This is a short TR because Kenway is busy these days (sorry Louise).
Last Sunday I picked up Kenway at the bus station and we headed for Stony Clove. The parking lot was half full, but we did not meet anyone on our way to the west side of the clove, suggesting everyone was on the east side. Maybe the ice was thicker there.
Our original plan was for Kenway to lead Little Black Dike first followed by the two pitches of the Curtain for me to get my revenge on the second pitch. Once we reached the base of Little Black Dike however, we quickly realized we had to change plans as there was not a single icicle on that thing: rock, rock, and more rock.
We headed toward the curtain. It looked thin (in fact there was no free hanging curtain to speak off), but it looked potentially feasible; although definitely not easy. Kenway lead it in style. After the first two early screws, he went super long before sinking in the third; I was definitely nervous as a fall would have guaranteed that he hit the ground. He took a short rest and proceeded to a split stance right before the traverse left. He put it two screws (one to the right and one to the left, and slung the right one long. The traverse was much harder than it usually is, because the lack of ice meant you needed to take your feet much higher and basically throw your left foot on the ledge; but Kenway made it look easy. He stood on the ledge for a little while, resting, he also put in two screws. He later told me he was nervous because the ice on the ledge was so thin, he thought the entire sheet would slide off the rock. He then topped out with no problem, putting a screw along the way. I seconded in what might have been the ugliest climb of my short career, but I made it up nonetheless.
Lean conditions on the Curtain
Plenty of ice across the road
From there I went to the base of the second pitch to see it was not possible. The first 30 feet had ice about 1/2 an inch thick, completely delaminated; you could see the water seeping between the ice and the rock. So I came back down and we rapped.
We headed for what I think is the Gurgler. My first few screws were placed at reasonable distances, but I quickly started sewing it up. About midway I had ice fracture as I put a screw in which made me nervous about the ice quality. The top out was sketchy, with very little ice and a strange position where you axes are in shallow angled part, but your feet are on a vertical part and you can't see them. This was followed by climbing in frozen mud, and installing anchors on a tree. Kenway followed and then we both did it on TR once more using a more vertical line.
Sketchy topout ahead...
We headed down to the road using a better line than usual, packed the car, grabbed the cat at home and headed back down to NYC.
I definitely think Monkey Medal for ice lead of the year should go to Kenway for his thin curtain lead: never sat on the gear, found good stances, managed to relax when it got sketchy, and did nice axe and crampon work to top out this harder than usual version of the climb.
I on the other hand have some work to do...
Three and two are straightforward: last Sunday, the trio of us (Brian, Guillaume, and I) headed back to the Catskills for our second foray onto the ice in as many weeks. As for one, Guillaume took his first big whipper on lead ice; haven't seen that big a fall in quite a while, and certainly not on anything as sketchy as a screw - it was quite impressive, more on it below.
With a four day cold snap this week and warmer temps forecast for the weekend, we decided to get an early start on the ice this weekend, hoping to beat the crowds and jump on relatively unhacked ice. Left the city Friday night and convened for some preparatory shenanigans in G's cabin in the Catskills: examining G's pipe collection, squeezing on a swami belt, and trying to stay warm. We bunked down later than intended, but still set the alarm for the relatively leisurely wakeup time of 6 am.
The Man in Black
Rolled in to the end of the road above Devil's Kitchen around 8, and dropped down into the gully to find it completely empty. First up was a relatively short, stepped vertical line right near the top of the gully - Stairway to Heaven (WI3-3+). Colder temps than forecast, the ice was brittle and hard and coated with a shiny sheen. Vertical climbing to a comfy ledge and small ice cave a little more than halfway, not quite big enough for me to stand in (but I kneeled for a rest). Two more short vertical sections to the typically uncomfortable Catskills topout - snow, a little frozen grass, and rock. Felt comfortable on the start of the lead, spacing screws out well, but as I got tired I slammed in more screws, which subsequently got me more tired - need to get more endurance, and a more solid lead head. B and G ran up the line quickly, and we headed down-gully to find more ice.
