North Conway Ice

This year has been a less than desired winter for those people who enjoy outdoor winter activities.  Snowfall has been very minimal and average temperatures have been above average.  For some people, this is the best thing that can happen in winter.  For those of us who enjoy skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing or ice climbing it leaves us reminiscing of great winters past. Here in North Carolina, the winter has been rather disappointing.  With the number of days with climbable ice able to be counted without taking off your shoes and socks many of us were craving colder weather in which we could climb those ever evasive icicles.  Luckily, I would not be denied my chance to scratch my way up some vertical, frozen water.

In past February's, Fox Mountain Guides hosts a trip to North Conway, New Hampshire to instruct ice climbing and basic mountaineering.  This year was no different and I was given the chance to go and take care of our guests.  We rent a chalet and house the guides and the guests.  I was supposed to make sure that everyone is well fed and is comfortable while there.  That task proved to be a challenge to me since I am not the more organized person.  The upside was that I got to climb ice.  I managed to do my fair share of that.

The first couple of days, I was privileged to shadow the Ice 101 course taught by Karsten and Lindsay.  I helped out a bit and was able to pick up some tips that would later improve my ice climbing ability.  We spend a day at Cathedral Ledge, Frankenstein, and Trollville.  With three days under my belt and Lindsay having a few days off, we decided to go have our own fun on the ice.  The first day of the 201 course, Lindsay and I headed to Frankenstein to get a few laps in and to shoot some photos and video of the 201 course.  While we were there we ran a few laps on different sections of Dracula.  From there we hiked along the top and came in above the 201 crew on the Standard Route.  I belayed Lindsay as she went up and down capturing footage of the guys.

The next day, Lindsay and I headed back to Frankenstein.  There we went up Chia which is this two pitch WI3.  Very fun route.  The only problem was that it was a little warm so by the time we got to the top, the ice began to soften a bit.  From there we went over and top-roped Pegasus.  It was even better than Chia but we had to be careful with the top out since the ice had started to delaminate from the rock. We climbed quite a bit of moderate ice that day.  After this day, I was feeling more confident on the ice.

The day after climbing at Frankenstein, Lindsay had a client so I was on my own.  I managed to get some work done at the chalet before heading out and joining the 201 course.  I arrived just in time to go up a two pitch line called Thresher Slabs with Karsten and two of the guys in the course.  It was fun but didn't feel like it was enough for the day.  After walking back to the base, I decided to solo up a WI2 slab.  It was easy but I was able to find a few short vertical sections on it to up the difficulty.  Though I didn't get much in this day, Ron would be free to climb for the next few days.  Then we would be getting on some of the classic, hard routes in the area.

The first day that Ron and I climbed, we headed to Cathedral Ledge to climb a route called Remission.  It is a WI5+ with a M5 first pitch.  On this wall, there is also another classic line called Repentance.  Ron said that he had never done Remission so I willingly agreed to follow him up this classic line.  The first pitch is a corner system that you either dry-tool or climb like you would any other rock climb.  This leads to a thin section of ice before reaching the belay ledge.  When following this pitch, I attempted to dry-tool part of it and fell off when my tool slipped off the edge it was on.  After this I managed to make my way up to the belay without any problems.  The second pitch goes left off the belay.  There you clip a pin and pull your way up on to a hanging curtain.  This is the best part of the climb.  It is exposed but super solid.  After a few minutes Ron was at the belay and it was my turn to play on the ice.  After unclipping from the piton, I looked at the curtain.  It was going to be tricky for me to reach it due to my lack of height.  After some awkward moves I was established on the curtain and making my way up the ice to Ron. The third pitch, which is said to be the crux, goes up this steep column into a chimney with ice in the back.  Ron quickly dispatched the column but while climbing the chimney, I would occasionally hear grunting.  This worried me just a bit.  Once Ron made it to the belay I began my journey up.  The column was fun and exposed.  Once in the chimney I was able to see why Ron was grunting.  With many awkward moves to good stances, the chimney takes quite a while to climb.  At the top you have to come out and around a chockstone which creates a few more tricky moves.  At the top of the third pitch you can either rappel or continue up and walk off.  We were going to walk off so we continued up one more pitch.  It goes deeper into the chimney then has some crazy moves that put you on a snow/ice covered low angled terrain.  Getting out of the chimney proved to provide a few more hard moves for the route.  After making it to the top, we followed the cliff line to the north towards the walk down.  Once back at the base of the cliff, I led a WI3 which is one of the North End Pillars.  It was fun.


The next day, Ron had a route in mind that he had tried to find the year before called Drool of the Beast.  It is a WI5 located near Greeley Lake.  After a mile and a half hike in, we were finally able to see it.  Now we just had to figure out how to get there.  We continued hiking up the main trail until we spotted a slightly used path of potholes in the snow.  I figured this was the trail.  It did include a bit of a bushwack though.  Once we arrived at the base, we noticed one thing;  this climb was in the sun and it was not that cold.  The first section of the climb looked rather thin but once you were up about 25 feet, the ice was thicker.  Ron started up.  Luckily, he found good rock gear since the ice at the beginning was not taking any screws.  The only issue was that the ice was falling apart.  After doing an amazing job with leading this challenging pitch, Ron put me on belay.  I got to the thin ice in a wide chimney.  The ice was no longer solid.  It had turned to slush.  I was moving from rock to slush and back to rock to get to the good ice.  Once at the good ice, I took out one of the few good screw placements on the route trying to not get soaked by the melting of the route above.  I continued to climb up the less than idea ice.  The last 30 feet of the route is a steep section that is about 3-4 feet wide.  It was also a bit slushy but was deep enough that I was able to bury the ice tool in it so that it would be solid.  Finally, after a daunting sprint up the final bit I made it up to the top.  After this, we got out of there knowing that it would not be safe to climb anything else that day due to the warm conditions.

