Alaska - Girdwood and Hatcher Pass 2010
It's been a long process, but this video pretty much sums it up:
Beverly Hattrup American Mountain Guides Association Ski Mountaineering Guides Exam 2010
It's been a long road and we actually aren't told if we've passed or not until at least two weeks after the exam. So, all of the candidates will be on pins and needles until the results come out. I felt pretty good throughout the exam and I was able to glean a lot of great information from the examiners and friends on the exam.
Enjoy the video.
Marc
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Alaska AMGA Ski Mountaineering Exam
Back on the road again. this time it's to Hatcher Pass and Turnagain Pass in Alaska to take the (hopefully) last of my AMGA exams, the Ski Mountaineering Guides Exam. It's a grueling process and a tough exam not only to take, but also to prepare for. Up to this point I've invested thousands of hours to getting to this point, where I'm feeling like I meet the international guiding standard.
I've been previewing the areas and have been fortunate enough to ski with Ed and Erin at Hatcher Pass. Ed runs Hatch Your Trax web site and has posted one of my videos to show how brutal the conditions can be for some, but also how good it can be !
The stability of the snowpack is in general Poor at Hatcher, so I went to Girdwood to check out Turnagain Pass. Unfortunately, it's been raining for 4 days now...snow in the highlands, but you have to get there starting from about 1000' where the stability is mostly Good.
Sitting around the coffee house perfecting my bookwork for the exam, I've had a chance to work with Tyler Jones, another exam candidate. It's been a good time and we are pretty much ready for everything except poor visibility. Someone please invent goggles that pierce the fog so we can see where we're going ! Better yet, make a set that also picks out where the avalanche trigger points are so we can ski around them !
Hope to have a "happy ending" out here in AK ! I'm sure I'll learn more from our instructors/evaluators than they will form any of us. Still, we are trying to impress them with all of our best skills and guiding techniques.
I've been previewing the areas and have been fortunate enough to ski with Ed and Erin at Hatcher Pass. Ed runs Hatch Your Trax web site and has posted one of my videos to show how brutal the conditions can be for some, but also how good it can be !
The stability of the snowpack is in general Poor at Hatcher, so I went to Girdwood to check out Turnagain Pass. Unfortunately, it's been raining for 4 days now...snow in the highlands, but you have to get there starting from about 1000' where the stability is mostly Good.
Sitting around the coffee house perfecting my bookwork for the exam, I've had a chance to work with Tyler Jones, another exam candidate. It's been a good time and we are pretty much ready for everything except poor visibility. Someone please invent goggles that pierce the fog so we can see where we're going ! Better yet, make a set that also picks out where the avalanche trigger points are so we can ski around them !
Hope to have a "happy ending" out here in AK ! I'm sure I'll learn more from our instructors/evaluators than they will form any of us. Still, we are trying to impress them with all of our best skills and guiding techniques.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Russian Video of the World Ice Competition
Alexey Dengin from Team Russia put this video together of their tour of the IWC. I suppose we should do something like this, but I just haven't had the time. Enjoy !
Ice Club 2010
Ice Club 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
New Mexico - Pecos Wilderness Back Country Skiing East Face Santa Fe Baldy and Penitente Couloir
Barely having enough time to take a breath in between avalanche courses, I was able to get out for a big day in the Pecos Wilderness. There were a couple of ski shots that I had my eye on for several years and really didn't have anyone who had the time or interest to go out with me, especially since I'm kind of a short notice personal trip taker in light of everything else going on.
On the way back from teaching a Southwest Adventure Guides Level 2 avalanche course in Silverton, Colorado at the end of February, I asked Justin Spain if he was off on a Tuesday and if he would be interested in going to do a couloir and a fairly big and committing face on a long back country ski tour. He of course was psyched to go and asked what the plan was. I let him in on the scheme and we packed bags and got up early the day of the tour.
The tour started at Santa Fe Ski Area. We hiked up and over Deception Peak, then over to Lake Peak. The snow filled in a majority of the gaps that usually make for interesting rock climbs and bouldering problems. Overhanging corninces lined the ridge all the way to Penitente Peak and the lee sided aspect produced small slab avalanches during the storm. We cut through a cornice between Deception and Lake Peaks and it initiated a small avalanche that went down into the Santa Fe watershed. It's looking like the people of greater Santa Fe will be able to drink water this year since there is a large amount of snowpack in the watershed !
