Rock climber killed in fall

Washbowl Cliff is the large precipice in the center. Photo by Phil Brown.

A rock climber from Lake Placid fell to his death yesterday evening at the Upper Washbowl  Cliff in the Giant Mountain Wilderness.

Dennis Murphy, who was thirty-five, slipped while walking along the top of the cliff after ascending Hesitation, a classic route on the popular climbing cliff.

Murphy and his partner, Dustin Ulrich, planned to rappel from an anchor at the top of another climbing route called Partition, according to State Police Lt. Scott Heggelke. The trooper said Ulrich was setting up the rappel when Murphy lost his footing and fell more than two hundred feet onto the rocks below.

It’s believed that Murphy died instantly.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation was notified about the accident about 6:10 p.m., according to DEC spokesman David Winchell.

Murphy, a passionate climber, had worked at the EMS store in Lake Placid for the past four years.

“He was an awesome, strong, great guy,” said Anita Sayers, a floor supervisor at the store.

Ulrich also worked at the outdoors store.

The base of the cliff is about a half-mile from Route 73. DEC forest rangers and wilderness rescuers from the Keene Valley and Keene fire departments reached the body within an hour of the emergency call, according to Ron Konowitz, a volunteer rescuer from Keene. He said Murphy was already dead. A State Police helicopter flew the body out of the wilderness.

Konowitz, who has climbed Upper Washbowl, said he didn’t think Murphy did anything wrong. “He was just walking along the top and slipped,” he said.

Hesitation is a 325-foot route of moderate difficulty, rated 5.8 on the Yosemite scale. It was established in 1958 by John Turner, a well-known climber, and two partners, according to the guidebook Adirondack Rock.

Jim Lawyer, the co-author of the guidebook, said he believes this is the sixth climbing fatality in the Adirondacks and the second at Upper Washbowl. There have been three deaths at Wallface, the region’s highest cliff, and one at Poke-O-Moonshine.

The last fatality occurred in October 2007 when Dennis Luther, an experienced climber, fell about two hundred feet in a rappelling accident on Poke-O. He was fifty-four.

The school of hard rocks

Although you can’t learn rock climbing from a book, you’ll find a lot of rock-climbing manuals at EMS in Lake Placid, the Mountaineer in Keene Valley, and other outdoors stores. These books are no substitute for experience, but they do reinforce lessons you’re likely to hear from professional guides and veteran climbers.

Royal Robbins. Photo from "Basic Rockcraft."

 I own several such books. One of my favorites was written by Lake Placid’s own Don Mellor: A Trailside Guide: Rock Climbing, published by W.W. Norton & Co.

Recently, I finished a classic of the genre, Basic Rockcraft by Royal Robbins, from way back in 1971.

Royal Robbins ranks among the giants in the annals of climbing. He made his reputation pioneering big-wall climbs in Yosemite and elsewhere. In 1957, to name just one feat, he and two others made the first ascent of the northwest face of Half Dome. It took them five days. Following the onset of arthritis in the late seventies, Robbins retired from serious climbing and took up adventure kayaking. He also founded an apparel company.

Much of the advice about climbing technique in Basic Rockcraft remains as sound as ever. However, I was struck by how much the equipment has changed.

Shoes. In the photos in the book, Robbins and other climbers wear what appear to be hiking boots and socks. For all I know, these may actually be the rock-climbing shoes of the day, for he discusses the advantages of specialized rock shoes and notes that some of them have cleats. In any case, the boots in the photos are a far cry from the sticky-sole slippers favored by climbers today.

Harnesses. Robbins did not enjoy the comfort and security of a manufactured harness. Instead, he wrapped webbing (flat rope) around his waist and tied loops for his thighs, creating a proto-harness known as a “Swami belt.” He also used webbing to create seat slings for rappels.

Belay devices. Modern climbers feed the climbing rope through metal belay devices when belaying or rappelling. These devices generate friction to stop a fall or control a descent. Lacking such devices, the climbers in Robbins’s day generated friction by wrapping the rope around their bodies and sometimes feeding it through stacked carabiners as well.

