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Mt. Washington in January?! "mmm...YA, Baby!"

bring an extra set of mittens!!!

tigerlilly wrote:Mt. Washington in January?! "mmm...YA, Baby!"

bring an extra set of mittens!!!

Are you kidding? Thats extra weight and for sissy's!

Feb 19-20 in the Dacks might work for me, but don't count on me coming. its a 10 hours drive for me. Also, I would feel bad going to whole way up there for Marcy. I wouldn't mind doing it again but would like to bang out something a little more technicaly difficult while I'm there before I leave...

Hotoven wrote: Also, I would feel bad going to whole way up there for Marcy. I wouldn't mind doing it again but would like to bang out something a little more technicaly difficult while I'm there before I leave...

Here, this might entertain you. "Drop, Fly or Die", in the Keene Valley. Not far from Marcy.

Can't find my photo. Something I snagged off the 'net.

Hotoven wrote:
Feb 19-20 in the Dacks might work for me, but don't count on me coming. its a 10 hours drive for me. Also, I would feel bad going to whole way up there for Marcy. I wouldn't mind doing it again but would like to bang out something a little more technicaly difficult while I'm there before I leave...

there is a lot of roadside technical ice in Keene Valley.

welle wrote:

Hotoven wrote:
Feb 19-20 in the Dacks might work for me, but don't count on me coming. its a 10 hours drive for me. Also, I would feel bad going to whole way up there for Marcy. I wouldn't mind doing it again but would like to bang out something a little more technicaly difficult while I'm there before I leave...

there is a lot of roadside technical ice in Keene Valley.

Thanks! I'll look more into it. Hopefully it will happen, with see though with school and work.

Hotoven wrote: Also, I would feel bad going to whole way up there for Marcy. I wouldn't mind doing it again but would like to bang out something a little more technicaly difficult while I'm there before I leave...

Here ya go!

(You're welcome.)


I've already done Marcy, so my vote would be for the NH gully climb, but I recongnize that not everyone might feel comfortable with it. If Marcy ends up being the choice, I might come but climb some other ADKHP's that I need and just meet all y'all at the bar.

Maybe we could talk about setting up both? MT Washington over the New Year and Marcy Presidents Day weekend?

John Duffield wrote:Maybe we could talk about setting up both? MT Washington over the New Year and Marcy Presidents Day weekend?

Yeah I would be down with that. I'll already be there with 3 other friends but I'm sure they would get along....

anita wrote:alpinisto: have you climbed positive thinking?

Hellz no! (I'm only leading WI3/3+ currently.)

But it's on the "to do" list...

Alexey, thank you for the additional info on Central Gully. I will certainly take the knowledge you've shared here into account should I make an attempt. I didn't mean to post anything misleading about it, just kind of passing on what I've read (and I've been told not to believe everything I read!). In fact, perhaps the SP entry about Central Gully is misleading itself...my apologies, though.

At any rate, I'd still like to do it. I'd like to do Marcy on the 19-20 of Feb, as well...unfortunately I'll be in Key West for my sister's wedding, swimming with dolphins and wishing I was on a snowy mountain.

Flattlander wrote:Alexey, thank you for the additional info on Central Gully. I will certainly take the knowledge you've shared here into account should I make an attempt. I didn't mean to post anything misleading about it, just kind of passing on what I've read (and I've been told not to believe everything I read!). In fact, perhaps the SP entry about Central Gully is misleading itself...my apologies, though.

Hey, I appreciate taking my remarks with stride. Looking back at them, I guess the word "misleading" might be a little harsh, if you interpret it to mean that you're deliberately deceiving people (for the record I certainly DID NOT mean it that way). And I agree that the Central Gully page is misleading - having read that I obviously see why you came to the conclusions that you did. As a general point, I think when it comes to snow/ice routes, the amount of variation from season to season, month to month and day to day is so significant that one needs to be very careful to choose the right wording when writing route descriptions.
For instance, my description of the ice bulge on Central Gully would go something like this: "The amount of ice can vary from none to a few meters to a full pitch or more, depending on snow amounts and other factors. In any case, the maximum difficulty of the ice is around WI2."

I've made the change suggestions on the Central Gully page.

So what then? Are we planning to do central gully this Jan 1st through 5th? I'll be there already, anyone is welcome to join me and my group. (Just bring your own drinks!)

Regarding Mount Marcy, here are some pencil plans on a napkin:

Arrive Friday night. Stay at ADK Loj at Heart Lake. Meet each other, enjoy a nice beer.
Get up early and climb up past Interior Outpost, Indian Falls, Little Marcy to Mt.Marcy. My map says roughly 4 miles one way. My buddy took my book and brought it home, so I can't be more of a help on distances. Sorry. The trail is well trodden, so we would not have to break new snow. Snowshoes are fine. Skis work also. Climb down. Makes for a rather LONG Saturday!

A second alternative is to meet at Loj Friday (or Sat) afternoon, hike into the Interior Outpost. Camp outside overnight. Bag Marcy the next day. Hike back to Interior Outpost (or Loj). Camp overnight at Interior Outpost. Hike out.

A Third alternative is to bag Marcy and come down to Lake Tear of the Clouds, camp overnight, and head back down to the Outpost. Once off Mt.Marcy, the descent down to the Lake will be fresh snow, most likely. This can be quite exhausting as you post hole in spruce traps. I'm all game for post holing, but if your not used to it....it can be hard.

I guess it depends on how people feel about winter camping, breaking new snow, experience level, etc.

My better half just informed me that camping at the lake is "illegal" now, so if we went that route, we would have to go down a little further.

tigerlilly wrote:Arrive Friday night. Stay at ADK Loj at Heart Lake. Meet each other, enjoy a nice beer.
Get up early and climb up past Interior Outpost, Indian Falls, Little Marcy to Mt.Marcy. My map says roughly 4 miles one way. My buddy took my book and brought it home, so I can't be more of a help on distances. Sorry. The trail is well trodden, so we would not have to break new snow. Snowshoes are fine. Skis work also. Climb down. Makes for a rather LONG Saturday!

4 miles isn't bad at all. I looked at a map too, it seems like 4 miles to me as well. I'm a little confused then; I thought the shortest approach to Marcy was 7 miles one way?