The final day that I would climb one of the classic lines, Ron and I did Repentance.  It is a WI5 to the left of Remission.  It is mostly ice climbing with a finish that will challenge you.  Ron offered to let me lead the first pitch which goes at WI4.  Since I felt this was still a bit above my head for leading, I declined and allowed Ron to lead it.  Ron also led the second pitch which had this hanging curtain which we had to figure out how to get our feet onto it since there was a 3.5 foot gap between the curtain and where the stance was below it.  When I arrived at the top of the second pitch, Ron asked if I would lead up to a ledge about 20 feet higher.  He said that his belay was uncomfortable and with the crux pitch looming above us I would be better off at the nicer ledge.  After thinking about it for a minute I grabbed some gear from Ron and headed up.  The ice was interesting.  I managed to stem between it and the rock on the left.  Finally, after a little bit I traversed left towards the ledge.  The only odd part was that there was no ice to swing at.  I eventually stuck my axes in the ice on the belay ledge, then rock climbed the rest of it.  Ron then led the last pitch.  It went smoothly.  It was my turn.  I had seen this pitch before on a few videos.  I knew what the top of this pitch held for me.  Yet, when I arrived at the rock roof I was unsure how to get into it.  Eventually I fell off.  After some scraping with the tools, I was able to struggle my way to the top.

After spending a few days with Ron climbing these classic, hard lines; we were joined by another friend.  We got two more days in together.  I ended up leading another WI3.  In my 13 days up in New Hampshire, I was able to get out and climb 11 of them.  This trip was a great chance for me to improve on my technique on ice.  I was able to learn a lot from people like Ron, Karsten and Lindsay.  Being back here in North Carolina with the weather looking as if it will not bring us any more ice, we have been getting back into rock mode.  Since I have been back, I have abused my body on the rock getting back in shape.  Hopefully soon, you will read of some great days on the rock.

Review: Bonhoeffer; Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy

Not very often do I read a book that I feel compelled to write a blog post about it.  The last one I did was on a biography of Thomas Merton.  Once again, I am writing about a biography I read.  This time it is on a man whose convictions led him to do many drastic things in his life.  This man was Dietrich Bonhoeffer. 

A few years ago, I read one of his prized works, The Cost of Discipleship.  It was a great book and had a great breakdown of the Sermon on the Mount found in the gospel of Matthew.  In it there was a brief history of Bonhoeffer.  I was captivated by the few pages written about this man who had written the book I was about to read.  Somehow in my studies in college, I never heard much about this man.  Since then, I had desired to learn more of this man that became a martyr during the rule of the Third Reich.

While I was at a friend's house around Christmas, I noticed this thick, blue book with the word Bonhoeffer written in white letters on the spine.  I pulled the book off of the shelf to take a look.  This interested me.  Here is this massive biography of a man that I want to learn more about.  After forcing myself to not open the book and start reading at that moment, I placed it back on the shelf and logged it into my memory as something I must read one day.  A few days later I find myself at the bookstore hoping to find The Crucified God by Moltmann.  They didn't have it.  I should not have expected a normal books store to have in stock a book that even most Christians know nothing about.  What did catch my eye that night was the thick, blue book with Bonhoeffer written in white on the spine.  I quickly picked up that book and proceeded to the check out.

This book quickly sucked me in to the story and life of Dietrich.  Though it starts off with a bit of a history not of Dietrich himself, but of his family and lineage.  We learn that his grandfather was a great theologian, that his father was an honored psychiatrist of the day and of many other family members that were influential during their own lives in Germany.  From the start this man is from good, German stock.  Something that one of his opponents would have been proud.  We also get a great glimpse into the early life of Dietrich and the rest of his immediate family.  One thing that is very clear from the start, this family was very close, they were well educated but also knew how to enjoy the wonderful things in life.

While Dietrich was still young, World War I broke out.  Metaxas, the author, gives a great view into the historical and sociological context during this period of Germany.  With the defeat of Germany in the war and the restrictions placed upon them from the treaties, Germans felt humiliated.  This led to many changes in government and how daily life happened after the war.

The author also notes the brilliance of Bonhoeffer during his academic career.  During this time, classical liberalism, particularly in the field of theology was the popular view.  He was one of the few that opposed those views but did so with great dignity and respect from his teachers and colleagues.  After achieving his doctorate in his early 20's Bonhoeffer began traveling to work with congregations in different parts of the world.  His travels took him to Rome, Spain, America, and London.  These travels influenced his love of the art and his enthusiasm for the ecumenical movement.  It was fascinating to see how all of this information shaped this young man.

As most you will know, the National Socialists (Nazis) came into power under the leadership of Adolf Hitler.  As time went on, this government would slowly change the government, society, and church in Germany.  Bonhoeffer was one of those that opposed the changes made particularly within the church.  Along with other pastors and leaders, they began the Confessing Church.  Dietrich also used his ecumenical ties with pastors and leaders in England, Switzerland, and American to let the world know of the horrors that were happening in Germany during this time.

Through all of this, the Nazis became more powerful and started to use their forceful tactics to get people to fall in line.  Eventually, Bonhoeffer traveled back to the U.S. to teach and lecture.  This was short lived because he knew his place was in Germany with his suffering brothers.  Through a friend, he was able to become a government agent for Germany.  He used this position to eventually rebel against the Third Reich.  Many of those people that Bonhoeffer was close to were a part of the resistance even though they were high ranking military and government officials.  They also planned many assassination attempts on Hitler, with them all failing.  After the failed attempt on July 20, 1944, which the movie Valkyrie is based, many in the resistance were arrested, Bonhoeffer included.  Eventually, he was killed only days before the camp he was being held in was liberated by the Allies.

Though he is known for his resistance to the Nazis, that is not what stood out to me the most.  It seemed that everywhere he went, he enjoyed life and took every opportunity to learn new things, broaden his knowledge and impact the people he was in charge of.  While he was a professor in Berlin, he would often invite his students to "hang out" as it were.  He became involved in their lives.  He did this same thing with a class of confirmants he was assigned to.  This also led to similar practices when he started two illegal seminaries in Germany.  I also enjoyed what seemed to be a great balance of academia along with living his life as close to what Jesus did.

Though I feel that I told you a great deal about his life, the details found in the book bring this man to life in the words of the pages.  After a few chapters, I felt connected to this man who lived over 70 years ago.  I hope that you will be able to read this book in the near future.  I would say that it was one of the best books I have read in my life.  I have said that about many previous readings but none have been so inspiring as this.  If you have read it, tell me what you though about it.