Helmets. In his discussion on equipment, Robbins nowhere mentions helmets, and the climbers in the photos do not wear them.

Chalk. Nor does he mention chalk, which is ubiquitous today. Climbers use chalk to keep their palms and fingers dry.

Pitons. A piton hammer and pitons were still part of the essential equipment. Robbins lists five types of pitons and describes how to place and remove them. At the same time, more benign forms of protective anchors were coming into use, namely, artificial chockstones, or nuts, that could be wedged into cracks. Robbins advocated using nuts over pitons whenever possible. They don’t deface the cliff, he said, and offer the climber greater satisfaction: “the silent communion between man and rock, the feeling that one is with the rock, the greater sensitivity to its minute variations and configurations, the knowledge that one is not violating the rock, smashing it with pitons.” His defense of “clean climbing” helped changed the sport. There are now a wide variety of nuts and camming devices on the market.

All of the equipment innovations since the publication of Basic Rockcraft have served to make climbing easier and safer. In Robbins’s era, a difficult climb would be rated 5.9 or perhaps 5.10 in the Yosemite Decimal System. Nowadays, the best climbers have managed to do routes rated as high as 5.15, which once would have been considered impossible. But could they do them in hiking boots?

Did you ever climb with the old equipment? If so, we’d love to hear about it. How much have equipment improvements changed the sport and made climbing easier?

Photo from "Basic Rockcraft."

Following in the footholds of Fritz

Rock climbers risk their lives in pursuit of their passion. So they’re a tough bunch. Just listen to this snippet of dialogue between Jecinda Hughes and Josh Wilson.

“You’re getting to the midway point of your rope, honey,” Jecinda yells to Josh.

Jecinda Hughes belays Josh Wilson as he begins the ascent of the chimney on Hurricane Crag. Photo by Phil Brown.

“Thanks, babe,” Josh replies. “That’s OK—I’ve got only about ten feet to go.”

Jecinda is belaying her boyfriend as he ascends the chimney on the Old Route at Hurricane Crag between Keene and Elizabethtown.

Most climbers come to the crag for Quadrophenia, one of the Adirondacks’ most popular moderate routes (rated 5.7 on the Yosemite scale), or one of the stellar harder routes, such as Forever Wild or My Generation (both rated 5.10). But our aim is to follow in the footsteps and hand holds of Fritz Wiessner, one of the greatest climbers and mountaineers of his day.

Wiessner pioneered nearly twenty climbing routes in the Adirondacks in the 1930s and 1940s. He established the Old Route on Hurricane Crag with George Austin. They were the first climbers to visit the crag.

The route is rated 5.3, considered an easy climb by today’s standards. The highlight is a 110-foot ascent through a chimney at the start of the first pitch. The guidebook Adirondack Rock describes this pitch as “incredible—perhaps the largest, highest, deepest, most continuous chimney of its kind in the Adirondacks. Here Wiessner once again picked the plum feature.”

Josh leads our climb, placing protective gear every ten feet or so to prevent a fatal fall.

“This is cool,” he shouts down from about seventy feet. “You guys are going to love it.”

And a little later: “Woo! Wild!”

After reaching the end of the pitch, Josh belays first me, then Jecinda. Although the chimney rises almost straight up, it contains numerous ledges and holds for your feet and hands. The ascent is not especially difficult. Nevertheless, I emerge from the thing with a bloody knee.

It takes about an hour and a half for the three of us to complete the first pitch. From the belay ledge, we enjoy marvelous views of the Giant Mountain Wilderness to the south.

Jecinda rappels off the cliff.

The second pitch, an easy scramble over slab and up a rock groove, is an anticlimax. Because Jecinda has go to work at Lisa G’s in Lake Placid, we climb only a portion of the third and final pitch before rappelling down to the base of the cliff.

Someday we’ll return to complete our homage to Old Fritz.

Click here to read about another Wiessner route in the Adirondacks.

DIRECTIONS: From Keene, drive east on NY 9N for 4.8 miles and look for a herd path on the north side of the highway. The hike to the cliff takes about twenty minutes. The state has plans to mark the approach trail and build a parking area.

