An Insight in Ice Technique

Written by Rob Cotter, 1984

“We are Homo Sapiens, the tool users. We earn The name by developing tools to increase our leverage on the world around us … “

So states Yvon Chouniard, master alpinist and dynamic influence in the evolution of modern ice tools.

While many technologies have contributed to the high standards obvious today in ice climbing, perhaps none is so radical as the development of the toothed, drooped pick tools and the arrival of piolet traction to the realm of alpinism. Piolet traction, the placement of these tools by overhand swing so the pick will give purchase in steep ice has placed an almost limitless bound on what ice may be climbed.

Written by Eric Pfirman in January 1984. Pictures by Eric Pfirman.

In May 1984, three adventurers from Syracuse, New York left for a Himalayan journey. Eric Pfirman and Micheal Rodriguez traveled to Delhi with Pankaj Jain, a native of India. Their goal was to travel and absorb India’s culture and her mountains. They traveled to the Shivling region, and climbed Kedar Dome, as well as a few minor peaks. Eric and Micheal were introduced to Pankaj’s India and now Eric lets us all in on a few of his discoveries.

The following descriptions concern the discovery, naming, and first ascent information for a few of the Adirondack High Peaks. All of the data and drawings in this article were taken from Russell M. L. Carson’s book, Peaks and People of the Adirondacks, published by the Adirondack Mountain Club in 1927. For all those interested in mountain history, this book is priority material!

As one shall discover, there will always be a debate concerning the actual “first” ascent or “the” accurate name of these mountains. Since both red and white man have inhabited this region, it is certainly a dilemma in choosing between either nations’ claims. As to the nature of things, the conquering nation usually assumes control over recorded history.

Fortunately, some men back in the 1870’s had the insight to record in history both cultures, so that today, we can reflect back and learn some of the truth and history of our Adirondacks.

The Pamir plains would one day be the meeting place of Afghanistan, Russia and China. But now this high elevation steppe was not claimed by any human government; and it was home only to wildlife that could survive temperatures of 40 degrees F at night.

The story of events shaped in the past always seems to interest us living in the present. People are incessantly intrigued by various accounts, especially concerning our Adirondacks. Harold Weston, the famed painter of St. Hubert’s, felt the urge to record some of his memories in a book called Freedom in the Wilds. His own statement in the preface sums up his purpose quite adequately:

The following new route descriptions (as of September 1984) are supplemental to Climbing in the Adirondacks , by Don Mellor. Most were put up this summer, on a variety of crags. The Adirondacks continue to offer much in the way of rock climbing without crowds and in panoramic mountain settings.

Editor’s Note: Most of these routes are incorporated in the marvelous guide, Adirondack Rock, by Jim Lawyer and Jeremy Haas.

Written by Robert Hey, 1984.

When citizens set out to climb a mountain like the Riffelberg, they must prepare to encounter weather: banshee winds, gloom in thick blankets, snowfall down the napes of shivering necks, rime forming shapes off noses like whiskey bottles. That is why America’s most jaded author entered the Brew in Bivy outfitting shoppe before leaving on his expedition to that peerless peak in 1875.

During the 1930’s, a small group of climbers discovered a world of rock and silence deep in the interior of the High Peaks. But you may still climb in desolate places in the Adirondacks where the only sounds are lonely winds, the falcon’s cry and your breathing as you move up the rock.

It is with the hope that more people will enjoy the challenge of wilderness rock climbing that we present the following area profiles and a sprinkle of climbing history.

Excerpts from the journal of Horatio de Beer (our favorite fictional guide character).

March 13. Outside my window it snows. Not very much, but the once barren, brown earth becomes saturated with white swaths. From my porch on Beede Pond, I cannot even perceive Porter Mountain. But there is no reason to stay inside. As I cook myself breakfast, I feel a short jaunt is certainly in order.

The literature of high mountain exploration has, with few exceptions, not matched the achievements of climbing authors at high altitude. Few topics have more potential for a capti’vating story than the joining of people in a common struggle towards a distant, dangerous goal. Why then, in the last decade, have so few published accounts of these undertakings gone beyond the bland diary style of daytoday progress on the mountain?