Ice Climbing

The year was 2007.  I was less than a year out of college and I still had no idea what direction my life was taking.  At the end of the year, I took a trip out to Colorado with two climbing partners, David and Scott.  Our goal was to climb some ice.  This trip was slightly intimidating to me.  I had never climbed ice before.  Also, I had never been to Colorado before this trip.  Little did I know that it would be the first of many trips to this great state.  On the drive out I soaked in as much information on how to ice climb.  I knew that you would swing these weapon like tools into the ice, then kick your crampons into the ice and move up that way.  Basically, that is what you do but there are other more finite nuances that can help improve your skills on this frozen medium.

After a few days of seeing ice and not climbing it due to either snow or weather conditions we continued on to Ouray, CO.  There in this small mountain town in southwestern Colorado, there is a premier ice park.  Basically, they take this box canyon on the edge of town and make ice flows every 15-20 feet along an entire side of the canyon.  There is so much ice and it tends to get fat quick.  This would be my chance to learn in a convenient location.  It isn't often that you can walk 5 minutes from your hotel and be gearing up at the top of your climb.  During this trip, I top-roped many pitches of ice up to WI5*.  Buy the end of the trip I was hooked and couldn't wait until the next chance I would have to get back on ice.

Though ice forms in certain places in the midwest, I had one thing keeping me from seeking it out.  I had no ice climbing gear except the used mountaineering boots that I purchased while in Colorado.  Finally, in the winter of 2010/2011 I had the necessary gear to go out and top-rope ice.  I had boots, crampons, and axes.  I was set.  Luckily, some ice formed up in southern Illinois.  I spent one day playing on the frozen waterfalls.  Soon after that, the temperatures began to rise which quickly melted the waterfalls we had climbed.  This led us back to climbing on rock.  This one day of climbing did rekindle my desire to get on ice.

A few months after that day of climbing ice I moved to North Carolina.  It was then that I heard about the ice climbing opportunities here in the south.  Already in April I was wanting winter to arrive and the ice to form up.  Back in November was the first time I saw any ice here.  One morning Karsten asked me if i wanted to go check on the conditions of the ice on Highway 215 near the Blue Ridge Parkway.  I readily hopped in the car and we took off.  It was thin and barely there but just the sight of ice got me psyched.

This was going to be the year that I progress in my ice climbing.  Since ice climbing can be a much more dangerous activity than rock climbing, more care is taken to avoid injuries.  In ice climbing you are told that when leading you do not fall.  This is mostly because while climbing ice you have around two dozen spikes attached to you.  In a leader fall those spikes could catch on the ice, resulting in a sprained or broken leg or one of those spikes could find itself piercing through a piece of your clothing and into your skin.  Neither of these options sound like something I desire to do.  Because of this, I had never led any ice.  Also, I do not own the proper equipment to lead ice.  In ice climbing you place ice screws into the good parts of the ice.  As long as the ice is of decent quality, those screws will hold a fall if you happen to slip, which you should try to avoid.  Little did I know that this would all change shortly.

Finally, the ice formed up enough to climb it.  At that same time, my friend Caroliegh came up from Georgia to climb.  I asked her if she wanted to go ice climbing.  A little reluctant at first since she doesn't enjoy the cold, she soon agreed.  The morning we were going to go ice climbing, Ron, one of the other guides here at Fox, texted me and asked if we were still going climbing and wanted to join.  This was nice since Ron has more experience on ice than I do.  We met up with Ron and started the drive up 215.  Little did I know that we were not going to climb at the main walls on 215.  When Ron instructed me to continue past them while driving I knew he had something better planned.  This sometimes scares me.  Ron has been on of those guys who is always up for an adventure and also pushes me more than most people.  He then told us that we were going to do a climb called Creek Stomp.

We continue driving north on 215 past the parkway and back down hill in Haywood county.  After a few miles, Ron tells me to pull off along side the road.  We gear up then begin a hike into the woods.  Ron had told me about a previous trip here he took with Lindsay, another guides, where they went up the wrong gully and were forced to do some nasty bushwacking to crest a ridge to the proper gully.  After hiking for about ten minutes up the gully Ron voiced concern that he may have led us into the wrong gully.  He then scouted ahead while Caroliegh and I waiting.  Luckily, he soon found the beginning of the ice and we headed up to meet him.  Once we caught up, we started to put our harnesses and crampons on.  I was then informed that I would have the chance to practice my short-roping skills on ice.  I was not expecting this but hey, I could use the practice.  While I prepared my coils for short-roping, Ron began instructing Caroliegh on how to use the crampons.  We made our way up the low angled frozen creek until we caught up with Ron at a sheet of vertical ice.  I was stoked.  Finally, we would get to swing our tools.  When I arrived, Ron pointed out that there were already ice screws with quickdraws in the ice.  He had soloed up and placed the screws on this pitch for me to lead up.  Time to pinkpoint this pitch

I headed up.  It was a very chill pitch.  I would guess it goes at WI2.  After a few screws, the angle lessens.  I continued up with no protection, I didn't get any more screws from Ron, to a tree that is used as a rappel station.  There I belayed Caroliegh up while Ron climbed along side her to help her out.  While we were at the rappel station, you could hear Bella below whining.  Bella had ascended the slope next to the creek which was just a snow covered hill.  Now with a wall of ice impeding her ascent she became unhappy.  Until suddenly, a very happy looking dog appeared in the brush next to us.  It was Bella.  She found an alternate route to the side of the vertical ice.  We continued up the creek from there to another wall of ice.  This one was taller and steeper than the first.  When I arrive Ron has this goofy looking grin on his face which means that I get to lead this one as well.

This pitch, according to Ron, is a WI3.  It has four vertical sections broken up by good stances.  I started climbing.  At the first stance, I placed my first screw.  Then I continued up the next vertical section.  During this part I began to get wet from the climb dripping on me.  I reach the second stance and place another screw.  Things are looking good.  From here I head up to the third stance and place my third screw.  Here I chill out for a little bit and scope out the best way to the top of the climb.  The next section, I traverse to the left to surmount the next vertical section to the last stance.  At the last stance, I am only a few moves from the top of the pitch. I considered placing a screw here but chose not to mostly because I just wanted to get to the top quickly.  I start up the last section.  I am able to reach past some ice that isn't that great but I must use it for my feet.  Right before pulling the lip to the top, My left foot comes off the ice.  Luckily, my axes are in good so I grip down and pull myself up just a bit to get my feet back on good ice.  One or two moves later and I am standing up top of my first true ice lead.  From there I brought Caroliegh up.  Ron made his way up by some other means.  At the top of this pitch we decided to head back to the car then get a lap or two in at 215.  We rappelled down and made our way back to the car.