Falcons nesting on rock-climbing cliffs

State biologists have confirmed that peregrine falcons are nesting on two popular rock-climbing cliffs, Upper Washbowl and Poke-o-Moonshine.

The discovery of the nest on Upper Washbowl means that cliff will remain closed to climbers, but the routes on Lower Washbowl are now open. Upper Washbowl boasts twenty-one routes, including some of the best moderate multipitch routes in Chapel Pond Pass, according to the guidebook Adirondack Rock.

Falcons also are nesting on the Main Face of Poke-O, probably in the vicinity of the Nose, according to Joe Racette, a biologist with the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The department won’t open any new routes on the Main Face until scientists ascertain exactly where the nest is.

Poke-O is one the Adirondacks’ premier rock-climbing venues. The Main Face alone has 167 routes. Only twenty-four of those are open. You can find a list of the open routes in an earlier post.

Upper Washbowl closed

Last week, I posted a list of rock-climbing routes that are closed to protect the postential nesting sites of peregrine falcons. This morning, the state Department of Environmental Conservation announced that it is adding the Upper Washbowl routes to the list. The following is an e-mail sent out by Joe Racette, a DEC wildlife biologist:

We have observed peregrine falcons engaged in nesting behavior at the Upper Washbowl cliff at Chapel Pond, and effective immediately are closing all climbing routes on Upper Washbowl Cliffs.  Climbing routes on Lower Washbowl cliff will remain closed until peregrine falcon nesting on Upper Washbowl cliff is confirmed.

Falcons feast on ill bats

A year ago, scientists learned that a large bat hibernaculum exists somewhere near Chapel Pond. They inferred as much when dying bats were discovered flying around Route 73 last March, long before bats usually emerge from hibernation.

A peregrine falcon chick. Photo from Wikipedia.

Peregrine falcons that nest near Chapel Pond also discovered the bats. They returned from their winter habitat early this year, in mid-February, and a state biologist thinks they did so to feed on the sick bats. The bats suffer from white-nose syndrome, which has devastated bat populations through the Northeast.

“We observed the falcons foraging on bats both last year and this year,” said Joe Racette, a senior biologist with the state Department of Environmental Conservation. “They’ve been coming back a little bit earlier every year, but I think they learned last year that there was an early food source.”

Racette said DEC has not been able to ascertain the exact location of the hibernaculum, but he noted that a rock climber has seen bats in a crack on the Spider’s Web, a cliff on the north side of the highway.

Meanwhile, DEC plans to close, starting Monday, more than two hundred rock-climbing routes on three cliffs to protect falcon nesting sites. Some or all of the routes should be reopened later in the spring or summer once scientists learn where the falcons are actually nesting.

“We close the routes early on to allow the falcons to choose nest sites without being affected by human activity,” Racette said.

All the climbing routes on Moss Cliff in Wilmington Notch and on Lower Washbowl near Chapel Pond will be closed until further notice. In addition, DEC will close all but twenty-four of the 167 routes on Poke-o-Moonshine’s Main Face.

DEC will post updates on the closures on its website.

Following is a list of the routes on Poke-o’s Main Face that will remain open:

1.         Opposition

2.         Goat’s Foot on Rock

3.         High and Dry

4.         Bushmaster

5.         Big Buddha

6.         Bushido

7.         Bodacious

8.         Pearly Gates

9.         Kaibob

10.       Battle Creek

11.       Static Cling

12.       Certified Raw

13.       Air Male

14.       Son of a Mother

15.       Phase III

16.       Bastard

17.       Ladder

18.       Puppies on Edge

19.       Hang ’Em High

20        Group Therapy

21.       Adonis

22.       Pandemonium

23.       Discord

24.       A Womb with a View

Soloing Chapel Pond Slab

The view of Giant Mountain from Chapel Pond Slab. Photo by Phil Brown.

After days of cold rain, we received some sunshine in Saranac Lake on Sunday. On the spur of the moment, I decided to solo Chapel Pond Slab, perhaps my last rock climb of the season.

By solo, I mean I climbed it without a partner and without ropes or protection. I did wear a helmet, and I let a friend know what I was doing.