We hiked down the east ridge of Lake Peak and towards Penitente Couloir (I'm callnig it that since it's on the way to Penitente Peak, but it's kind of a misnomer since the couloir is actually on the Lake Peak massif). After a hundered feet of post holing down from the summit we put skis on and made our way to the couloir notch.
The notch was inviting and a good ingress into the couloir was a bit of a skiing jump into a vacated fetch zone. I realized that the fetch was devoid of snow, right down to the ground, so I nixed the plan to jump in and take a few turns to the left in an anticipatory effort to ski cut the top of the wind slab. I'm glad I didn't since the wind slab was bullet hard underneath a few cm of newer snow. So, I hiked up and gained a nice ski entrance on the wind slab higher up and to the East side of the notch. It worked great and I was happy that my edges were carving well along the 52 degree slope of the drum-tight snow that was compacted by angry winds from the North. The fetch that had no snow took up 50% of the entrance, so the turns were limited by that distance. Nonetheless, I was able to get down the couloir in good style and gain softer snow 20m down. The remainder of the turns were fantastic.
Turning out underneath a rock band, I was able to stop midway down the slope and wait for Justin who had made his entrance along with me just to get past the first 20m and get established into the couloir. We snapped some photos of this spectacular couloir and had a great time laying tracks all the way down and into more open terrain.
From the bottom of Penitente Couloir we skinned and skied down to the Windsor Trail and then up to Puerto Nambe where we caught the Skyline Trail up to Windy Point. The valley fog that was covering Santa Fe all morning was a result of the 8cm of dense snow that had fallen the day before. Rime ice was plastered all over the rocks, trees and escarpments at tree line and into the alpine terrain above 12,000 feet elevation. The fog moved in as we started up the Skyline Trail, which was perfect since it shaded us from the sun. The short wave radiation was bouncing off the cirrus clouds and had already heated up the dense snowpack to where the moisture easily stuck onto our ski skins. I broke out a bar of skin wax that seemed to help a little bit, but the snow was changing to slush so fast that it was becoming nearly futile to travel since the weight of the snow under the skis was taking a toll quick. The only cure was to advance to a higher elevation where the snow was colder, and so we did.
Windy Point had the sign for Baldy and we looked up through the clouds. A surreal landscape of large cliff faces separated by long vertical snowfields intermittently shined through the whisking clouds as they rolled from around the ridge and across the East Face of Santa Fe Baldy.
Large cornices poised like sentinels ran the length of the East Face ridge. No ski tracks were seen, but I had found out that there were some other travelers that passed through prior to the storm that had taken their turn, but now there was sign of them being there, making it feel quite remote for New Mexico.
Justin took the lead and got us to the summit in short order. We eyed the descents into the Lake Kathryn area and decided that those lines would have to be saved for another day. The East Face was too inviting.
Pulling out my cordalette, we decided that we were going to cut a cornice and let it drop onto the slope below to see how the snowpack would behave and if there would be any slab avalanche danger. I stepped 1.6 meters from the edge of the cornice and it promptly broke at 1.5m back. One of my skis was in the air, the other with 20cm behind the fracture and I was able to jump back while holding on to the cordalette and Justin giving me a quick belay. That boy sure is getting fast with the belay ! The cornice broke out some 6-7m along the ridge as it was quite undercut and heavy. It pummeled onto the slope below and triggered a small, slow moving slab that ended up entraining a large amount of wet avalanche debris that went nearly all the way to the bottom of the face over a very long minute. Although the snow wasn't moving fast, and the debris would not have really buried a skier, it could have knocked a skier or snow boarder down and carried them a long way.
I looked across the slope and saw where the other crew had entered the East Face. It looked like they did a ski cut right underneath the largest set of cornices and above a cliff band. I wondered if they had triggered an avalanche if they wouldn't still be there when we arrived a few days later. It seemed like a risky entrance where they cut across the underbelly of the gargoyles that overshadowed the cache of good skiing below.
We then cut another cornice and got the same results. I figured we could get into the East Face shot by hacking away at a cornice and making a realistic entrance and then making a drop entrance and onto the 62 degree face to make a coule of turns and gain a nice protected saddle where a broken vertical ridge running up the East Face doesn't quite meet the summit ridge.
The turns were better than I had imagined and were quite easy, but an aggressive mindset is what gets one onto the boiling plate, so I jumped in with my torso forward and skis parallel to the slope. A couple quick turns let the remaining snow slide and I stopped to let it go by.