This day got me very excited for the trip that Fox Mountain Guides is taking to New Hampshire in February. I just hope I will have time to get out and climb a lot. It is going to be a great trip.  If you would like to learn about how you can join us feel free to contact me.


*WI is the prefix for a Water Ice rating. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_climbing  this link will give you a good description of ratings.

Applejack Crack

Last April, before I left for North Carolina, I did a climb at Jackson Falls in southern IL called Applejack Crack.  It is a 5.11b "solution off-width."  I even wrote about my first attempt at redpointing this route in an entry titled "Fighting."  I attempted to redpoint it once after that first attempt falling at the first nasty bulge crux on the route.  I have not had a chance to get back on the route since I moved.  I logged this climb in the back of my mind as a project with the hope of returning to get the redpoint.

Fast forward a few months to the beginning of November.  A few of the guides went to Foster Falls in Tennessee to play on some steep sandstone and hopefully to do a bit of training.  It was on that trip that one of the guides made a comment to me about having to climb a 5.11 off-width to be a real 5.11 climber (paraphrased).  This made me think of that 5.11 off-width at Jackson Falls that I still wanted to redpoint.  It was at that time when I started to make plans to make another attempt at it.  I knew I was going to be heading back home at Christmas so that became the time to do it.  I just had to hope that the weather would cooperate to allow a decent attempt.  December in Illinois can be very finicky.  One day it might be 50 degrees and sunny and another it will be 25 and snowing.  I wouldn't mind the snow but I was hoping for a day that would yield dry and somewhat warm rock.

This past week, I finished making the plans for the attempt.  I was going to meet up with my friend Travis and we were going to head down to Jackson Falls on the 21st of December.  I started watching the forecast.  Though the forecast didn't have any rain in it for the 21st, it did have rain forecast for the two days prior.  This would not be good.  Jackson Falls sits in a depression in the hills of southern IL.  Water from a huge area all runs down to this little sandstone gorge.  There are routes that down there that are dry only during the driest years.  I had to just hope that Applejack Crack would be dry enough to climb.

After parking and hiking for a few minutes, things didn't look good.  We had talked that if we had to we could just hike around so the day wouldn't be wasted.  We dropped down to the base of the bluffs and hiked over two creeks flowing with larger than average amounts of water.  Every route we looked at on the way to Applejack had some water on it if not completely covered in water.  We then came to a wall called the Gallery.  It has many 5.10s that are great warm-ups and normally stay dry since the formation they are on is not connected to the main bluff line.  Even most of those routes were wet.  We then turn the corner and find a popular 5.10c, Group Therapy, completely dry.  There was hope.  We would at least be able to climb that.  I then continue another 100 feet down the trail to Applejack.  It is then that I start to get psyched.  It appeared to be mostly dry.  I was very surprised.  Normally cracks like this stay wet for days after a rain but it seemed dry enough to climb even with rain the day before.  After this we hiked back to Group Therapy to warm up.

I had done this route many times but this time if felt super easy.  I was excited.  After Travis made his way up the route we decided to top-rope a crack to the left that would join Group Therapy a bit over halfway up the wall.  Once done with that we walked around a bit so that I could get my body temperature back up in preparation for the battle that would soon engulf me.  At the base I began my preparations.  I flaked out the rope, I drank a bit of water and then started racking up.  I then studied the route trying to remember the moves.  I recalled the first little bouldery section that is not protectable and I remembered a few of the moves that spit me off on my previous attempt.  I figured that the rest would come to me once I was up there.  So I tied in, put my climbing shoes on then stepped to the plate.

The first part went down with out any problem.  I remembered all the moved on the short boulder problem, got to the jugs, then placed my first piece above me in the shallow hand crack.  From there I moved up to the flaring slot.  Once I was here, I considered retreating since a few of the holds were wet and I couldn't remember any of these moves.  Instead I kept moving getting up to the base of the nasty bulge section.  There I chilled out a bit in preparation for the few moves that lay ahead.  After placing the largest cam I own (#5 Camalot) I went into the first crux section.  There I got the my previous redpoint high point.  I have never pulled this move without falling on the first try.  This day though, I wiggled up in the crack, placed my foot on the foothold on the edge of the crack and reached up to the holds just to the right of the crack.  A feeling of relief came over me but just a little too soon.  I then had to get a piece of gear in the smaller crack in the back of the off-width so I could take the #5 out since I place it again later on.  I couldn't find the right piece.  Finally after fiddling with tricams for a a few minutes I slammed in a #.5 Camalot and moved on.  From here you get a great rest before tackling the next off-width section.

This section doesn't fair as much with allows you to arm-bar, chicken-wing, leg-bar, and just plain grunt your way up it.  I worked part way up this section trying to remember the moves.  I had forgotten that there really isn't any particular sequence.  You just wiggle, grunt, and flail your way up.  Luckily, at one point I was able to get myself stuck enough to rest and place a piece of protection.  After continuing and getting to another good spot for gear, I realized that the hold I was using was very damp.  This did not inspire much confidence for making the final off-width moves.  Luckily, the crack was dry enough to continue to struggle my way up to ledge just below the top.  From here there are only a few 5.7 moves to the top.  Upon reaching the top, I was surprised by a shiny new set of bolts.  I set an anchor, cloved myself in and let out a shout of relief and of joy.  It was over.

As I mentioned in the previous post about this route, it is one that you hate while doing it.  It isn't until you are back on the ground that you appreciate the struggle that you just went through to climb that feature.  It also makes you want to throw up.  While I was belaying Travis up the route, I felt sub-optimal in the nausea category.  Luckily, that subsided after a few minutes.  After his own struggle up the route, Travis arrived at the anchors.  There we celebrated the redpoint with a high five then made our way back to the ground.  The thing about off-widths is that they drain your entire body of its energy.  Travis was done for the day and I had nothing else I felt like climbing so we headed back to the car.  There we proceeded to have a dance party until I could no longer stand the electric/dance music.

To end this, here are some pictures of me on Applejack crack from this past spring.

