this peak fee increase, not so much anymore ... FORAKER, HUNTER, OR THE CORDILLERA ANYONE?

Almost Feels Like Snow In The Air!

Morning temperatures have dropped into the mid-30s twice this week. Fall is certainly here in the Adirondacks, and no doubt we will see snow on the mountain tops quite soon. There were even a few years during my racing days, when we had skiable snow in Lake Placid just two weeks from now. The enclosed picture is from a couple of weeks ago, when some of our National Guard biathletes participated in the South American Ski Championships in Portillo.

Himalayan Fatalities

Flipping through that fascinating book of Himalayan statistics (available as a PDF on-line), I came across this mind numbing graph. The staggering toll that avalanches take on climbers in these mountains. One is tempted to ask how these figures might compare to the Alps or the Andes. Nevertheless A sobering reminder about objective hazards in the mountains, and a reminder that an avalanche training course could be good value for the money.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THIS AMAZING BOOK.

Video: Mission Impossible II

This famous rock climbing sequence was filmed at Dead Horse Point in Utah. Tom Cruise was on cables which were then digitally removed. Ron Kauk was the climbing double and the overhang stunt was performed by main stunt double, Keith Campbell. Outlandish and impossible, but the background spires and rock are awesome.

Video: French Direct on Alpamayo

THIS COULD BE A POTENTIAL OBJECTIVE FOR MY 60TH BIRTHDAY! (Remember, if you click on the video after it has started, you'll be able to watch it on the larger screen of the YouTube site.)

Another Alaskan Option

As Larry and I have started a bit of banter - What no Cassin - vis a vis the possibility of a 60th birthday trip, I have started to a bit of light research. One of the things that surfaced from this effort, was the 2001 AAJ article "Baby steps: lessons from Alaskan Alpinism," ... maybe the Lowe-Kennedy route on Hunter is a possibility?

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO READ THE SHORT AAJ ARTICLE BY STEVE HOUSE.

Training log

SO HOW IS YOUR LOG LOOKING?

A Terrific Book

I have just finished reading the initial 60+ pages of a fantastic book. Simon Thomson's book, "Unjustifiable Risk?: the history of British climbing," is just full of little nuggets like the account of the first ascent of Eiger enclosed above. You can access a quarter of this volume as a preview on Google Books. Currently it is available in the UK, however it is due to be released in America come October 1st. I have added it to my Amazon.com wish list, so maybe I will get this book as a Christmas present.

Great Day for Climbing

Yesterday was a beautiful, crisp, Fall, Adirondack day. With school about to start there was much to do, however I took a few hours off and self-belayed six laps on the crag. The picture catches me slapping the chains at the anchor.

A Month Since Peru

School is about to start and I have been home from the big mountains for a month. So how have my post-Andean days been? I have gained about five pounds, lost two toe nails with one more coming off, a bit lethargic and so I have had no big days in the Adirondack mountains. However, I have not been totally slothful as I have gone on many small hikes, as well as climbing 12 pitches, in addition to four good bouldering sessions. (CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE THE PHOTOGRAPH.).

How has your training gone in the last month?

Call me a gear freak

However, this harness - at 3.4 ounces - seems perfect for ski mountainieering. I am buying the damn thing because I do not want to tote my 1.5 pound monster harness across the 160k Haute Route. With 20-20 hindsight, I wish I had it for Pisco and Urus in the Andes. Light is Right. (On a related note, I will also be toting a 3 ounce anorak from C.A.M.P. and it is awesome.)

Quote of the Week

In his still excellent "how to do" book "Mounatin Craft," G.W.Young wrote much that is quotable today. Almost 100 years old, one can still agree whole-heartedly with this passage:

IN MOUNTAINS, WHERE PERSONALITY COUNTS BEFORE EVERYTHING, MEN ARE FORCED BACK UPON THEIR ELEMENTAL SELVES ...

Hemingway the skier

A little known BUT fascinating magazine - Skiing Heritage - had a wonderful article recently ( page 30 ) on Hemingway's passion for skiing. Most of his skiing was during the days when you had to earn your turns, skinning up the hills before you skied down them. He was pretty keen. (Remember to tap on the photograph to enlarge the image.)

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE ABOUT HEMINGWAY.

Watercolors of the Cordillera Blanca

Although I have known of Rogger Oncoy's gallery in Huaraz for several years, and this summer I finally bought several of his smaller watercolors. They are relatively inexpensive, and they dramatically capture the Andean landscape in a way that photographs often do not. He has a wonderful website, for which I have enclosed a link. Enjoy.