Then, Justin jumped in and set up next to me. We skied the turns that only come in a dream. The could had parted and a nearly blue sky gave us the pat on the back as we skied onto more gentle grade of low 40s, then upper 30s. We started out in the debris and then moved our way out into the open slope once the angle subsided and risks abated with each turn.
Justin took a near perfect line the entire fall line. I moved over at the half way point to another slope and ripped through the snow on a small ridge on a rock back and then to more open gladed terrain and met him at the bottom where a piece of cornice had rolled all the way to the bottom, nearly 1,200' down.
We laughed in amazement at the quality of line that this was and realized that THIS is what memories are made of.
We took out our lunches and had a great bite to eat on a large flat granite rock. Then, we skinned up our skis and hiked back to the ridge. It wasn't over yet. We had to use ski crampons to make our way to the South Ridge, but it was worth it since we had a clear shot on corn snow all the way back down to Puerto Nambe. We left big deep turns in the open trees for nearly 1,000'.
Once at Puerto Nambe we augmented our plans to return back over Lake Peak via Penitente and just opt for the Windsor trail egress. IT was a great day and we didn't feel like we needed to push it along any more.
We celebrated with margaritas and Mexican food at Maria's in Santa Fe. I'm glad that I have an opportunity in my life to share my experiences with an up-and-coming mountain guide like Justin. Enough can't be said about having a good partner on high adventure outings. Solid teamwork with good methods for attaining shares goals is a fortunate circumstance that should not be taken for granted. I'm fortunate to have friends like him and can't wait to get out there once again with them to make more great memories !
That's what dreams are made of.
On the way back from teaching a Southwest Adventure Guides Level 2 avalanche course in Silverton, Colorado at the end of February, I asked Justin Spain if he was off on a Tuesday and if he would be interested in going to do a couloir and a fairly big and committing face on a long back country ski tour. He of course was psyched to go and asked what the plan was. I let him in on the scheme and we packed bags and got up early the day of the tour.
The tour started at Santa Fe Ski Area. We hiked up and over Deception Peak, then over to Lake Peak. The snow filled in a majority of the gaps that usually make for interesting rock climbs and bouldering problems. Overhanging corninces lined the ridge all the way to Penitente Peak and the lee sided aspect produced small slab avalanches during the storm. We cut through a cornice between Deception and Lake Peaks and it initiated a small avalanche that went down into the Santa Fe watershed. It's looking like the people of greater Santa Fe will be able to drink water this year since there is a large amount of snowpack in the watershed !
We hiked down the east ridge of Lake Peak and towards Penitente Couloir (I'm callnig it that since it's on the way to Penitente Peak, but it's kind of a misnomer since the couloir is actually on the Lake Peak massif). After a hundered feet of post holing down from the summit we put skis on and made our way to the couloir notch.
The notch was inviting and a good ingress into the couloir was a bit of a skiing jump into a vacated fetch zone. I realized that the fetch was devoid of snow, right down to the ground, so I nixed the plan to jump in and take a few turns to the left in an anticipatory effort to ski cut the top of the wind slab. I'm glad I didn't since the wind slab was bullet hard underneath a few cm of newer snow. So, I hiked up and gained a nice ski entrance on the wind slab higher up and to the East side of the notch. It worked great and I was happy that my edges were carving well along the 52 degree slope of the drum-tight snow that was compacted by angry winds from the North. The fetch that had no snow took up 50% of the entrance, so the turns were limited by that distance. Nonetheless, I was able to get down the couloir in good style and gain softer snow 20m down. The remainder of the turns were fantastic.
Turning out underneath a rock band, I was able to stop midway down the slope and wait for Justin who had made his entrance along with me just to get past the first 20m and get established into the couloir. We snapped some photos of this spectacular couloir and had a great time laying tracks all the way down and into more open terrain.
From the bottom of Penitente Couloir we skinned and skied down to the Windsor Trail and then up to Puerto Nambe where we caught the Skyline Trail up to Windy Point. The valley fog that was covering Santa Fe all morning was a result of the 8cm of dense snow that had fallen the day before. Rime ice was plastered all over the rocks, trees and escarpments at tree line and into the alpine terrain above 12,000 feet elevation. The fog moved in as we started up the Skyline Trail, which was perfect since it shaded us from the sun. The short wave radiation was bouncing off the cirrus clouds and had already heated up the dense snowpack to where the moisture easily stuck onto our ski skins. I broke out a bar of skin wax that seemed to help a little bit, but the snow was changing to slush so fast that it was becoming nearly futile to travel since the weight of the snow under the skis was taking a toll quick. The only cure was to advance to a higher elevation where the snow was colder, and so we did.