First Trip Up Whitesides

Around this time last fall, I began preparing for a trip to North Carolina the week of Thanksgiving.  I had never been here before but had heard of the great climbing there.  To prepare, I began looking on Mountainproject.com and bought a guide book.  Once the guide book arrived, I would read it constantly.  One place more than others caught my attention and that was Whitesides.  With adjectives such as "most-feared," "biggest and baddest," and "serious aura;" I was lured into studying some of the long and committing routes on its southeast face.  Upon going through ever route in the guidebook I noticed one thing, this stuff is hard. With the easiest route going free at 5.11a or 5.10c/A0, it would not be an easy task to make it up this wall.  Over the course of the month of November, I prepared for a possible encounter with this massive wall of rock.  Those plans never went through.  Due to a poor looking forecast and my trip partner not sure if he could go, I cancelled the trip and went to Arkansas for the week.

Once I moved to North Carolina, the thought of going to Whitesides scared me.  I had experienced some climbs here in NC that pushed me to physical and mental limits and they were supposed to be easier than the easiest route at Whitesides.  How was I ever going to do it?

This past August, I was shadowing a course with one of the adjunct guides here, Todd.  Todd wanted me to take him up the Original Route at Whitesides.  I agreed to do it but wanted to wait until fall so that the temps would be better.  Then after looking at requirements for AMGA courses/exams, I decided to post-pone it until after taking the rock instructor course so that it would be able to count towards those requirements.  After the course ended, I emailed Todd asking when he wanted to go do it.  Unfortunately, Todd's schedule was just too busy to make the trip happen.  Now I was forced to search out another partner that would let me "guide" them up the route.  Luckily, I found the perfect victim in one of the other guides, Michael.  A few weeks ago, we agreed that we would climb the OR (Original Route) on Monday, November 7th.  This weekend then came upon us.  We each had to work but in the evenings, we talked and planned our day.  Finally, it was Monday morning.  We woke up only slightly early.  At 7 we left to head towards Highlands.
It was a nice crisp morning with a forecasted high of 61 degrees.  Splitter conditions.

After arriving at the parking lot, we geared up and began our approach.  From the descriptions, I expects a bit of gnarly terrain that we would have to descend.  At Whitesides, you park on the northwest side of the mountain.  From there you hike up the summit trail for a few minutes.  Once you hit the ridge, you start down a climbers trail that leads to the base of the southeast face.  I expected it to be most like the gullies that you find up in the Linville Gorge.  This approach was quite nice.  Once at the base, you have about a 25 minute hike until you reach the base of the OR.  Along the way, we were awed by the size and steepness of the headwall on this face.  After about 45 minutes of hiking, we reached the start of our route.  Now it was time to muster up some courage and head up this intimidating mass of rock.

Looking up from the base.  The first pitch climbs the two white streaks to the right.

The first pitch was one of the pitches that worried me some.  Even though it is only rated 5.7, it also does not offer any protection.  I knew this.  I started up the route anyways.  I did manage to find one piece of pro about 100 feet up.  After about 140 feet, you hit a ledge.  There I slung a tree and moved left on the ledge, towards the second pitch, to set a belay.  After a few minutes, Michael joined me at the ledge.

Michael climbing the first pitch.

The second pitch proved to be a bit heady as well.  After going to the left side of the ledge, you hit a flake which does not offer much protection.  From there you move through a small roof on large holds and continue up on easy ground to the next ledge.  This is a huge ledge with many trees and vegetation.  From this ledge, you go left once again until the ledge joins with some cracks that head up.  After just a little while in the crack, you traverse right to hit a really fun flake that then joins a big corner.  Then once you are able to, you traverse back left on to a large ledge with a double bolt anchor.  These two pitches go at 5.8 and 5.7.  The hardest part is managing rope drag on the third pitch.

Once on this ledge, you are looking at this section of rock that originally was rated 5.9+.  Now it is given a rating of 5.10c.  The difficulty isn't the big issue though.  The problem is if you fall before clipping the bolt part way up the pitch.  Since you start off on a ledge, you are very likely to hit this ledge.  You get one piece of protection before the bolt.  It is a solid cam.  The only problem is that you are still close to that ledge when you place it.  So once you move above the piece, you are hoping that your belayer is paying close attention.  Once I started up the pitch, I was super nervous.  I probed into the moves a few times but felt uncomfortable.  Finally, I committed to the moves that put me up near the cam that I placed from the ledge.  After this, you have to bear down on a crimp, reach really high for a good hold and hope that your feet stay on long enough to move them onto something better.  Well my first time trying this move resulted in my feet coming off the their holds and me falling towards the ledge.  Michael caught me right as I hit the ledge.  My left foot must have hit the ledge or something on the fall because it had a slight bit of pain.  After a few minutes of regaining my composure I went back up to that piece of gear.  I then attempted to aid through that section but did so without any luck.  The bolt was just a bit too high for me to reach.  I was now forced to free the moves.  This second time I beared down and latched the good hold, moved my feet up and clipped the bolt.  From there I moved up a few moves into easier terrain.  Once up on the ledge, I began the process of trying to settle my nerves so that I wouldn't freak out too much on the upcoming pitches.  Pitch four was done.  It was my biggest worry for the day.

The next pitch was just some 5.7 climbing up to a stance below a small roof.  It must not have been that great since I can't remember much about it.  The sixth pitch though was uber-good.  While looking at it from the belay atop the fifth pitch, I could tell that I was going to have some exposure right off the belay.  Once I was put on belay, I started up this little dihedral that I built my anchor in.  I soon found out that it wasn't the way I was supposed to go.  Instead, you do this airy traverse to the right off of the belay and head up to a dihedral to the right of that little roof.  It was very exposed and unprotected until I hit the roof line.  There I got a piece and moved into the dihedral.  At one point, I got a bit confused as to where the easiest path was.  Eventually, I figured it out, made some super sweet moves and hit a ledge.  From this ledge, you continue up to the belay.  This is the most exposed belay on the entire route.  You have only a few holds to stand on and you are mostly hanging from the anchor.

Michael finishing up the sixth pitch.

The next pitch is the crux pitch if you are trying to free it.  It goes at 5.11a but is well protected by three bolts.  These bolts also allow you to aid through the section making the rating A0.  Once I reached the first bolt, I decided to just aid through this section.  The moves looked very long and by this point I had given up on moves that would be made more difficult for me due to my size.  Above the bolt ladder though, the climbing eases up and you are just climbing on big jugs.  From the top of this next pitch, you can decide to stay with the OR or finish on Traditions.

