Newfoundland Mike Wejchert (‘08)
Ryan Stefiuk, Alden Pellett, and I drove up to Newfoundland’s Gros Morne National Park in early February from my house in Jackson, New Hampshire, enduring horrible roads, ferry delays, and all other manner of travel problems along the way. We arrived a day late, leaving only four full days to climb the big ice we knew was hiding behind Newfoundland’s massive Fjords. After warming up on two single-pitch ice climbs directly above the frigid Atlantic Ocean, we skied into Trout Brook Pond hoping to climb one of the many 1,000’ routes. Packing the car that morning reminded me of my alpine apprenticeship in Rocky Mountain National Park: the wind threatened to take the doors off my car, spindrift billowed around us, even in the parking area, and the thermometer read -7°F. There was an added bonus: I fell in the pond up to my waist. I unclipped my skis and crawled out. Fortunately, it had warmed up, but the day was over. We decided to sleep and rest, and focus all our energy on climbing three big routes on the final three days of the trip. I plastered my feet to the heater and attacked my boots with a blow dryer. Alden—at 50, twice my age, with twice my experience on steep, scrappy ice— jokingly produced a pair of swim trunks for “junior” to pack in case he wanted to go swimming again. We spent the next three days getting snowmobiled ten miles into the fjord. We climbed three massive routes, each 1,500-2,000’, ranging from WI5 to WI5+ with the occasional M5 R pitch thrown in. Joe Terrevechia had done most of the routes in the area already, but we added a different finish to my personal favorite, finishing the trip with a 2,000’ route that felt more like an Alaskan classic than something on the east coast. Newfoundland is a huge arena, with paltry information, a remote setting, and not much hope for rescue. In short, it’s full on. We were the only climbers in Newfoundland at the time. Ryan was in contact with a pair of young students, including Jack Rodat (‘15), who is currently a student at Colorado College, who had done some climbs in the area earlier that winter. Congratulations to those guys! They’re probably the youngest climbers to ever visit the area, and they climbed some pretty badass routes, too. It makes me pretty happy— and awe-struck—to think of the youth getting after it in the wintertime. Alden made a film of the trip that can be
watched at NEICE.com, who generously supported our trip. Summary Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland Various Activity
Crack of Noon
Timothy Gibson (‘10) Jon Schaffer and I had an incredible trip in the Bugaboos this summer. We spent a total of five days shuttling gear and enjoyed generally favorable conditions. Our trip was characterized by many crack-of-noon starts, abundant slimy groveling, blisters on both of our palms from jamming, and the discovery of many immaculate, unclimbed features in the range. Our first major endeavor began at noon as we wandered across the Crescent Glacier to check out a new line on the north face of Snowpatch Spire. However, we could not deny the draw of the east face basking in sunlight, so we began climbing in the vicinity of the Beckey-Mather (V 5.8 A2). Our route, Cherchez La Femme (V 5.12 A0), branches right at the second pitch of Labyrinth (V 5.12), and follows enduro, overhanging hand cracks, bouldery, pin-protected compression climbing, powerful ring-locks and mucho wide, scary climbing to the top of the Tom Egan Wall. After moving to our intended base camp in East Creek Basin during a total whiteout, we climbed what we thought was the FA of the northwest face of Crossed Fish Peak via Red Fish, Blue Fish (IV+ 5.11 C2, followed free at 5.12-). Though this route will, and should, never be a classic—nor was it the FA of the face—it afforded us a grand adventure, taking all that we could muster to summit and descend. Eventually Jon and I found ourselves to be the only residents of East Creek Basin. With no source for weather reports, we were blessed with a relatively stable atmosphere and decided to attack the central west face of North Howser Tower—the main objective of our expedition. Reaching the base of the wall at 5:30 a.m., we climbed ten very long pitches through the lower corner system of Shooting Gallery into the Seventh Rifle gully, then following the face between Real Mescalito and Young Men on Fire to complete Doogie Howser (VI 5.11+) in 12 hours. A surprisingly mellow descent brought us back to basecamp in time for dinner as a
[Facing Page] Tim Gibson (‘10) face smearing on North Howser Tower. Jon Schaffer 68
CCAJ