It all started at a Christmas party where I told John that I was hoping to get away for at least a day climb and was wondering if he'd be up for it. The next Saturday I got an email from John asking if I was up for anything tomorrow. Of course neither of us had anything packed and we both had plans for Saturday evening, I was going to be at a Christmas party Saturday night, but why let that get in the way of the first trip of the season.
It sure is dark at 5 in the morning, especially after about 3 1/2 hours of sleep. But after a stop at Dunkin Donuts, I managed to meet John at the usual AMC meeting place off Route 152 -- and so far I'm only 10 minutes behind schedule and my guide book is still on the kitchen counter...
After 3 hours driving we're approaching Cannon, but the snow is so heavy we can't really see anything. And we're in John's car, leaving both our SUV's at home, since we didn't think there was any snow in the forecast (Oops, get the mountain not the valley forecast) But they did have the wind right, the valley forecast was calling for 30 mph winds. Driving down the notch we're looking up through the snow wondering where Willey's Slide actually was since neither of us had been there, and like I said, the guide book was still on my kitchen counter. But we got to the parking lot at Frankenstein and got directions to the parking for Willey's Slide. After a quick read of their guidebook, we headed back up the notch, parked and started sorting our gear out.
After
hiking up the approach trail, we were roped in and ready to start climbing
at 10:30. We were the fourth group, but we were far enough back that
that wasn't a problem.
John decided that climbing up to the start was a waste of time, so we started the first pitch at the very first patch of ice above the bottom snow field.
The wind isn't too bad, the snow blows up the slide and the ice chunks fall down the face. After John cruises an easy looking first pitch, I head up and we decide that swapping leads is the way to go (I remind John that I've always wanted to actually place an ice screw...)
On
our second pitch, I head to the left to set John up to lead the only large
bulge on the face and decide to stop and set up the anchor below a small
bulge the party ahead of us is on. At this point I realize that the
biner's from my metolious quick-draws are lousy for ice climbing. The
gate opening is too small, they ice up, and a clove hitch won't sit right on
them.
After John joins me at the second belay, he let's me know that I took a little too long by complaining that his hands were getting pretty cold belaying me ... ok, next time I'll be quicker. At this point we're right in the fall zone for everyone who's climbing above the bulge so we're getting binged by assorted dinner plates and platters. But since the wind is blowing and the snow's flying pretty good you can't see them or hear if anyone is yelling ice. So, no worries mate!
After
a quick turnover of a couple of screws and slings, John leads the third
pitch and pulls over the one bulge of the route. He disappears from
view and set's our next belay. By now, I've learned that I should have
climbed onto the small bulge before building my anchor. My calves have
cramped up from standing on an angle the whole time. (I'm sure it
wasn't from being out of shape!) But I figure if I keep moving, my legs
should loosen back up.
After
pulling over the bulge, I join John on a nice flat belay stance and we talk
about where the walk-off for the route is. I take a few screws and
slings back and lead what I think is going to be the final pitch. I
get to a nice wide snow field and quickly put in a anchor and lie down
to belay John up the fourth pitch.
Since this was a short pitch, John quickly joins me and doesn't even complain about his hands being cold. We decide to go ahead and climb the last small stretch up to the trees to get the full route in. I figure it looks like 40 meter's or so and up John goes.
After
a full 60 meters, and I mean full as in I had to take the slack out of the
rope between me and the anchor to get a little more rope out. John
gets to the trees and set's up the last belay. An interesting last
pitch of intermittent snow fields and ice where you get to change technique
every 4 steps or so.
At the top we eat a few oranges and walk off. Near the bottom we're passed by a young lady climbing the walk off trail in jeans and hiking boots. Either she's way under dressed or we brought along way too much gear! The trip home didn't seem nearly as long after we stopped in Concord for margarita's and a bite to eat! (And Ray, no pink margarita's on this trip!)
The next day I'm ordering some new biners and a couple BD Express Ice Screws. We learned that the BD Express screws dig in about a half turn quicker than the Omega Pacific screws. Which means you pretty much need two hands to use the OP screws.