View from the belay below the Bolt Ladder Pitch

We opted to finish on Traditions.  It offers a more direct line to the top but with some harder climbing.  Also, most people said that it is much more enjoyable than finishing on the last pitches of the OR.  The eighth pitch then, hits a bolted ramp that has some 5.9 moves eventually hitting a large ledge.  The ninth pitch is a steep 5.10a pitch with two bolts.  I was told that this pitch was good but never imagined that it was as much fun as it was.  From the belay, you continue to the left side of the ledge.  There you hit a flake system.  Near the top of the flake, you clip a bolt then make long, overhanging moves on jugs.  After that you continue straight up on some easier jugs until you hit a big tree ledge in which you have to tunnel through vegetation to get on.  While leading this pitch, I couldn't help but yell out of excitement.  I am up a few hundred feet, pulling on jugs in overhanging, exposed terrain with good protection.  I still have a huge smile on my face from that one pitch.  I may also be bold enough to say that it is my single favorite pitch that I have climbed in North Carolina.  This ledge offered a great place to sit and relax for a few minutes.  Michael and I chilled on this ledge for a while, enjoyed a snack while checking out the amazing views offered from our perch.

The last pitch was before us.  Michael had asked if he could lead one pitch on the route, so I gave him the rack and he headed up a 5.8 pitch taking us to the top.  Once we were both up top, we organized the gear, coiled the rope, took a summit picture, and then headed down the trail back to the parking lot.  Once at the parking lot, we enjoyed some burritos we had made.  This was a great way to cap off an amazing day of climbing.  This was one of the best routes I had done in North Carolina.  I can see why it is such a classic route.  It offers fun, bold climbing up an exposed face.  I can't wait to go back and do some more climbing on this face. 

Summit Shot!

New Ground at Laurel

A while back, Ron was telling me about a line that he wanted to do with some clients that was easier climbing at Laurel Knob. This past week, we went there to equip the route with proper protection.  Ron had previously done the route without these permanent anchors.  Without the bolts though, it would not be very safe for climbers looking for routes that are easier.  The whole thought of the route was to get an introduction route for people looking to slowly break into the climbs at Laurel Knob.  Before this, 5.8 was the easiest route.  So when Ron asked me if I wanted to go to Laurel to equip the route I was stoked.

On Tuesday we headed out there.  Once we hiked to the base of the route, called Biopsy (5.7), Ron described the route from the ground.  After that he took off with drill in tow and began the process of making this climb safe for the 5.7 climber.  Ron would climb up to a stance, drill a hole, hammer the bolt in, and then tighten down the nut.  This process happened a few times, then he belayed me up to the top of the first pitch.  The first pitch starts off with an easy slab, past one bolt then hits a vertical bulge that you must navigate.  A high bolt on this section can be reached from the slab to offer protection from breaking your ankles on the slab while pulling one of the hardest moves on the route.  After the bulge, you have another section of easier slab protected with one bolt half way to the belay.

Ron on the crux move of the first pitch of Biopsy

The second pitch continues up this slab.  It offers one bolt, a less than ideal gear nest, and a whole for a cam to protect the pitch.  It is easier climbing (5.5) but still fun.  From there the third pitch passes two bolts and heads for a brushy ledge called Three Way Ledge.  This pitch goes at 5.4.

From this ledge you have some options.  Above you, there are two distinct water grooves and just to the right is an obvious line of weakness.  This day, Ron offered for me to do the middle line.  He said that it had not been done before.  He offered me the first ascent of the pitch.  I was stoked.  I went up with just trad gear.  After some slab climbing, I came to the base of the water groove.  I got a piece of gear, then started up the groove.  It had some interesting moves and protected fairly well.  After I got through it, I set a belay part way up the last pitch and brought Ron up.  This pitch is rated 5.8 and called Socket Rocket.  If you were to do the line to the right, it is the original line for Biopsy and goes at 5.7.  It has two bolts protecting the pitch and can take natural gear as well.  The line to the left is a bit harder and is protected by two bolts right at the crux.  This line is called Yes Ma'am and goes at 5.9.  Each line is really fun and offers different styles of climbing from the other lines.  My suggestion would be to lead up to the ledge, then climb each line before continuing on to the  top.

 

Me getting the FA on the Socket Rocket pitch

The last pitch goes right of the water groove and hits a small vertical section which has a very well protected 5.6 move.  From there you pass two bolts to a rappel station on a tree.  It is a very fun climb and will probably have the 5.7 thinking on a few of the moves.  

After we got off of this route, Ron and I headed towards the main area of Laurel to get a few more pitches in. After passing Seconds (5.8) we saw a line that looked fun.  I recognized it as Stemming Laurel.  I was stoked to get on it because it looked really fun.  Ron led the first pitch.  It has some sections that have potential for long falls.  But Ron, as usual, completed the pitch with style.  I led the second pitch.  It was a bit harder but followed a very obvious crack up the face.  The climbing at first was super fun and protected well.  Higher up though, the climbing became a bit trickier and I was not able to protect it like I wanted since we only brought a single rack with us that day.  After making some committing moves well above a poorly placed purple C3 I made it to the anchors.  From here we rappelled back to the ground since we had to get back home.

The next day, Ron, Karsten, and I headed back to Laurel.  This time to finish equipping Biopsy and put up some new stuff.  I led up all of Biopsy while Ron and Karsten put in the remaining bolts.  From the top, we traversed to the right and rappelled to a huge terrace with tons of trees.  There Ron and Karsten each put up some new single pitch lines that went on natural gear.  These routes were 5.9 and 5.10a.  After this, Ron and I top roped a line to the left.  It may go near 5.12.  It has some super fun moves with good holds.  While we were at this wall, I eyed some lines that I am thinking about putting some time into as well.  After we were done playing here, we went back near Biopsy and possibly put up another two pitch line that hits the Three Way Ledge.  We are still trying to verify its virgin status as a route.

 

Karsten climbing into the unknown on a new route.

