One of my rock climbing partners, Mike, said he liked to ice
climb. I had always wanted to try ice climbing so we planned to try ice climbing
in locally in PA with a guide from EMS. Unfortunately the ice never came in so we were forced to
travel up to the Catskills to find some ice. And find some ice we did.
Buttermilk Falls turned out to be in outstanding condition and we climbed all
six pitches of it. I discovered that ice climbing is a different enough skill
set from mountaineering or rock climbing to where I just wasn't very good at it.
I had poor axe technique and even poorer foot work. My arms were so tired near
the top that they were almost useless.
The truly epic part of the day though was the approach in and
out. The falls were a significant bushwhack to get to the base. Then on the way
out, rather than rappel down the route we decided to bushwhack along the ridge
and find a different way back. The way out turned into an adventure of getting
trapped just above a huge steep mud slope and having to traverse above it. Then
narrowly avoiding getting crushed by a school bus size chunk of ice that broke
off of the falls we were about to travel underneath.
All in all vertical waterfall ice climbing was fun to try but
is not really my cup of tea. Some lower angle stuff like they have in the easier
gullies on Mt Washington might be more fun.
 Our
guide leads the 1st pitch |
 Note
the nice wide stance with his feet |
 Damn
this ice is hard and the chips fly up in your face |
 This
is easier when I hook the holes you already made |
 The
river was still running underneath the ice |
 Using
the holes again |
 Note
my incredibly poor foot position |
 Good
times |
 Looking
a little lacsidaisical |
 Now
I'm looking the best I did all day |
 Mike
seems to be enjoying himself |
 No
point in giving the guide a belay if he's not going to put in any pro |
 If
you put your axe in wet mossy mud, is that considered dry tooling? |
 Mike
showing moderately better form |
 Oh
Mike, don't crampon the rope! |
 I
dropped one of my axes while climbing this pitch |
 Our
guide getting it |
 Mike
was a little too tall for the mini cave |
 If
its stuck in the ice does that count as dropping it? |
 This
was by far the hardest pitch of the day |
Our
guide leads the 1st pitch
Note
the nice wide stance with his feet
Damn
this ice is hard and the chips fly up in your face
This
is easier when I hook the holes you already made
The
river was still running underneath the ice
Using
the holes again
Note
my incredibly poor foot position
Good
times
Looking
a little lacsidaisical
Now
I'm looking the best I did all day
Mike
seems to be enjoying himself
No
point in giving the guide a belay if he's not going to put in any pro
If
you put your axe in wet mossy mud, is that considered dry tooling?
Mike
showing moderately better form
Oh
Mike, don't crampon the rope!
I
dropped one of my axes while climbing this pitch
Our
guide getting it
Mike
was a little too tall for the mini cave
If
its stuck in the ice does that count as dropping it?
This
was by far the hardest pitch of the day