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chrisb
Feb 6, 2007, 12:15 AM
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Registered: Sep 2, 2005
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A rainy Friday night found me lugging too much gear through three boroughs and two subways on the way to Paul's place. The plan was to sort gear, wake early, and meet Tai in New Paltz for a weekend of ice, which I'd been lusting to climb for over a year.
After a huge diner breakfast, we drove to Stoney Clove and started up. My ankles rebelled against the still-awkward feel of crampons, but I managed to follow the guys along the base, oogling the frozen flows above our heads. A couple other parties reached the base as we set up and, after a brief allocation of routes, Tai started up. I rolled a smoke as he diagonalled up and left, sinking picks and switching tools with fluid ease. Even to my uninitiated eyes, the benefits of leashless climbing were obvious.
A few minutes later, I found myself belaying a complete stranger up a small flow. Peter, a buddy of Tai's, showed up a bit later than us, raring to swing. He flew up the climb, cursing his tools and puckering my sphincter when the pillar he straddled started making strange, not-good sounds. "Yeah, it's kinda hollow!" Peter shouted down after clearing the pillar.
Finally, my turn to climb. I'd wandered back to Tai and Paul, where they were coming off Tai's climb. Paul set the rope as Tai gave me a quick and dirty intro to ice: don't settle for bad placements; swing smooth and flick your wrist; clear the bulges; and don't overgrip. I started up, stabbing at indentations and toeing up on my points, stopping several times to coax feeling past the leashes and into my freezing hands. Back on the ground, angry blood found its way into my fingers and raised holy hell, but only for a few minutes. Hot coffee and another smoke abated all pain.
A bit later, I got another try on a different flow. This time, things were better: I consciously forced my fingers to relax in the leashes, bent my knees, and dropped my heels. I peeled off partway up, rested a few minutes, and tried again. I got back to the final bulge, arms giving out, wanting to quit, swing going all to hell. But instead of shouting, "Take", I reared up and fought my way to the top, picks sticking like magic, crampons kicking fast and stable. It felt like climbing rock when you get freaked and weak but still power through a crux. It felt good. It felt really, really good.
We ambled to Asbestos Wall on Sunday, after a stellar dinner in Phoenecia (Brio's Pizza) and a phenomenal breakfast in Tannersville (Maggie's Krooked Cafe). We thanked the Super Bowl for no crowding and enjoyed an unexpectedly warm day in the sun on increasingly plastic ice. A hacked out vertical wall, a fresh flow, a delicate curtain start, and a ridiculously fun mixed corner filled our day. I climbed a bit better, thanks to more advice from Tai and Paul, and even got to try my hands leashless (very nice). And on that final mixed corner, I even felt somewhat good as pick and point danced up the warming ice.
But for all the sun and climbing on Sunday, I still come back to that last surge over the bulge on Saturday. It wasn't lead, it wasn't pretty ("Swatting flies" Paul joked later), but it was that moment when something shifts inside you and you realize, "Shit, I'm gonna be a lot poorer than I already am."
cb
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brent_e
Feb 6, 2007, 12:37 AM
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Registered: Dec 15, 2004
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hahah, i like the last statement that you made!!!
nice TR, Chris! Thank you! good luck swinging in the future.
Brent
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taino
Feb 6, 2007, 2:44 AM
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Registered: Jan 2, 2003
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Hahaha!! That's no way to think about your new addiction... nice thing is you don't really ~need~ anything new, yet. It'll be a couple years before it really starts in... *snicker*
Here are several pictures from the weekend. The first is me getting only my third ice lead, on Ice Capades (starting towards the Climax corner, and traversing up and left to the Ice Capades finish), courtesy of Chris. The others are of Chris on the hacked-out line and the fresh ice right next to it, at Asbestos Wall, courtesy of Paul.
Glad you had a great time, man. Gotta do it again, soon.
Pictures!!
Me, leading.
Chris, at Asbestos Wall.
T
(This post was edited by taino on Feb 6, 2007, 2:48 AM)
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saxfiend
Feb 6, 2007, 3:05 AM
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Registered: Dec 31, 2004
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Nice TR -- almost makes me want to try ice climbing myself!
JL
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paulraphael
Feb 8, 2007, 7:38 PM
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Registered: Feb 6, 2004
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We must DEFINITELY do it again, if for no other reason than the food. That wood-fired pizza has been haunting me.
At the very least, superbowl sunday needs to be an annual climbing weekend. What a perfect way to get the ice and the roads to yourself.
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crodog
Feb 8, 2007, 7:51 PM
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Registered: Jan 30, 2006
Posts: 39
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Here's a longer route if you're interested:
Bard-Harrington 2/3/07
(This post was edited by crodog on Feb 8, 2007, 8:22 PM)
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