Overall, it was a great two days.  I learned a bit about route development.  We each had a chance for some first ascents and have looked at more virgin terrain for the future.  I highly suggest checking out Biopsy.  Though it doesn't have the stigma of some of the other routes at Laurel, it is a great climb for those looking for a challenge at that grade.  You can find information about the climb here on the Carolina Climbers Coalition's website. 
http://carolinaclimbers.org/forums/biopsy-57-laurel-knob.html

Rock Instructor Course

Ever since I moved to North Carolina, I have been preparing for the AMGA's rock instructor course.  I spent my summer getting the required resume and technical skills.  It seemed like a daunting task at first.  I arrived having only a dozen or so multipitch climbs under my belt but needed 50.  When everyone told me it would be easy to get the required climbs, I laughed until I managed to complete multiple multipitch climbs in a since day early on.  From then on, it was game on.  Then in August I was able to complete the requirements by climbing two grade III routes in a few days.

From that point on, my focus shifted to getting in shape. Since my heel was better I attempted to start running but realized that I don't like running.  Instead I made it a goal to do something everyday whether that be running, hiking, climbing, or a combination of them.  Then September hit.  Work slowed down but it seemed like I was still busy a lot of the time.  I was either working on the house I lived in, guiding, or climbing.  Eventually trying to get in shape fell by the wayside.  Then the week before I was to leave for Oregon, I had to drive to Illinois unexpectedly.  Once back in North Carolina, I rushed around getting things packed and in order for me to leave.  Luckily, Monday morning I was all set to make my way to Central Oregon.

Once in Oregon I felt I could relax finally.  I was here.  The next day, I went out to Smith Rock to get used to the funky rock there and set up camp.  Since I flew I did not have a car so I would be staying at the bivy site right there in the park.  The first morning of the course I awoke at 5 AM, well before my alarm.  After going through what would become my normal morning routine, I headed to the rendezvous point for the first day of the course.  In full character of myself, I arrived at the set meeting location 45 minutes early.  I then had the privilege to sit there and enjoy the cool, brisk autumn air.  Finally, after everyone arrived the course initiated.  We went over introductions, the goals of the course, and a few other discussions about professionalism, guides notebooks, guide meetings, risk management, and what every guide should have with them.  At this point it was close to noon so we took off for the North Point at Smith Rock.

The North Point is a great teaching location but not on this day.  It never seemed to warm up that day and the North Point stays in the shade given its norther aspect.  There we went over protection, anchors, knots, belaying and other basic skills that we should have known before arriving at the course.  We then jumped into belaying with the plaquette device (ATC-Guide, Reverso, GiGi).  From there we learned belaying multiple clients up a pitch and also rope management at a belay station.

The second day started in a very similar fashion.  After a guides meeting, we went down to the dihedrals area and went over descent techniques.  This involved lowers and rappelling.  I learned a lot in these lessons, especially in the area of client care.  After going over these things and practicing it was time to hit the rock.  I started by doing a route called Bookworm (5.9).  It starts as a hand crack and widens to an offwidth at the top of the first pitch.  From there we followed a bolt line and joined up with the second pitch of Bunny Face.  I was climbing with Keith (one of the instructors), Max, and Claude.  I brought them up each pitch then did a single double rope, stacked rappel to get us safely back to the ground.  While Keith was coming up on a fixed line, he broke a hold off.  This was the start of encountering poor rock conditions for the remainder of the course.

Keith Garvey demonstrating lowering techniques

After that route, Max led us up an easy bolted line to the top of the Cinnamon Slab area. Then Claude led a gully/ chimney route that ended on a ledge shared with Cinnamon Slab.  When I got up there, every person from the course was hanging out on this ledge which comfortable fits 3.  It was probably quite a site for those climbers around us to see everyone crowded on that ledge.

On day three of the course, we split up into two groups.  Max and Claude went with Angela while Ryan, Leslie and I went with Keith.  They were going to do a demo of a guided multipitch route.  Keith chose White Satin (5.9) to take us up.  This route only has one good pitch which is the third and also presents many guiding challenges.  I managed to get hit in the helmet by a falling rock while belaying Keith on the third pitch.  This route also showed us that the rock was not the best quality on the multipitch routes.  After topping out, we rappelled onto the back (west) side of Smith.  We then made our way over to Spiderman Buttress.  There Leslie led up two pitches.  After he leads, I was given the rack and told to take us to the top.  Once up on top of the buttress, Ryan was in charge of getting us down.  We did two rappels back to the ground, closing out day three.

Keith on the top of White Satin

On day four we spent the whole day learning short-roping techniques. Since it was a Saturday, we decided to avoid the crowds during this day of instruction.  We elected to hike to the top of the Smith Rock Group.  This is the massive group of rock formations to the southwest of the main part of the park.  The top of the group has a good selection of easier scrambling terrain in which to practice short-roping and short-pitching techniques used when guiding 3rd and 4th class terrain. I really enjoyed learning the "ropes" of guiding this type of ground.  Later in the day, we had to short-rope over to a summit pinnacle and then guide each other up it.  It was a very short easy pitch but it led to some great views of the entire park.  The only bad part about the day was that it was really sunny that day.  I managed to get some heinous helmet strap tan lines. For the rest of the course we were able to apply these techniques to everyday guiding. 

Angela Hawse showing us how to short-rope two people

Day five was one in which we just did mock guiding all day. That day, I was grouped with Ryan and Max with Angela as our instructor.  Our original plan was to climb Zebra-Zion, top out, then head over to the Monkey Face and climb the West Face Variation.  Well people were just starting the first pitch of Zebra-Zion so we headed over to Phone Call from Satan (5.9) and did that as a first pitch into Solar (5.9).  Ryan led all three pitches of this route.  It was a really fun route with a great position on the third pitch.  After topping out, Max was in charge of the “decent”  It wasn’t really a descent since we continued up with a long pitch then split into two groups and short pitched up this ridgeline to the top. 

Once off of the ridge, I led us to our next objective, the West Face Variation but to our dismay a group had just started up the first pitch.  Our back up plan was to do Trezlar but that was also taken.  We resolved to climb Tale of Two Shitties (5.10a).  I led up the first pitch hoping for a good belay ledge.  I reached on spot that would accommodate us with minimal discomfort but the gear was so bad for an anchor that I continued up into the dihedral of the second pitch to set an anchor in better quality rock.  The second pitch is a beautiful dihedral that goes to an overhanging, juggy  crack.  The dihedral was a lot of fun but a bit heady.  I didn’t know that it stayed about the same size the entire time.  For most of the pitch, the crack remains in the size range of #1 and #.75 camalots.  I could have used one more of each to protect the pitch adequately.  Instead, I just have to push through some sections of it.  Finally, at the overhanging part, I resorted to resting on a solid #.4 camalot before tackling the final jugs.  After resting for a minute I took off up the jugs and made it to a nice ledge from which to belay.  Once everyone was up, we decided that a decent was the best option given the time so we did two rappels back to the ground.  I beat myself up over this route.  I felt I could have done much better than I did but After looking back the only bad thing I did was choose a route that was a bit too close to my limit to guide three people up.