G spotted a great looking line: Snotsicle (WI4), a big vertical column spilling down from a overhang. It sits at the top of a steep slope, which was littered with the remains of the neighboring free-hanging column where Point and Shoot (WI5) lives. Looked intimidating, but G roped up and headed out from the right side (a steeper start than the left). Putting in a few screws, he moved up the steep start and out left to the front of the column, angling right again for a ledge in the column. A good four feet above his last screw, he popped a foot highstepping onto the ledge. I can see the details in slow-motion: the plummet sideways and down, the rope coming taught, tools flying out and down the approach slope. Afterwards, G was a foot off the ground and totally unscathed. Whew! Big fall, probably due to multiple factors, including distance above pro, rope stretch on a double line, Brian getting pulled forward, as well as a deployed screamer (nice trophy!). G was eager to head back up for revenge, but wiser heads prevailed and we headed up to downlead and pull the screws.
What was a quiet morning had turned into a zoo by this point, with multiple individual parties as well as a big guided group on TRs in lower Devil's Kitchen. We decided to head down for the two moderate pitches of Bridal Veil Falls. Easy hike down the gully, with a small rap on the kill at the base of Lower Bridal Veil - probably downclimbable, but we threw a rope. Lower Bridal Veil is short and straightforward though not overly protectable, WI2-2+ depending on conditions with a snowy topout on the frozen creek - G quickly led up to a tree, stopping to only place one screw. Upper Bridal Veil is taller, with multiple lines, easier and ledgey on the right to steeper and vertical on the left. We picked a line up the middle left (WI3?), vertical enough to get the heart rate up but stepped enough to provide good stances for sinking screws. The line we climbed headed up rightwards before trending back left to topout, with a sketchy section in the middle where cascading water ran behind a few-inch thin layer of clear, hard ice.
Dropping in to Lower Bridal Veil
The stealth belay
Good day out, especially with everyone coming out in one piece. And real good to know that the gear works as advertised (never heard the screamer deploy, despite its name). I realize we still don't have enough miles under our belts to be consistent judges of our limits, climbs that are easily within our reaches on TR and still hard on lead (we noticed that many parties stick to TR in Devil's Kitchen). Dialed it down, likely wisely, midway through the day, retreating on Snotsicle as well as saving a nice looking line by Upper Bridal Veil (Tiers of Joy WI4) for another day. Finished everything off with G's excellent mussels and fries.
More pics here and here.
Palenville Coronary from Chris Lamme on Vimeo.
Palenville Coronary (WI6 M7?) New mixed route in Kaaterskill Clove, put up by Brad Heller. Some info here and here. Best part? From the Alpinist (emphasis mine):
It started out as a seemingly normal day of climbing for Brad Heller and Chris Lamme. Heller, who has only been ice climbing for about a year, wanted to get out and Lamme wanted to film his friend climbing. The pair found a third partner after posting on an internet forum and headed to New York's Catskills. Fresh back from a NOLS course in Patagonia, their third, Kyle Gay, had never before caught a fall while belaying.The day changed when Heller spotted a delicate line flowing down a rocky overhang and thought it "looked rad." Lamme rappelled down with his Handycam. Three hours and five falls later, Heller scratched up the turfy finish with a broken pinky finger, sprained ankle and first ascent.
Scottish Wings from Hans Hornberger on Vimeo.
Scottish Icetrip - English from Petzl-sport on Vimeo.
Approaching Plattekill Falls
Rapidly rising temperatures this past week suggesting that perhaps the groundhogs may be on to something, we decided to get some ice in before spring arrives. Recent (mis)adventures in Colorado notwithstanding, this was going to be our first day swinging axes in the Catskills this season and a long-awaited return to climbing of any kind for Brian. Last night, I packed my gear, set the alarm for 4, and ignoring the cat's befuddlement at the early bed time tried to catch some sleep.
Still way dark out when I left the house, and the Lower East Side was still crowded with the usual late night crowd: smokers, drinkers sobering up after last call, and empty cabs. Much quieter as I headed far uptown to pick up Brian, up in the skinny part of the island. Soon enough we were on our way to a rendezvous at G's house to consolidate in his newly retrofitted winter gladiator minivan. Despite my inability to follow directions, we arrived only 20 minutes late, with the sun barely up and G still in a patient mood (not sure how long that would have lasted, and no real desire to find out).
Best decision of the day was a group one to forgo familiar ground for new terrain. Neither G nor I were particularly raring to lead super steep stuff, but wanted something challenging and interesting. Luckily, Brian convinced us it was time to take it to the next level. So instead of the usual Stoney Clove routes, we headed for Platte Kill Cove, home of a mix of routes from moderate to hardman in the Devil's Kitchen (Hell Hole) area as well as a series of scenic, varied frozen waterfalls (Plattekill, Bridal Veil, and Japanese Falls). Parking was easy, at the turnaround where the road is closed off and unplowed for the winter, and we were early enough to nab one of the last open spots.
