Huntington Ravine

I am not sure, but it look like the snow in Central Gully is climbable, and often that means that Pinnacle Gully might be climbable.

MORE ANDES

A 6,000 meter peak at the head of the Ishinca Valley ... great photo Matt!

Beautiful Adirondack Day

It was 20 degrees this morning, and then it turned into a crisp Fall day. Just before sunset I went for a short hike, and snapped this picture of the moon rising over Cascade.

THE ANDES

I just received a CD from Matt of pictures from this summer in the Cordillera Blanca, so for the next few days I will profile the best of his images. This first photograph is of the South face of Pisco, the route we took was the left skyline ridge ... AWESOME JOB MATT!

Shrinking Glaciers

Another photographic project in the works comparing the photographs from the early 20th century in the Karakoram Range with current pictures to help document the effects of climate change. This is a short trailer about this important scientific work.

International Ski Mountaineering Federation

A new video, to raise the profile of ski-mo in the United States. As you can see from the footage it is a major sport in Europe. And while we will not be racing the haute route, we will be booting, ripping the hide, rapping, and front-pointing just like these guys and gals. GET PSYCHED!

(REMEMBER, if you click on it after the video starts you can watch it on the YouTube site in large screen format.)

Burgers

Well Fossils, have no fear, the freezer is full of meat and Selden is raising another bull calf, named Duke. We will have burgers and steaks for many Icefest gatherings to come!

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS SELDEN'S BLOG TO READ THE ARTICLE, "MEET THE DUKE."

Himalaya Film Festival

If you are in Manhattan, this looks worth checking out ... Click on the photo to enlarge the image so you can read it.

The Best Unskied Lines In America

The ESPN website has a four part article on the most awesome unskied lines in America. Chris Davenport's vote - and he has already skied a handful of routes on the Big Mac - is the South Face of Denali, roughly following the Scott-Haston route! (FYI ... The prominent line left of center is the Cassin Ridge.)

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE FULL ESPN ARTICLE.

Snowing Heavily In The Alps

This satellite image from yesterday shows snowfall depths from Europe. Orange denotes 25 cm of new snow on Saturday.

BEFORE THE SNOW ...

The US Ski Team was finishing a dry land training camp in Lake Placid with some sprint time trials ... Of course it was held in a torrential rain! These guys and gals are focused on speed, - a high intensity, interval based block of training - and so no doubt you were not seeing them out slogging around in the heavy, wet, afternoon snow.

50 Minute Ski Tour

Before heading out for the long drive to New Hampshire - to meet with sisters an clean out dad's apartment - I went for a nice early season tour. Five laps up and around the NCS ski hill on an old pair of Europa 99s with skins.

VIDEO ... Rescue on the Valhalla Traverse in the Tetons

Rescue on Valhalla Traverse from getungrounded on Vimeo.

First Tracks

We had 6-8 inches of very heavy wet snow fall today, and maybe some more coming tomorrow. After a busy day with the ribbon cutting ceremony, I managed to get out of the office at 5 PM and do a short 30 minute tour.

Hock making headlines!

One of our Korean mom's sent us a few copies of the article that came out in the Korean version of their "Wall Street Journal." Of course, at the moment I am thinking less like a headmaster-CEO, and more like a skier as we are getting pounded by heavy wet snow. In another 90 minutes I am grabbing my rock skis and heading for the trails.

Great Rates To Fly To The Alps

Stegs has done some investigating Boston - Geneva for under $500 round trip ... Lock in your seats.

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT THESE LOW AIRFARES.

KEY DATES ... GET OFF THE COUCH

1) December 17-20 ... The Fossil Icefest ... climb early season ice, and blow off some CO2 before the holidays

2) January 14-16 ... The Mountainfest sponsored by the Mountaineer ... rub shoulders with the big boys and girls

3) January 23 ... Berkshire East Randonee Race ... Check out your system for the haute route, then spend the day making turns

4) February 5 ... The Lake Placid Loppet (25K or 50K)

5) February 12 & 13 ... The Canadian Ski Marathon ... 160K from Lachute to Ottawa

6) February 18-20 ... The Haute Route shakedown cruise ... location to be determined

7) March 11-26 ... The Haute Route and Hornli Ridge

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

"Great things are done when men and mountains meet;
This is not done by jostling in the street."