Day six was our rescue drill and scenario day.  The weather was supposed to be sub-optimal for the day so we had a backup plan of going to the Bend Rock Gym and doing the drill there.  Luckily, the rain came early on and scooted off to the east early in the day.  We started out by going over different aspects of rescue techniques under the pavilion at Smith.  Then after lunch we headed to the north point so that we could all get a chance to run through the rescue drill.  The first run I was the patient.  I had the privilege to hang from a rope for 40 minutes.  Luckily I brought a prussic and a four foot sling so that I could stand up on that.  Next I had a chance to run through it.  I had done it before in the shop at the headquarters for Fox Mountain Guides but this would be my first time on vertical terrain.  It is a bit tougher.  I ended up having some troubles with ascending back up a fixed line so my time was not as good as I was hoping.  That will change soon though.  Once we finished the drill, I decided to climb a route that was right there just to get some climbing in that day.  It was enjoyable to climb a short sport route.

Day seven, we resumed the mock guiding.  I was teamed up with Ryan and Angela.  We had been given guiding assignments of Voyage of the Cowdog (5.9) and Peking into Moscow (5.8).  Given the location of Voyage of the Cowdog and the relative temperature we elected to not do it since it would be in the shade all day.  Instead we started out with Peking to Moscow, which Ryan led us up.  He did a marvelous job.  Then we hiked back down to our packs.  From there I led up us Super Slab (5.6).  If you haven’t done that route before, I would suggest you do it.  It has some of the best rock we encountered at Smith.  It provided some guiding challenges but I felt that I nailed it.  For the first time on the course, I felt like I was doing really well.  The only thing that I was critiqued on was a runnout on the last pitch.  

Ryan on the final pitch of Super Slab

On the eighth day, I was teamed up with Angela and Leslie.  We were going to do another up and over day.  We started on Cinnamon Slab and took that to the top.  From there we crossed over and descended besides the Spiderman Buttress.  That felt a bit adventurous because we got to go down a slot to get back to the ground.  From there we hiked to the base of the West Face Variation (5.8).  Our plan was to take it to the top by the diving board.  The first pitch is stellar.  It get airy just 20 feet off of the ground with a fun move around an arête on to the face.  From there you go up some blocks to a killer dihedral.  After the dihedral you have a few bulges to navigate and then you arrive at the belay.  Most parties go left from here and do the direct variation to the notch between the main wall and Monkey Face.  We continued up a 5.6 pitch that traverses right around a roof.  It then cuts back left  to the bolted anchor.   This pitch proved to be one of the most challenging.  After coming around the right side of the roof, I got a good look at the next pitch.  It looked horrible and had a good number of pigeons guarding it.  Also, I noticed that if I were to go to the bolted anchor it would produce a ton of rope drag and put a very nasty traverse into the pitch. At first I checked out a crack straight above me.  It didn’t look like it would yield sufficient gear for an anchor.  Then I went to the base of the dihedral of the next pitch.  The rock there looked crappy.  So against what I should have done, I went to the bolted anchor and started to haul up rope.  When Angela came around the side of the roof and saw what was before her, she very gently told me that having a traverse like that would not fly.  To bring Leslie up, I went over to that initial crack, took more time to find gear then belayed her up to the crack, then down to the bolted anchor.  From there we rappelled back down to the ground but not without a few snags.  When pulling the rope from the first rappel, it got stuck on a chock stone in a chimney.  I then had to climb back up to free it.    Once we were back down, Leslie took us over to the Kiss of the Lepers area.  There we did the first pitch of First Kiss (5.7).  That concluded our day.

The ninth and final day to be on the rock, I teamed up with Max and Keith.  Max and I kind of tailored our day to give Keith a chance to get on some classics that were a bit harder.  We started off on the Picnic Lunch wall.  There we warmed up on Honey Pot (5.9).  After that we did Teddy Bear’s Picnic.  It is three pitches of 5.10 that offer great rock, good climbing, and an amazing position.  It goes up this huecoed face then on to knob climbing.  The second and third pitches traverse slightly to the left and get out on an arête to offer some sweet exposure.  The cruxes are not super hard, just delicate.  Max did a great job on the climb and on getting us back to the ground.

Max leading the way up Teddy Bear's Picnic

After that, I led us up Misery Ridge trail over to the Mesa Verde wall.  There we were going to do Cosmos (5.10a) into the second pitch of Trezlar (5.10a).  I had done this same route less than two years ago so I figures it would be easy.  I also had planned on us to rappel back down the route when we were finished.  I started off up Cosmos.  I forgot about the tricky section right before the anchors.  There I ended up grabbing the draw and figuring the moves out since it is frowned upon to take a lead fall with a client belaying.  Even after scoping the section out, I had to make a committing move on little knobs to reach the anchor.  I skipped the anchors of Cosmos and went to the base of the amazing, overhanging dihedral that is the second pitch of Trezlar.  I brought up Max and Keith.  From there I took off up the dihedral.  I had a great time climbing it.  Then at the top I set my anchor and extended myself so that I could see Keith and Max as they climbed.  When Max reached the top, Keith suggested that we do the fourth class decent which goes off to the left.  I wasn’t happy about this because I knew that the rappel would be the easiest way out.  From that, I start making my kiwi coils to short-rope them back to the ground.  As it turns out, the descent involved a sketchy traverse, a rappel off of a pigeon crap encrusted pillar, and then skirting left until we were able to reach a trail.  This was the most technical short-roping that we did the entire course.  I was glad to be back on the ground after that adventure.  From there we moved to Spiderman Buttress and Keith had us do a drill where we made bail anchors with as little as possible.  It was a good reminder that you can make a solid anchor with very little if you have to.  Once we did that we high tailed it over Astriks Pass and back to the parking lot.

This concluded out time on the rock.  The next day we didn’t meet until noon to do debriefs.  I was rather surprised at how I did on the course.  It went very well and I learned a ton.  As I am finishing writing this I am flying back to North Carolina and I am super excited to put all of these skills to use for guiding.