Some people see soloing as foolhardy, but if you stay within your comfort level, it’s not as big a risk as it might seem to a non-climber.

The base of the slab.

In my case, I combined two easy routes. I climbed the first three pitches of Regular Route and then traversed right to Bob’s Knob Standard. The two routes join near the top of Bob’s Knob, a prominent bulge that overlooks the slab and Chapel Pond. By combining them, I avoided the hardest pitch on Regular Route.

Was I nervous? Yes, a little, because I haven’t done much soloing. During the ascent, I listened to Keith Jarrett’s Koln Concert on my iPod. I thought his piano solos would help relax me. And it’s great music.

Despite the recent rains, the slab proper was mostly dry, so I had no trouble avoiding the wet spots. Climbing this part of the slab is largely a matter of smearing your sticky soles against the rock and finding small toeholds.

The hardest part of the climb came later on Bob’s Knob Standard. At the base of the knob, you must execute a tricky move to get onto a rocky prow and then ascend through a chimney. It’s not terribly difficult, but on this day, the prow and chimney were cold and wet. As I felt around for small holds, my fingers started to get numb.

After the chimney, I enjoyed some more slab climbing to the top of the knob, with its wonderful view of Chapel Pond and Giant Mountain. The knob is named for Bob Notman. He and John Case, a pioneering climber, ascended Bob’s  Knob Standard, the first known route on Chapel Pond Slab, in 1933.

I descended through the woods, coming out on the highway near Chapel Pond. Keith Jarrett was still playing. It occurred to me that Koln Concert was the perfect choice for my climb. Jarrett was soloing, too, and improvising. Of course, Jarrett is an artist. I was playing Chopsticks.

Adirondack Climbing Film Festival

Tommy Caldwell tries a new route on El Capitan. Photo by Corey Rich/Courtesy of Reel Rock Film Tour.

It may have snowed in Lake Placid this week, but it’s not time yet to put away those sticky-soled shoes and get out the crampons. High Peaks Cyclery is offering free rock-climbing clinics as part of the second annual Adirondack Climbing Film Festival in Lake Placid this weekend.

The festivities will kick off with a presentation by Adirondack photographer Carl Heilman II. His slide show will run from 7-9 p.m. in the High Peaks Mountain Guide House, which is located next-door to High Peaks Cyclery on Main Street in Lake Placid. Beer and cheese will be served. High Peaks Cyclery is converting the building into a museum celebrating Adirondack guides.

On Saturday, High Peaks Cyclery will host a number of events, including a “Yoga for Climbers” clinic from 7:30-8:30 a.m., outdoor rock-climbing clinics from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and a slack-line walking competition from 4-5 p.m. Click here for a full list of activities.

Unfortunately, rain is forecast for Saturday, and the rock-climbing clinics will be canceled if it does rain. Although the clinics are free, participants are asked to tip their guides. Attendance is limited to six to ten people, depending on the clinic.

On Saturday night, the Reel Rock Film Tour will show a series of short climbing films at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts at 17 Algonquin Drive. The films feature such top climbers as Tommy Caldwell, Alex Honnold, Chris Sharma, and many more. The films start at 7:30, with music by Split Rock in the half-hour preceding.

Tickets may be purchased in advance at High Peaks Cyclery for $15 or at the door for $17.

Climbing without a rope

A month ago, I went rock climbing with Mark Meschinelli at Poke-O-Moonshine. One of the Adirondacks’ most experienced climbers, Mark led a friend and me up an easy (but classic) route called Catharsis.

Mark went first and belayed us at the end of each pitch, drawing in rope as we ascended. If we had slipped, we would not have fallen far, if at all. But Mark climbed the cliff without a belay, meaning if he had fallen, he could have died or at least got badly banged up.

Mark Meschinelli, relaxing on Catharsis.

 I don’t think I’m nuts. I don’t think Mark is nuts. But I marvel at climbers who free-solo some of the most difficult routes in the country–routes that at one time would have been considered impossible with or without a rope.

Last year, for example, Alex Honnold free-soloed a two-thousand-foot route on Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. And then there’s the French climber, Alain Robert, who has gained fame for scaling skyscrapers around the world.