Windy Point had the sign for Baldy and we looked up through the clouds. A surreal landscape of large cliff faces separated by long vertical snowfields intermittently shined through the whisking clouds as they rolled from around the ridge and across the East Face of Santa Fe Baldy.
Large cornices poised like sentinels ran the length of the East Face ridge. No ski tracks were seen, but I had found out that there were some other travelers that passed through prior to the storm that had taken their turn, but now there was sign of them being there, making it feel quite remote for New Mexico.
Justin took the lead and got us to the summit in short order. We eyed the descents into the Lake Kathryn area and decided that those lines would have to be saved for another day. The East Face was too inviting.
Pulling out my cordalette, we decided that we were going to cut a cornice and let it drop onto the slope below to see how the snowpack would behave and if there would be any slab avalanche danger. I stepped 1.6 meters from the edge of the cornice and it promptly broke at 1.5m back. One of my skis was in the air, the other with 20cm behind the fracture and I was able to jump back while holding on to the cordalette and Justin giving me a quick belay. That boy sure is getting fast with the belay ! The cornice broke out some 6-7m along the ridge as it was quite undercut and heavy. It pummeled onto the slope below and triggered a small, slow moving slab that ended up entraining a large amount of wet avalanche debris that went nearly all the way to the bottom of the face over a very long minute. Although the snow wasn't moving fast, and the debris would not have really buried a skier, it could have knocked a skier or snow boarder down and carried them a long way.
I looked across the slope and saw where the other crew had entered the East Face. It looked like they did a ski cut right underneath the largest set of cornices and above a cliff band. I wondered if they had triggered an avalanche if they wouldn't still be there when we arrived a few days later. It seemed like a risky entrance where they cut across the underbelly of the gargoyles that overshadowed the cache of good skiing below.
We then cut another cornice and got the same results. I figured we could get into the East Face shot by hacking away at a cornice and making a realistic entrance and then making a drop entrance and onto the 62 degree face to make a coule of turns and gain a nice protected saddle where a broken vertical ridge running up the East Face doesn't quite meet the summit ridge.
The turns were better than I had imagined and were quite easy, but an aggressive mindset is what gets one onto the boiling plate, so I jumped in with my torso forward and skis parallel to the slope. A couple quick turns let the remaining snow slide and I stopped to let it go by.
Then, Justin jumped in and set up next to me. We skied the turns that only come in a dream. The could had parted and a nearly blue sky gave us the pat on the back as we skied onto more gentle grade of low 40s, then upper 30s. We started out in the debris and then moved our way out into the open slope once the angle subsided and risks abated with each turn.
Justin took a near perfect line the entire fall line. I moved over at the half way point to another slope and ripped through the snow on a small ridge on a rock back and then to more open gladed terrain and met him at the bottom where a piece of cornice had rolled all the way to the bottom, nearly 1,200' down.
We laughed in amazement at the quality of line that this was and realized that THIS is what memories are made of.
We took out our lunches and had a great bite to eat on a large flat granite rock. Then, we skinned up our skis and hiked back to the ridge. It wasn't over yet. We had to use ski crampons to make our way to the South Ridge, but it was worth it since we had a clear shot on corn snow all the way back down to Puerto Nambe. We left big deep turns in the open trees for nearly 1,000'.
Once at Puerto Nambe we augmented our plans to return back over Lake Peak via Penitente and just opt for the Windsor trail egress. IT was a great day and we didn't feel like we needed to push it along any more.
We celebrated with margaritas and Mexican food at Maria's in Santa Fe. I'm glad that I have an opportunity in my life to share my experiences with an up-and-coming mountain guide like Justin. Enough can't be said about having a good partner on high adventure outings. Solid teamwork with good methods for attaining shares goals is a fortunate circumstance that should not be taken for granted. I'm fortunate to have friends like him and can't wait to get out there once again with them to make more great memories !
