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Flattlander wrote:This is a great idea! Out of curiosity, does anyone on here wanna climb Central Gully with me this winter? Anyone? Anyone?

How technical is that? What kind of gear would you need besides snowshoes/crampons/ice axe?

Castlereagh wrote:

Flattlander wrote:This is a great idea! Out of curiosity, does anyone on here wanna climb Central Gully with me this winter? Anyone? Anyone?

How technical is that? What kind of gear would you need besides snowshoes/crampons/ice axe?

We might need an ice screw to tie off Anita once in a while.

http://www.summitpost.org/route/168446/central-gully.html

Central Gully is nontechnical, but perhaps a nice step between walkups like the Lion's Head and more technical stuff. That's why I want to do it. You just need your crampons and an ice axe, and I don't think snowshoes are necessary for the approach. Apparently, there's just one small ice bulge that can be climbed without pro or short tools, or simply skirted around if you don't want to eff with it. Other than that, it's a snowclimb. The thing is, if there's avalanche danger, it's no place to be and we'd have to just go up the Lion's Head or go down the road to (the AMAZING) Mt Adams or something. http://www.summitpost.org/route/168446/ ... gully.html

Let's do it!

Sorry, folks, winter is too hard for me - the snow season is way too precious here in the Northeast...

We should be doing this a couple or so times a year.

I'd also be up for Mt. Marcy in late February. +2!

What about President's Day Weekend? Feb 19-20?

Most people get that Monday off, which would help the people who have to drive (or recover...ha ha).

I know my better half would love to do this.

oh, and me too. ;-D

Catamount wrote:Put me down as a tentative yes for Feb 19 or 20..... a winter hike of Marcy with a bunch of SPers DEFINITELY meets the standard of something worth taking a day off for.

+ 1

I'm setting the dates aside as well. I've never climbed Marcy and it's time I went out and climbed my own state HP.

I believe I saw on one of the links yesterday, we would need a special permit for a group of 10 or more.

I'd be up for Marcy or Central Gully. I think I'd prefer the Gully though.

Flattlander, regardless of where we do the gathering I'd be up for the Gully sometime this winter.

Mt. Marcy on the weekend of 19-20 Feb. is fine with me. My wife won't do the climb but she'll come along for the weekend getaway and take the before and after pictures!!

I might be down for Marcy and/or Central Gully. I've only limited snow experience though (Killington in VT, Humphreys in AZ, both in March). How long is Marcy during the winter? Do you usually camp somewhere, or is it just a very long out and back?

By the way, anyone feels like a Zealand/Bonds dayhike tomorrow, let me know.

Flattlander wrote:Central Gully is nontechnical, but perhaps a nice step between walkups like the Lion's Head and more technical stuff. That's why I want to do it. You just need your crampons and an ice axe, and I don't think snowshoes are necessary for the approach. Apparently, there's just one small ice bulge that can be climbed without pro or short tools, or simply skirted around if you don't want to eff with it. Other than that, it's a snowclimb. The thing is, if there's avalanche danger, it's no place to be and we'd have to just go up the Lion's Head or go down the road to (the AMAZING) Mt Adams or something. http://www.summitpost.org/route/168446/ ... gully.html

Let's do it!

No offense, but this post is misleading and, should a beginner follow your advice he/she may very well find themselves in over their heads. Central Gully is NOT "nontechnical" - the correct description would be "not technically difficult", which is not the same thing! Unless you have a considerable amount of ice climbing/mountaineering experience and are very comfortable on steep ice, you most likely WILL want to have both technical tools (or at least one long, one short), and pro (at least several ice screws, and possibly a couple of pickets if the snow is hard-packed). Finally, it is not true that you can easily "skirt around" the ice bulge, unless you're comfortable with slab climbing in plastic boots and crampons with no protection.

What you are describing when you say "one small ice bulge" is Central Gully in typical mid-to-late winter conditions in at least a normal, or above-normal snow year. However, I have seen Central Gully where there are 2 to 3 full pitches of ice. Granted, if you go in late Feb. you are unlikely to encounter it like that, but you definitely want to keep an eye on it by reading trip and condition reports, checking the weather, etc.

I'm not trying to scare anyone into not attempting Central Gully - just want to emphasize that it's not a climb to be taken lightly, especially if you haven't done it before or are relatively new to ice/winter climbing.

I'm down for Central Gully! That sounds perfect for what I want to do this winter. Flatlander, let me know what the plans are. Marcy is also a go.

I'm doing Central Gully and Yale Gully around Jan. 1st through the 5th. My group and I will be doing the Mt. Washington summit hopefully on one of those climbs if the weather looks good. I'll be with a group of 4 including myself and wouldn't mind having extra people come along for either.