Here you see Burk leaning against the wind on the deserted streets of Manchester. Epic storm.
Best title of all time…and I’ll explain in a minute.
We wrapped up our AMGA ice-instructor course on Friday, February 8…only to have MEGASTORM (or whatever the Weather Channel people were calling it) Nemo roll in during our debrief. As a Colorado pretender-hardman I can only say this: when folks from New England say the weather on Mount Washington is burly…they mean it. Woh, dude.
Great course and I learned a ton. Ice is certainly my weakest part of the rock, alpine, ski disciplines and I learned plenty…lots about technical systems and what not, but as much about my own limitations in terms of movement skills. Plenty to improve upon.
Massachusetts and Connecticut decreed that all motorists would be shot on sight if driving after 4 p.m., so we couldn’t high-tail it for Boston after the course. We considered staying in North Conway to ride out the carnage, but instead my buddy Chris Burk (CMS guide and chemical engineer genius type) made a dash for Manchester, New Hampshire.
I’ll write a full wrap-up discussing gear and techniques soon…Marc Chauvin, Art Mooney (check out his new website HERE), and Silas Rossi were a great trio–pretty different personalities, but complementary. Great course. I’m stoked to have Chauvin and Rossi on my advanced alpine course in the fall (if I get in!).
Back back to our story of tempest, egress, and endless driving. Burk and I were stranded in Manchester for the night and the next morn dawned no better–snow, wind, and armed Staties at the border with bazookas and orders to shoot dirtbags on sight. My flight out of Boston was now bumped from Saturday to Monday evening–going Boston to Houston and then Denver. Total kick in the nuts. We decided to do the end-around, driving west through Brattleboro, then on to Albany. On the way we stopped at a little curio shop to pick up some maple treats for family. We were chit-chatting the proprietress during our purchases when she announces, a bit out of the blue: “I’ve got a bitch back there with six pups on her.”
Ah, turns out the lady is a proud breeder and shower of Scottish Terriers, but whatever the case, you don’t hear that sentence too often, eh? I believe the AMGA is going to adopt it as their slogan for the ice program in the future.
Back on the road, at about eight hours we were through Albany, then heading south to Burk’s parents house. We stopped at the train station, where I jumped out and took the commuter into NYC.
At this point I was wearing my beloved Lowa Vertical GTX’s on the train–I didn’t bring any “snow” boots, so I was left to my ice rigs. No sweat, because they’re pretty comfy. I ended up wearing them on the plane, too–my rollerpig was 65 lbs in the airport, so I had to slim down! From Grand Central I took the subway to the L line into Brooklyn and finally arrived at a friend’s house–the night of my 43rd birthday. Yes!
No, I didn’t stick out wandering through the subway system, ice boots on, massive rollerpig thumping behind me. The breakdancer/hiphop kids just thought I was one of their own. The hipsters in Williamsburg just thought I was ahead of the trends…watch for an uptick in Lowa sales in that part of the country. Hey, if they dress as bike messengers and lumberjacks, why not ice climbers? Weird scene out there.
Final thought–New Hampshire is awesome, with so much ice you won’t believe it. And most of it within a donut’s throw of the road. Perfect. You should go. Drop Mooney, Rossi, or Chauvin a line and they’ll show you a good time. I sure had one.
One last little glimpse of Mount Willard–look at how much ice there is to climb…and this is just one little cliff within Crawford Notch. Photo credit to NEClimbs.com and many thanks to Al Hospers for the beta. Check out his site if you’re headed to the Northeast to climb–well worth the time. Go get some!