This was found in William Blake's notebooks c. 1807-1809. A favorite of mine, he was a great poet, painter, printmaker, and engraver.

Hock's Ethics Class

This obviously has nothing to do with mountaineering, however I thought I would show you a quick snippet of a course I teach to 9th graders once a week. The curriculum is based upon Michael Sandel's, famous Harvard course "Justice" which was filmed for TV last year. Even if you have never read even a smidgeon of philosophy I urge you to watch some of his Harvard class, they are incredibly engaging.

>

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS MICHAEL SANDEL'S HARVARD WEBSITE.

Glacier Chasers

An interesting article in a British paper about the effects of climate change on the Alps and it's glaciers. In particular, this is a nice summary of the glacial retreat in the Grindelwald area.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE.

Chamonix to Zermatt

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE DAY-TO-DAY ACCOUNT OF THE HAUTE ROUTE.

The Earliest Ice Climbing in New England

While the real ice climbing season is at least six weeks away, there is always ephemeral early ice climbing to be had up in Huntington Ravine on the side of Mount Washington. As the Harvard Cabin caretaker in the mid 1970s I remember fondly those late October mornings placing my tools, afternoons splitting wood, and reading in a quiet and empty cabin at night. As per the picture, the conditions look pretty darn good for October 10!

Day One of the Haute Route

So on day one of the haute route we will take the ski lift to the top of Grand Montets, cross the Argentiere Glacier (passing under some of the most spectacular ice climbs in the alps), skin up to the Col du Chardonnet, a quick sideslip down a 55 degree slope with a belay, and then on to the Trient Hut. (CLICK ON THE PHOTOGRAPHS TO ENLARGE THE IMAGES.)

Get Psyched For The Haute Route

As we head toward Zermatt, on one of our last nights out, we will stay in the Vignettes Hut with the Dent Blanche in the distance. Are you psyched for this fantastic ski adventure?

Important Gear Report

A Black Diamond research report on rope worn carabiners and their propensity to sever ropes in a fall. A must read for all climbers.


CLICK ON THIS LINK TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE.

NCS Crag

Gary was up this weekend and we had a glorious day for some
climbing. We each managed nine laps (5.5-5.7) before we headed to the
Fossil Cabin for single malt and the sunset.

Craziest Rappel You'll Ever See

The Lee Vining Mobile Mart

It appears that there was a knife fight at the Mobile Mart in Lee Vining on October 3rd. There were five people involved in the fight and two were injured. The police have suspects in custody. The Mobile is a central eating establishment that almost all climbers in the Sierra visit regularly. At the moment the speculation is as follows:

- There was a fight over the last draft beer on tap
- The price of the fish tacos drove someone nuts
- There was a fight over a cute waitress who could lead 5.12c

Yahoo for Peru

Just before I went to climb in the Andes I re-read Llosa's "Death In The Andes.". While we were climbing in Peru Matt was reading his "Conversation In The Cathedral."

CLICK HER TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Matsuo Basho (1644-1694) was perhaps the most famous Japanese haiku poet. On my recent trip to Asia I purchased another annotated collection of his poems. As you can see from this picture taken during my short afternoon hike, the leaves are mostly off the trees in the Adirondacks. The day reminded me of this poem, which will serve as this week's quote:

Brought by the wind
And hanging on an icicle,
A maple leaf.

Outrageous Slack Lining

This incredible two minute video shows a couple of alpinists, slack lining in the most stunning setting imaginable. Blew my mind!

Skyliners Trailer from sébastien montaz-rosset on Vimeo.

Yosemite

I came across this beautiful time lapse video on the American Alpine Club blog ... it brought back fond memories ... also a bit of sadness that I will not be able to make it out to Mark and Liz's 30 Anniversary this November.