CLICK ON THIS LINK TO ACCESS A BLOG WITH MANY OF HIS WATERCOLOR PRINTS.

Celebrating our 26th anniversary

FOR BETTER VIEWING: AFTER YOU START THE VIDEO, CLICK ON IT AGAIN, TO LAUNCH IT ON MY YOU TUBE SITE.

Article on the Haute Route (part 2)

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO READ THE ARTICLE.

Unusual Response to Climate Change

Click on the image to enlarge and read this article.

Labor Day on the Crag

A beautiful, breezy Adirondack day. Larry put signs up to alert faculty and counselors what routes are anchored with which bolts. I ran a half dozen laps on a 5.6 route with my mountain boots ... Getting ready for the Matterhorn. Larry has just topped out on "Mai Tri" via the direct 5.10+ variation.

Saratoga Follow Up

Stil having memories of my day at the track ... did I say that I won $75. Enjoy this video about the 2007 Horse of the Year owned - in part - by one of our alumni (NCS '78).

60th Birthday Fling

Only 21 months to plan the trip, nail down the agenda, and lock in some partners. What are you doing July 2012?

A BREAK FROM THE MOUNTAINS

Yesterday I joined an NCS alumnus from '78 at the race track in Saratoga. Along with managing money George invests in oil and gas exploration and thoroughbred race horses. This is his two year-old Astrology in the winner's circle. Today another horse named Abide is one of the favorites in the Spinaway stakes race. (Previously George owned Curlin who won the Preakness a few years back and was also voted the Horse of the Year.)

Haute Route 2011

During our warmup ski, down the Mer de Glace in Chamonix we will ski right underneath one of the great north faces of the Alps! The left-hand edge is the Walker Spur climbed by Cassin in the 1930s. (Of course, on our last day we will ski right under the north face of the Matterhorn, climbed by the Schmidt brothers in the early 1930s.)

Tory is OK

A significant earthquake struck one of New Zealand's major cities yesterday.

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO WATCH A SHORT CNN REPORT.

Training for Alpine Climbs

A terrific article by Steve House on how to get ready for your next adventure whether that is the Winter Traverse of the Presidential Range, the French Direct Route on Alpamayo, or the Cassin Ridge.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE SHORT ARTICLE.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

For Christmas in 1999 Selden bought me a book that my former climbing buddy - Jon Waterman - had compiled, it is called "The Quotable Climber." This week's pithy words are from Rick Sylvester, climber, skier, stunt man, and long time Tahoe mountain man. All fossils ought to remember this ...

THERE'S STILL TIME, BUT THERE AIN'T FOREVER.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW HIS MOST FAMOUS HOLLYWOOD STUNT.

Adirondack Bouldering

Our campus has a stellar problem that has never been climbed; it is called the "Impossible Dream. I tried
for years in the 1980s. Russ Clune (read his Black Diamond blog entry
below) gave it a try in the 1990s. Now Dave is carrying the torch ...
Literally and figuratively!

CLICK HERE TO READ RUSS CLUNE'S BLACK DIAMOND BLOG ENTRY.)

Haute Route Start and Finish

It is customary to spend extra time at both the start and the finish of this historic ski mountaineering traverse, so take a look at the available terrain which has everything you could want in the name of pistes and off-piste adventure.

Haute Route 2011

Not exactly like Shipton and Tilman sketching out a Himalayan trip on the back of a napkin, but it is a rough guess on what our trip timeline might be. If you imagine travel time to be about 1.5 days then it looks like you could compress the trip into 11-12 days, although I am planning for the full 16 days so I can potentially climb the Matterhorn. Thoughts?

Another Successful Year

We had the administrative team over to the Fossil Cabin to crack open
a bottle of champagne to celebrate the eighth straight year in the
black ... Yahoo. Hock drains the bottle before we all get serious and
dig into the ten pints of Ben & Jerrys ice cream that were on hand!

Fossil's Solo Flight

John Deaton in his ultralight plane!

The Haute Route as a Prelude

I am starting to view the March Haute Route adventure as an exciting warmup for a life-long dream of climbing the Matterhorn in winter. My original goal decades ago was - is - the Schmidt North Face route, it may be out of my range however, so let's do the Hornli Ridge instead! (One thing for sure, we will not see this queue in March ... click on the photograph to enlarge the image.)

Adirondack Bouldering Controversy

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE IN THE ADIRONDACK EXPLORER.

NCS CRAG CHECKLIST

Dave just completed a checklist so you can keep track of your progress ... Climb them all and get a commemorative T-shirt. (When you get to the half-way point you get a commemorative soft iron - military surplus - pink piton!)