That's what dreams are made of.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
New Routes in Ouray - No Longer Your Father's Poser's Lounge
After getting back from Europe, I went to see Jason and Lisa Nelson up in Ouray, Colorado. Jason and I headed out to get more mixed climbing in before the season draws to a close. As fate would have it, Jason and I got in one day of climbing together before we decided that there needed to be some more new mixed lines in the Poser's Lounge on the way to Camp Bird.
Check out Jason's new write-up
We established a couple of new lines. The first is a major extension to Troglodyte. It now goes all the way to the top where the Goldline anchors are. The next is a traversing linkup that starts on Troglodyte, then crosses through the crux of Goldline and then past Fist Full of Steel, then finishes on Cinnamon and Cider. Although I'm not sure how hard these lines are since ratings to me are now in a contrived state, then climbing is fun.
Thanks to Clint Cook for letting us borrow his drill (I left mine at home) and to Bill Leo from Ouray Mountain Sports (OMS) for letting us spend some cash to get bolts and hangers on-demand!
I hope everyone gets a chance to get on these routes.
SKIING is the paradoxical universe that I live in. I"ll post something here as soon as I can get the photos up and modified.
Friday, February 12, 2010
European Wrap-up
Photo: Stelian Pavalache
Aside from all the new friends made, experience gained from going to all the World Competitions (including Rabenstein), and finding a way home through winter storms and airport closures, I sit down with a Starbucks at the airport and wonder "what just happened?" The whole trip flashed right by and I'm a month and a half older and already making plans for the remainder of the winter. Skiing is on the docket and I have 3 more avalanche courses to teach at Red Mountain Pass and in NM. In April, I'm gearing up for Alaska once again, this time for the AMGA Ski Mountaineering Guides Exam.
Here's some great images from Lukaz:
http://lwimages.ifp3.com/root/lwimages/iphoto/main2.cfm
Although the Ice World Ice Climbing Competitions remind me a lot of a traveling circus in many ways, it was enthralling to see so many new places, meet great people, and learn new skills. It's a highly demanding circuit. Those who wish to compete in only one or two competitions get a taste of the tour, but I feel that having stayed and competed in a11 of the competitions including both difficulty and speed has given me some insight on the training and mandates of the style of climbing necessary to be competitive in that venue. Most of the time it's a "downer" for the athletes since only one person can win. But even then, the winner knows that they could have done better. It's always that way. We know we can push ourselves, but its the times when we exceed our own expectations that we as athletes revel in the moment. That's the time when it all comes together and the stars align and our performance becomes memorable. We live for those times and anticipate their existence in our future. Experiencing a moment like this is what keeps us going.
I'm already building my own training facility to work on this and hope that I can interest some other good mixed ice climbers to train hard and become a competitor. The UIAA will be working with the Olympic Committee and will hopefully turn this into an Olympic event.
As it stands, there will be 5 World Cups next year. The sport is growing and there is interest in holding a World Cup in the USA. If you are interested in helping out, please contact me. Sponsors, athletes, and others interested in making this happen should join forces. The North Americans will need to train hard if we are to be competitive.
In the meantime, I'm glad to be back home in NM and am looking forward to getting in some more skiing, climbing, and getting back to feeling "normal" in this time zone for a while. I'll be back in school this semester as well and can't wait to start using the thinking side of my brain for a while. I'm hoping to get some good research going with the Exercise Science department.
I'll have to go through all the photos that Justin compiled while we were on the trip. I don't think I've seen many of them, we just shot first and will look later.
Snow on !
Sunday, February 7, 2010
UIAA European Open Ice Speed Climbing Competition in Romania
2/7/2010
Finishing up the 2010 Ice World Cup Circuit
So all of the preparation, planning, logistics, and thrill of competing in the World Cups in all the venues that we’ve been to over the last month and a half have been…extraordinary. The Euros like that the underdog Americans have made an appearance. Justin and I have been interviewed by media at every event. It’s intimidating since none of the Americans have ever made much of a presence in Europe.
I’ve learned so much in such a short period of time. New friends have been made, new connections with climbers from all over Europe and Asia have been established, and I had the opportunity to see many places and cultures that I have wanted to see since I was a kid. I have been encouraged and inspired by some of the world’s best mixed rock and ice climbers. The blood lines of experience from many of the original competitors have been passed down to the next generations of climbers that we are competing with. Markus Bendler learned to climb hard mixed lines and was trained by Harry Berger who I have also climbed with in Ouray, Colorado in past years. There’s less than 3 degrees of separation many times as this is a small community.
