Catskills ice January 2010

With time on my hands and a definite chill in the air, I headed up to the Catskills to spend some time with G and his family and hunt out a little ice. Temps were cold, and we figured it was late enough in the season for some solid waterfall ice to have set in at some of the classic spots in the Catskills. We turned in early Saturday evening after stuffing ourselves on home-cooked Indian food, and headed out early Sunday morning to Stony Clove Notch (should have been an easy 30 minute drive, but we missed the shortcut through the reservoir). Temps were around 20 in town, most likely low teens up at the wall with gusts in the 15-20 mph range early on.


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Brrr...

This was the same area that the crew hit up last winter, but we headed to the west side of the notch where there was a larger concentration of climbs. This was offset by a steeper approach, now covered in snow. Short hike up the road past Notch Lake, looking to the left for hidden approach trails up through the trees. Getting up and down the slick, snow-atop-rock-and-ice slope was the trickiest part of the day - there was just the right concentration of trees to guarantee both a long tumbling descent as well as an abrupt eventual stoppage if you slipped. Reminder for next time: put on the crampons and gaiters at the road.

It gets warmer, right?

After wandering along the top of the steep approach slope at the base of steep rock and waterfall ice (in the wrong direction at first, my bad), we settled on a solid-looking, long terraced climb called Climax (WI2-3ish). G set up a quick anchor around a few small ice columns at the base to keep our gear from tumbling down the hill (exactly the kind of anchor that an EMS guide set up for his clients a few hours later - nice!).

Impressed with G's handiwork
Knee socks: not just for deadlifts and snatches
The section of wall we found had two moderate climbs (WI2+), one on the left that looked a little easier with a snowfield in the middle, and one on the right consisting of a series of terraces leading up to a topout against a left facing section of rock. We set up below Climax on the right, and Guillaume set off with his tiny rack of screws (6), tied into brand new double ropes (8.4 mm - smooth!). The ice was fat in most places, though with the cold it was brittle in spots, and both of us had to arrange ourselves on belay to avoid a constant stream of small fragments and the occasional dinner plate. G was climbing well, good economical swings and kicks, and his pro was placed smoothly. With just 6 screws and terraced landings below him, he had to think hard about spacing them well (as well as hope for a reasonable anchor up above). I thought the last screw in particular was a nice placement, right below the top in a steep section of ice forming a corner with the rock face to the right. He finished it off by postholing through slick snow to a few small trees 30-40 ft above the lip of the fall - only after he was out of sight did I find out from the guide next to us that G had bypassed a set of anchors in the rock at the lip. Long climb, 30+ m: a 60 m rope rap from the bolt anchors leave you just short of the ground (a good argument for knots at the end of your rap ropes, btw). Nice lead!

Cascade heads up the right waterfall
Trying out the spanking new doubles: G leads up

I TRed up after G rapped, trying to get the motions of swinging and kicking down. The ice was hard, sometimes the picks would stick and sometimes they would just shatter the ice. Need to be more consistent with my feet, staying on the heels more and taking smaller steps. Got more and more comfortable as the day went on though. The last steep section was a blast, allowing me to stem across to the rock face (and test out the new monopoints). After climbing through to the top and moving the anchors to the bolts on the rock below, we took turns running the climb on TR, which allowed us to try some harder variations up more of the vertical sections. G in particular attacked a challenging topout over a large mushroom (visible in the lead photo above, just to the right of G and the ropes).

Note the extra belay parka

Great day out, good way to get some ice under the belt and suss out the area. Congrats to Guillaume for some nice, solid leading. And special thanks to G and Arianne for their hospitality. There's a nice looking WI3 right to the left of these climbs (Enterprise Entertainer) that's beckoning, plan on heading up again sometime soon. Any takers?

Chilly hero shot