Rock Adventures: The Daks

Adirondack Park is nearly 6 million blessed acres of wilderness. I went there for the first time in my life and it was beautiful. My wife and I spent two nights at The Stagecoach Inn in Lake Placid, and would wake every morning to the smell and warmth of baking bread. The Inn's Keeper, Mary Pat, also made homemade yogurt and granola and it was like nothing I've ever had. But that was just the appetizer. Following a bowl of fresh fruit she brought out an "Irish Breakfast" that consisted of homemade sausage patties, ham, bacon, grilled tomato, diced potatoes, and seasoned eggs. At around 5pm, just before guests would head out for dinner, she offered wine, cheese, and conversation by the fireplace. Two of the other guests we met there were older women, late 50's or early 60's, but both in fantastic shape. They spent their days cross-country skiing the areas World Class cross country ski trails. I should mention Lake Placid is home to the United State's Winter Olympic training grounds and truly has it all. But that relates to the Inn as well. The owner's husband, Tony, is part of the local Olympic Committee and was preparing to leave for Sochi for this year's Winter Olympic games to judge. If you're not already getting the picture of this being a winter wonderland destination take a look at this photo below. I should mention I took it in the middle of a snow storm that dropped 12 inches...this is the snow storm we drove in, for nearly 4 hours! But it gets better. We had started driving the night before right after leaving work, for two and a half hours, stopping at a hotel in the Catskills (which is about halfway) in order to get a head start on the blizzard. Turns out that was a wise decision because we might not have made it if we didn't.

But besides the Inn, Lake Placid also has ice climbing. Lots of ice climbing! We're up north in the mountains, after all. And here were the temps the morning of...

I had Alan join me for this trip. We had originally planned on Chapel Pond but decided to head over to an ice crag just across the North Face of Pitchoff Mountain (which has ice routes too). We found a thick large flow about 70 feet tall and 50 feet wide that offered numerous lines and variations. On this face, we did 4 route and they were all in the 4 to 4+ range of difficulty. And because this crag faces south we were in the sun all day which was wonderful since the temps that morning were the coldest I've ever been out ice climbing in.

Fantastic Daks Ice!

Thick, and steep!

Snow Crust made for interesting climbing.

Starting up another one of the various lines.

Getting a brief rest on a slope before heading back into the vertical.

But that wasn't all. To our immediate left was an interesting looking pillar of ice that Alan and I kept glancing at. Both of us were wondering just how solid the unbonded middle section was. I wondered if it was strong enough to climb on top-rope while Alan was having thoughts of leading it. We decided that I would try it first on top-rope, just to see how well it would hold. The route was steep but it did offer good footing and hooks for tool placements (instead of pounding them into the fragile ice). I was able to climb it and told Alan he should definitely go for it, as the climbing was incredible. The ice felt strong. I didn't hear it groan when I weighted it and was able to carefully tap my tools and crampons into the middle section a few times. Alan took his time on lead, putting two screws into the cone below the pillar, and then one just off to the right outside of the pillar on ice that had bonded to the rock. Although it was a short route, Alan said it was definitely a WI5 lead due to its dangerous nature (probably 4+ for top-rope). I got to give the man credit, as it was an incredible route to lead onsight!