There is a lot of energy to get a World Competition in the United States. All of the competitors and UIAA Organizers have been very positive about the USA presence on this entire circuit. They feel that it makes for a more international competition. Furthermore, it validates their Olympic movement. There is a lot of energy being put into mixed climbing becoming a venue at the Winter Games. This may not happen in my lifetime of being a competitor, but perhaps I am contributing in some way to make this happen. Both Justin and I are interested in putting together a circuit of sorts in the USA. I have been told that I have two months to tell Urs (the Swiss coach representing the Ice Climbing Federation) if it might be possible to position a mock World Competition in the USA for next year. Although I am excited about the prospect to put an event on, I also realize the implications of taking on such a task from my experience with the Ouray Competitions in the past.
Therefore, I think it is prudent to call on anyone who thinks they have a possible venue, organizational structure in place, and the interest to consider hosting this type of event. I would be more than happy to have a lengthy discussion with those who would like to contribute. Justin and I have some great ideas, but we would need a lot of help to accomplish something of this magnitude.
An event like this in the USA means something different for every individual person. I can’t see anything bad about an event like this on a personal note and I have a laundry list of how it can be a good and positive thing not only for the general ice climbing community and those in the industry, but also for the USA.
We didn’t attend the competition for the finals. Rather, Malcolm drove Urs, Leight, Justin, and me 40km to the north on a mountainous, winding, and snow packed icy road to the north to visit the castle of Dracula. Yes, we learned all about the history and creation of Dracula on a cold, dark, blizzarding day in the Transylvanian Alps. The drab mid-century décor of the castle, along with the foreign feeling was good enough to have some Halloween-style fun. I couldn’t help but think about how many people had been killed with sharp tools in and around the Braun Castle, and now here we are to compete in an athletic event, having a different way to use our sharp tools, and nobody dies. What a concept!
I do know that when we got back and saw the finals, this is what Markus Bendler looked like as the 2010 overall Ice World Champion !!! This guy is a MACHINE I say...maybe he's a Terminator.
Back to Skiing!
Well, we’re in Romania and its puking snow. We competed in the UIAA Open European Championship – Romania. It was laden with Russians and they really wanted us to compete to “make it more interesting.” Ya, it was interesting all right. I missed my first round of climbing out of 5 chances and also got no practice or warm-up before having to climb. I pulled the picks right out of the ice with my Russian-made fifi ice axes on the first round. The second round went better since I made it to the top. I just wanted to get up the thing for a change without the ice breaking. Then, a Bulgarian put a ice tool through his thigh. He was bleeding and limping. There’s really nowhere for someone to get medical care here, but a family doctor was present at the ski are base and came over to take a look. She said to just leave it alone. I told the competitor that I would suture him up for free if he would like, and he agreed. I left the competition and took him into the Red Cross aid room where I was able to break out my medical kit, do a proper job stitching his leg back together, and returning him to the event.
Fortunately, I didn’t miss my turn, so I got a chance to climb again and this time I reached the top. Sweet! Only more than half as fast as the Russians, but I made it. It’s all I can do to get up the climbs without gacking myself in the legs or piffing myself with a crampon tip. I blame my weight pulling the ice apart, but I’m sure it’s my technique that holds me back. I just don’t have a lot of interest in speed climbing because it’s just a side show to the main circus event for me, the difficulty competition, and a way to have some fun. I don’t take it seriously enough to be a real competitor, yet I’ve scored higher in speed climbing than I have in difficulty. What’s up with that?
After today we’re hitting the slopes on our way back to Bucharest.
With all the snow that is falling over the last two days it might be possible that there could be some good skiing available. There’s some quite steep terrain around, up to 60°, or so we’ve heard. There’s not much in the way of rentals here. They have no telemark equipment anywhere, so Leigh will have to learn how to turn with her heels locked down. There’s no touring equipment available for rent either so I guess we’re not heading out to the back country.
I'm ready for some green chili chicken enchiladas!
Finishing up the 2010 Ice World Cup Circuit
So all of the preparation, planning, logistics, and thrill of competing in the World Cups in all the venues that we’ve been to over the last month and a half have been…extraordinary. The Euros like that the underdog Americans have made an appearance. Justin and I have been interviewed by media at every event. It’s intimidating since none of the Americans have ever made much of a presence in Europe.