I asked Meschinelli about Honnold’s climb during our outing at Poke-O. Mark noted that Honnold and his kind are elite athletes. Honnold felt confident on Half Dome just as I felt confident on the Eagle Slide.

Still, all it takes is one slip to end a free soloist’s life. And how long can anyone climb without making a slip? We were reminded of this last week when John Bachar, a legend in climbing circles, fell to his death near his home in the Sierras. He had been free-soloing for years, and it seemed that if anybody could beat the odds, he could. As it turned out, he couldn’t.

I’ve appended a few links for those who want to find out more about Bachar. Whatever you think of free soloing, he led a fascinating life.

• New York Times obituary
• Remembrance on Salon.com
• A video of Bachar (in his younger days) on a solo climb
• A discussion of Bachar’s death on Views from the Top, the forum for Northeastern hikers

Climbing the Eagle

Nearing the top of the Eagle. Photo by Phil Brown.

In the Adirondacks, we don’t have much terrain above tree line, but for those hikers who want to experience a little exposure, we do have slides. These are formed when a rainstorm saturates the thin soil on a steep slope and washes away the vegetation, creating a scar of bedrock and a natural pathway to a summit.

Perhaps the best slide climb in the Adirondacks is the Eagle on the west cirque of Giant Mountain. It’s the only slide given five stars (the highest rating) in Adirondack Rock: A Rock Climber’s Guide. The book calls it “a great introduction to East Coast mountaineering.” It’s 1,300 feet and rated fourth class.

I climbed the Eagle yesterday (6.25.09) for the third time. The first time I wore hiking boots and picked my way up by the easiest routes possible. The other two times I wore rock-climbing shoes, which made the ascent much more enjoyable. I was able to scramble straight up the rock without much fear of slipping.

Rock shoes or approach shoes are recommended, because if you do slip, you’re likely to tumble a long way. Since my first ascent of the Eagle, I have done several fifth-class roped ascents on Wallface, Poke-O-Moonshine, Rogers Rock, and Chapel Pond Slab. These all required friction climbing similar to that on the Eagle. As I ascended the Eagle, I found myself thinking, “Hey, this is just like rock climbing–except I don’t have a rope or a helmet.”

So if you’re thinking of doing the Eagle, don’t undertake the trip lightly. It’s much steeper than most slides in the Adirondacks, such as those on Whiteface, Dix, and Nippletop.

I did the trip solo yesterday. I’m embarrassed to say it took me nine hours. I was on the Roaring Brook hiking trail for the first mile or so. I then began a long bushwhack up the brook, which took me more than three hours. I later discovered that I could have saved a lot of time by continuing on the hiking trail and picking up a herd path that leads to the brook. I’m not sure when this herd path was established. I didn’t notice it on my earlier trips several years ago.

When I got to the base of the Eagle, I changed into my rock shoes. With these on, I felt confident going more or less straight up the face. The rock doesn’t have an abundance of cracks, but it has plenty of pockmarks and tiny ridges and bulges for grip.

I spent about an hour on the face. This includes stops for lunch, photos, admiring the views, and changing into and out of my climbing shoes. As you ascend, you can see most of the High Peaks–all unbroken wilderness–as well as parts of Lake Champlain and Vermont. The golf course of the Ausable Club is conspicuous in the valley below.

At the top, the slide narrows into a slot between the trees. This takes you to a boulder with a flat top, a good place for changing shoes or taking in the scenery. From here it’s less than a minute to the hiking trail. Turn left, and you’ll be at Giant’s summit ledges in maybe two more minutes.

The descent by the trail is only 3.6 miles, but it took me two and a half hours. It’s steep and often rocky or muddy, so it’s hard to make good time on this route. On this day, I was further slowed by tight-fitting boots that jammed my toes going downhill.

I’d wager that fit and experienced climbers who shorten the bushwhack by taking the herd path could do the Eagle in five to seven hours, depending on how much of a hurry they’re in. But even if it takes nine hours, it’s worth it.        

I bushwhacked up the valley in the center of this image. Photo by Phil Brown