Pinnacle Gully III 3

Huntington Ravine, Mount Washington, NH
Greg and Dave
2002.03.06

Topo Map

Pinkham Notch (2032')
Tuckerman Ravine Trail
Fire Road
Pinnacle Gully III 3
Along the rim south (~5200')
Raymond Cataract
Fire Road
Tuckerman Ravine Trail
Pinkham Notch (2032')
Total: ~5.6 miles, ~3200', 7:00


Notes
  • Our middle of the week strategy worked, we had Pinnacle completely to ourselves.
  • I'd forgotten how much easier the hike is in the winter :)
  • It was an exceptionally nice day, sunny, light winds (maybe 20mph), some light snow, temps in the upper 10's to lower 20's.
  • The light snow and wind dropped some small spindrift avalanches on us.
  • Ski goggles were nice for the belays, but not for climbing.
  • Greg lead the first pitch of 60° ice.
  • We both had water spray out of some pick placements, some of the ice was pretty slushy by the time I followed.
  • The ice was really a weird consistency, my picks just didn't want to stick (this was a new thing for them).
  • I was glad that Greg had lead this rather than me, but I get it next time :)
  • The second pitch was just steep névé. I lead with just one point of pro up to a small rock ledge where I drove the shafts of my axes into the snow for a belay anchor.
  • The third pitch started with snow covered ice bulge, then finished on more névé leading to the top of the gully.
  • To finish the third pitch, we simul-climbed until Greg reached the top and a good belay stance.
  • We stretched Greg's 50m double ropes on all three pitches. 55m or 60m ropes would have been nice.
  • For our descent, we aimed for The Escape Hatch, but missed it and ended up descending Raymond Cataract.
  • After sliding (self-arresting) for about 1200 vertical feet (I have bruises), we downclimbed the cataracts.
  • From the base of the cataracts, it was a nice hike through the woods following the river back to the Fire Road.
  • Overall, the cataracts were a great descent.

The first bit of the climb was really the talus field up to the base. Instead of rock scrambling though, it's now a big sheet of ice with some rocks pointing out. Much easier to navigate, but crampons, and ice axes (for self-arrest) are essential.

The climb is a WI 3, mostly for the first pitch. The first pitch is pretty sustained 60° ice, so not quite as steep as our secret quarry, but plenty steep to burn the calves. There was definitely some hydraulic pressure built up behind the ice, Greg had some water seeping out of pick placements on his lead. I climbed through a lot of slush, and had a couple placements that actually sprayed water. Greg ran the first pitch to the full rope length (I had to move up on the belay anchor). The belay anchor was rock pro, the pitch was protected with screws.

The second pitch was a short ice bulge followed by steep névé. It was pretty easy, but the pro sucked, I got a 0.5 tricam in part way up. I ended up belaying off my axes which I pounded shaft first into the névé just above a small rock ledge. Again we ran the ropes out to their full length.

The third pitch started with a couple short, snow covered ice bulges, then more névé to the top. Since Greg found some nice rock pro (one screw too), we simul-climbed the last 30 feet or so to the top of the pinnacle.

We hiked around the rim to the south headed for the escape hatch, but we must have been a little high on the slope, because we missed the gully, and ended up descending Raymond Cataract between Huntingtons and Tuckermans. The descent was pretty exciting. We basically sat down, stripped off the crampons, and slid for about 1200 vertical feet using self-arrest to remain under control (mostly). The slope was pretty icy and thus pretty fast. We slid down to just above the cataracts, downclimbed those, then had an easy hike through the woods following the river until we met up with the Fire Road again.
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© 2002 David Crosby
dave@snowyrock.net