Ten minutes of hiking down the road led us to a tracked path down past a red barn; from there, the easy approach heads into the trees and forks at a group of hemlocks, with the right path dropping into the clove and emerging at the kill right below Plattekill Falls. We got there as a local was soloing, halfway up the ice and likely almost done with his morning lap up the series of descending falls. We exchanged pleasantries as we unracked and roped up and he topped out ("Really wet one today", "When the sun comes over, it's going to make some funny sounds" come to mind), and soon enough G was ready to lead.
The formation looked in good enough shape, but the recent warm weather was clearly taking its toll. Running water was easily audible both beneath the snow on the frozen creek and behind the falls, and a fine mist shot over the right side of the falls (getting progressively heavier as the sun came over). Left side was good and relatively dry though, with a short vertical section leading to a slabby ramp and final vertical section. Felt like WI3 to me, at least as a second. G looked great, steady on the warmup, controlled placing screws and comfortable in his swings and kicks. Both B and I TRed up, cleaning screws on the way, and we all came down to TR a steeper line on the left side. Much fun, with a steep overhanging start (with an ice bollard!), a slabby walkup in the middle, and a pumpy and intimidating steep finish. Highlight of the day was Brian knocking off a microwave-sized block and shielding himself his head and neck, reinforcing my conviction of the hardness of his noggin.
G runs up the first climb of the day
A frozen Plattekill Falls (and as it looks in summertime)
Comfy belay at the top of the falls
Brian heads up the left side bouldery start
I'm right below where Brian tried to brain himself
What do you mean a messy coil?
By midday the sun was directly on the falls, and things were considerably wetter and more delicate; we decided to search for more shaded ice and headed for Devil's Kitchen. A bit of a tricky spot to find, being unsure of the specifics of the layout. From the approach trail, we could tell we were in the trees above the cliffline overlooking Devil's Kitchen, but despite some exploratory postholing through deep snow we couldn't find a safe way down. We decided to backtrack to Plattekill Falls and follow the stream downhill into the clove, but found several parties climbing off the top of Bridal Veil Falls. After talking things over with a local climber belaying from the top, we decided the easiest way was to head back to the road, where an easy drop-in to the gully at the stone bridge landed us right at the top of Upper Devil's Kitchen.
A couple of parties were in the upper section, but the west side of the gully was in the sun and many of the columns looked wet and ready to come down. However, in the lower gully, many of the east routes were still shaded, blue and solid. Lots of steep lines to choose from, we settled on a 4ish line near the second of three consecutive corners. The business of the climb comes early, after 8-10 feet to a ledge, with 40 feet of straight on vertical climbing in a shallow runnel between two larger columns to another slopey ledge. Decent stems if you have long legs, more vertical and pumpy if you don't. The last third or so of the climb heads up into the corner forming a little ice chimney, with bolts at the top where the ice peters out into rock. G gave me the first lead, and I felt pretty good at the start, soloing up to the first ledge to place an easy first screw. Good distance to the second screw, but it was a pretty crappy placement, all air, so I leaned out way right to sink another backup in. Didn't get good placements on either, and left both of them only partly in the ice. Could have (and should have) pushed higher, but the pump clock was ticking and I couldn't get over the insecurity of getting too high over my crappy placements, so I lowered to let G have a go. Like a soldier, he charged ahead and led from my highpoint up to the ledge, sinking plenty of good screws on the way. He finished off by scratching his way up the corner ice system to the anchors to set up a TR. We finished up by TRing the middle line, as well as a more consistently vertical line to the left (solid WI 4 or 4+). Great sustained climbing, not super long but no real great rests either.
Second Corner (WI4), line number 8 (via Bigfoot Mountain Guides)
Some climbers on a WI5 to the left
A decent stem to place some gear
G cleans up my mess
The return of Climbin' Brian
Great day all around with a good friendly crew: explored a new area in comfortably warm temps, got G and me back into a leading frame of mind and Brian back into climbing mode. The DK area is much more scenic than Stoney Clove, though I get the feeling it can get pretty crowded. Climbing the falls was a nice change from typical ice cragging, eventually I'd like to link up a few of the falls for some multi-pitch adventure.
Looks almost just like him...
Now that's better
Let's hope the groundhogs were wrong and there's some winter left in this year yet. Thanks to Brian for the great pics (and remembering his camera).
