Mountainfest report

Last weekend, I saw a slide show in Keene Valley given by Steve House, one of the best mountaineers in the world. He’s an entertaining speaker, self-deprecating and down to earth despite his penchant for high places.

Steve House

Unfortunately, I missed the slide show given the the night before by Eric Weihenmayer, a blind climber who has ascended the highest summit on each of the seven continents–including, of course, Mount Everest. I heard it was a great show.

Both men were guests of the Adirondack International Mountainfest, which is put on each year by the Mountaineer in Keene Valley. The Mountainfest, which offers clinics in ice climbing, winter mountaineering, and avalanche safety, has raised $70,000 for local charities over the years.

For a full report on the Mountainfest, read Mike Lynch’s story in the the Adirondack Daily Enterprise.

Steve House at Mountainfest

Steve House

Reinhold Messner, regarded as one of the best mountaineers of all time, has described Steve House as “the best high-altitude climber in the world today.” So you know he’s good.

At this year’s Adirondack International Mountainfest, scheduled for the weekend of January 15-18, a small number of lucky ice climbers will get to learn from the master. House will teach a class in Intermediate and Advanced Ice on Saturday, January 16, and Advanced Ice the next day.

Both classes are full, but the public can catch House’s slide show at the Keene Valley Central School at 7:30 Saturday night.

The fourteenth-annual Mountainfest is hosted by the Mountaineer in Keene Valley and backed by a number of corporate sponsors, such as Black Diamond, La Sportiva, Petzl, Patagonia, and Outdoor Research.

Most of the classes taught by other instructors are also full, but openings remain for avalanche-safety courses on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. As of this week, there were a few spots left in ice-climbing courses taught by local guides Emilie Drinkwater and Don Mellor, author of Blue Lines: An Adirondack Ice Climber’s Guide.

The public also is welcome to attend a slide show by Erik Weihenmayer, the only blind climber to summit Mount Everest. It starts at 8 p.m. Friday at the Keene Valley Central School. A third slide show will be given on Sunday at 7:30. The presentation has yet to be announced.

The town’s fire department will host a spaghetti dinner from 5-7 Saturday  night.