Time Lapse Tour of Yosemite National Park from Henry Jun Wah Lee on Vimeo.

Female alpinists

This picture of Abby Watkins, is one of the current generation of female alpinists that are profiled in a short essay about women who have been pushing the envelope in the past decade or two.

CLICK HERE TO ACESS THE ARTICLE.

Climate Change

NASA has just decided to include the himalayas in this surveillance and research study about the effects of climate change.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE.

My Dad Passes Away

At 81 my dad just died of pancreatic cancer. The end came swiftly, and thankfully without pain. It seemed like just a month ago we were out at the Puritan restaurant in Manchester sipping wine, and going for a 45 minute walk, before sitting down to a game of bingo at the nursing home. The enclosed pictures include: my dad three weeks ago, the extended family at the funeral, my then 23 year-old dad holding me as a new-born, and the final resting place.

High Bivouacs

A neat little essay about a Cascade mountaineer who delights in planned high altitude bivouacs. (As opposed to the unplanned version that Mark and I had on Lone Pine Peak.) This is also a great introduction to a nice on-line alpine journal ... Northwest Mountaineering Journal.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE.

Back in the 'dacks!

It is great to be back. After the red-eye and the drive from
Burlington, Lucy and I walked the dogs around the ski hill. Of course,
I head out tomorrow with the family to drive over to New Hampshire for
my dad's funeral.

Backcountry Skiing Book List

Lou Dawson and I crossed paths in the 70s doing winter courses for COBS. His website on backcountry skiing is one of the best.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS HIS FULL BOOK LIST.

The Ski Lesson

There is a large gallery a block away from my hotel that features work by Miro, Picasso, and Chagall. In honor of the early start to the winter season, and all of the great turns that we will make gearing up for Europe, not to mention the turns we will actually do on the Haute Route, I thought I would share one of the gallery's pieces ... I think it can be had for 65K.

Ski Mountaineering History of the Cascades

A work in progress, however this first chapter of Skoog's on-line book is a worthwhile read! Note, it is well illustrated with archival photographs.

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO ACCESS THE ARTICLE.

Ski Season Has Started

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE.

Leaving Korea

A very successful alumni reunion; this morning I toured the delightful
Samsung Art Museum, and now I am boarding my flight to the Bay Area.

Korean Mountains

As you can see from these tow pictures taken from the center of the city - one from the Palace grounds and the other from the business center in the hotel - Seoul is surrounded by peaks. Lots of great hiking and good rock, however it has been all sightseeing, feasting, and answering parent questions about why we don't give more homework.

Overland to see the ten highest peaks!

Read the first of several blog installments written by noted author Jeremy Bernstein in the New York Review of Books. He has written 2-3 books on climbing, and about two decades ago also wrote a great essay about Chouinard for the New Yorker magazine.


CLICK HERE TO READ THIS ARTICLE ENTITLED "From Chamonix to Islamabad."

FALL HARVEST

Lucy and Selden harvesting NCS left-overs.

Knots

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO READ JEFF ACHEY'S SHORT ESSAY IN THE RECENT ISSUE OF CLIMBING MAGAZINE.

Tokyo and on to Seoul

Yesterday I took a two hour flight to Seoul from Narita. It was a pleasure to fly Japan Airlines ... Great service, large comfortable seats, more leg-room. Some quick observations: for one of the largest cities in the world it did not feel crowded; it was immaculately clean; there were an impressive number of public gardens and green spaces; the Imperial Palace area was spectacular with it's castle, moat, and forests much as they were hundreds of years ago; finally the old and the new in such close proximity was a real treat. For instance, a thousand year old Buddhist statue might be yards away from a new behemoth office building of glass and concrete.

What we Americans do not know about Japan in particular and Asia in general is staggering ... Ever see pictures and video of what the fire bombing did to Tokyo in Woeld War II? Know anything about the very serious border disputes with China? Know that many Korean civilization landmarks were destroyed by Japanese in various invasions over time? Know anything about the Chinese fishing boat captain that was just released? A critically important part of the world and we ought to know something about it. ENOUGH SERMONIZING!