I’ve learned so much in such a short period of time. New friends have been made, new connections with climbers from all over Europe and Asia have been established, and I had the opportunity to see many places and cultures that I have wanted to see since I was a kid. I have been encouraged and inspired by some of the world’s best mixed rock and ice climbers. The blood lines of experience from many of the original competitors have been passed down to the next generations of climbers that we are competing with. Markus Bendler learned to climb hard mixed lines and was trained by Harry Berger who I have also climbed with in Ouray, Colorado in past years. There’s less than 3 degrees of separation many times as this is a small community.
There is a lot of energy to get a World Competition in the United States. All of the competitors and UIAA Organizers have been very positive about the USA presence on this entire circuit. They feel that it makes for a more international competition. Furthermore, it validates their Olympic movement. There is a lot of energy being put into mixed climbing becoming a venue at the Winter Games. This may not happen in my lifetime of being a competitor, but perhaps I am contributing in some way to make this happen. Both Justin and I are interested in putting together a circuit of sorts in the USA. I have been told that I have two months to tell Urs (the Swiss coach representing the Ice Climbing Federation) if it might be possible to position a mock World Competition in the USA for next year. Although I am excited about the prospect to put an event on, I also realize the implications of taking on such a task from my experience with the Ouray Competitions in the past.
Therefore, I think it is prudent to call on anyone who thinks they have a possible venue, organizational structure in place, and the interest to consider hosting this type of event. I would be more than happy to have a lengthy discussion with those who would like to contribute. Justin and I have some great ideas, but we would need a lot of help to accomplish something of this magnitude.
An event like this in the USA means something different for every individual person. I can’t see anything bad about an event like this on a personal note and I have a laundry list of how it can be a good and positive thing not only for the general ice climbing community and those in the industry, but also for the USA.
We didn’t attend the competition for the finals. Rather, Malcolm drove Urs, Leight, Justin, and me 40km to the north on a mountainous, winding, and snow packed icy road to the north to visit the castle of Dracula. Yes, we learned all about the history and creation of Dracula on a cold, dark, blizzarding day in the Transylvanian Alps. The drab mid-century décor of the castle, along with the foreign feeling was good enough to have some Halloween-style fun. I couldn’t help but think about how many people had been killed with sharp tools in and around the Braun Castle, and now here we are to compete in an athletic event, having a different way to use our sharp tools, and nobody dies. What a concept!
I do know that when we got back and saw the finals, this is what Markus Bendler looked like as the 2010 overall Ice World Champion !!! This guy is a MACHINE I say...maybe he's a Terminator.
Back to Skiing!
Well, we’re in Romania and its puking snow. We competed in the UIAA Open European Championship – Romania. It was laden with Russians and they really wanted us to compete to “make it more interesting.” Ya, it was interesting all right. I missed my first round of climbing out of 5 chances and also got no practice or warm-up before having to climb. I pulled the picks right out of the ice with my Russian-made fifi ice axes on the first round. The second round went better since I made it to the top. I just wanted to get up the thing for a change without the ice breaking. Then, a Bulgarian put a ice tool through his thigh. He was bleeding and limping. There’s really nowhere for someone to get medical care here, but a family doctor was present at the ski are base and came over to take a look. She said to just leave it alone. I told the competitor that I would suture him up for free if he would like, and he agreed. I left the competition and took him into the Red Cross aid room where I was able to break out my medical kit, do a proper job stitching his leg back together, and returning him to the event.
Fortunately, I didn’t miss my turn, so I got a chance to climb again and this time I reached the top. Sweet! Only more than half as fast as the Russians, but I made it. It’s all I can do to get up the climbs without gacking myself in the legs or piffing myself with a crampon tip. I blame my weight pulling the ice apart, but I’m sure it’s my technique that holds me back. I just don’t have a lot of interest in speed climbing because it’s just a side show to the main circus event for me, the difficulty competition, and a way to have some fun. I don’t take it seriously enough to be a real competitor, yet I’ve scored higher in speed climbing than I have in difficulty. What’s up with that?
After today we’re hitting the slopes on our way back to Bucharest.
With all the snow that is falling over the last two days it might be possible that there could be some good skiing available. There’s some quite steep terrain around, up to 60°, or so we’ve heard. There’s not much in the way of rentals here. They have no telemark equipment anywhere, so Leigh will have to learn how to turn with her heels locked down. There’s no touring equipment available for rent either so I guess we’re not heading out to the back country.
I'm ready for some green chili chicken enchiladas!
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