Altarondacks — Episode 3

By:  Peter
March 12, 2012


A willingness for a bit more approach certainly worked for Jake, Rob, and me back just a few weeks ago. When we found our local low-lying hardwood glades uninspiring, we hopped on the early boat to Gnarville, and set our sites on a tall remote mountain. Of course, to get there, we had to start low…and slow…and in no snow.

It was a mere 3miles of walking in ski boots before we could finally set our skins on snow and start touring for real, and boy did it feel good.

A few miles more, and our objective finally came into sight, and we could appreciate why we had traveled so far.

Unfortunately, we had taken a lot longer to get here than planned. We were well behind schedule, and needed to think about our options. Would we let summit fever override our stated turn-back time? What extra risks were we exposing ourselves to by starting this climb so late in the day? We had no way of contacting those back home and letting them know of a change in our schedule. We took a break to assess our options, our gear, and our energy level….and when the group consensus was reached -> We decided it was time to break out the heavy metal, and get to earning some real vert, literally climbing our way out of a low tide snow season.

Fortunately for me, an ice rookie, I had Rob and Jake to belay me all the way up this 1,000vert.ft. beast.

A walk in the park for Rob and Jake (a sphincter puckering terror cling for me) and we were pulling up over the top.

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Read about the author:   Peter
Enjoy this TR? Read another: TR: Chemin de Dodo

Related Stuff:

  1. Altarondacks — Episode 1
  2. Altarondacks — Episode 2
  3. TR: Altarondacks — Episode 1
  4. TR: Altarondacks — Episode 2
  5. TR: Altarondacks — Episode 3
  6. VTah: Episode VI — Coming Soon

18 Comments

  1. Harvey44
    wrote on March 12th, 2012 at 9:42 am  
  2. Porter Haney
    wrote on March 12th, 2012 at 12:21 pm  
    2

    Bam. That was a glorious TR. I loved every word of it. Especially the heavy metal.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  3. Anonymous
    wrote on March 12th, 2012 at 2:02 pm  
    3

    Cant it just be the Adirondacks? To compare to Alta would require better snow, less glare ice. Not there’s anything wrong with that – but it aint Alta. Some would say its better than Alta. Others would at least say its unique and deserves to stand on its own.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • Greg
      wrote on March 13th, 2012 at 6:34 am  
      4

      You know ‘alta’ has other meanings besides ‘a ski area in Utah,’ right?

    • powhounddd
      wrote on March 13th, 2012 at 10:51 pm  
      5

      yeah check your spanglish. ;) FWIW we also have a small ski hill in Quebec by that name.

  4. Sam
    wrote on March 12th, 2012 at 6:07 pm  
    6

    as someone who’s done the entire approach to to that mountain on dry trails in ski boots, I implore anyone who reads this TR to, please, PLEASE, bring your hiking boots… you’ll be a lot happier! Looked like fun!

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  5. Jake
    wrote on March 12th, 2012 at 8:43 pm  
    7

    In honor of the late Steve Romeo, I would like to say that we did that “Teton Style”.

    RIP Steve.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  6. sbr
    wrote on March 13th, 2012 at 7:43 am  
    8

    Nicely done. I’d say that sacrificing some Good Husband Points was worth the gaining of Gnar Points.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  7. Peter
    wrote on March 13th, 2012 at 12:17 pm  
    9

    Anon, we usually put more effort into our skiing than our titles, have to admit this one was last minute. Got something better? If it’s good I’ll change the title.

    For those that might not get Jake’s “Teton Style” reference, here’s some back story:
    http://straightchuter.com/2012/03/remembering-steve-romeo/

    SBR, fortunately for us, our wives were mostly jealous, and not angry at all!

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • Greg
      wrote on March 13th, 2012 at 6:06 pm  
      10

      i like it… in my mind, ‘Altarondacks’ = ‘high Adirondacks’…

      Alta-snobs will just have to deal. And since I edit the site too, I win ;)

  8. Big Wave Dave
    wrote on March 13th, 2012 at 3:24 pm  
    11

    holy crap, been out of the loop, I can’t believe Steve Romeo died.

    LIVE TO SKI is really getting tested this year…….man, its just not worth it.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • Greg
      wrote on March 13th, 2012 at 6:06 pm  
      12

      been a couple years of hardcore testing… it’s time for all parties involved to be 100% sure that skiing is fun again. that’s of course a relative measurement, and so is only to be known to the ski of the beholder… but the emphasis has to be on the “fun” factor in the calculation… IMO of course

  9. RWM
    wrote on March 16th, 2012 at 11:07 am  
    13

    Skied those lines last year…hard to believe how different they look this year. Headed off to surf some slush myself in a hour…

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
  10. Anonymous
    wrote on September 25th, 2013 at 8:34 am  
    14

    Is there a reason why in the altarondacks posts you don’t describe specifically which peak and trail you’re skiing? Or am I not reading it correctly? I’m curious!

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • Jake
      wrote on September 29th, 2013 at 11:05 am  
      15

      you are reading it correctly. and there is a reason.

  11. Peter
    wrote on September 29th, 2013 at 11:17 am  
    16

    @Anonymous, yes, there are many reasons why we don’t describe which peak or trail we ski on. The biggest reason (for me, I won’t speak for the rest of FIS) is that it doesn’t add anything to the story to know exact locations. In fact, I think it takes away. The shots taken in this TR could have been taken on just about any ADK mountain, or NH, or ME. The principle idea we try to get across is that the skiing and adventure is out there, go find some. Don’t follow us, that would be boring. The reason why this Altarondack trip was fun for me was because we went to new (to us) places, not knowing what we’d find and with minimal expectations.
    The conditions that made *these exact places* look like they do in these photos are gone, so it’s pointless now to ask where it is….that place will be different for everyone who visits. Seek your own place, you may end up on the same peak we were on, but then it will be *your* peak, not “the one you saw on the internet”.

    Respond to this comment/comment thread
    • Anonymous
      wrote on September 30th, 2013 at 9:44 am  
      17

      Best answer. And inspirational. Can’t wait for the snow to start falling and the epxploring to begin.

      If you gave locations, I might have just used this site to find cool places to go. Instead, you now have someone anxiously awaiting the next post to see where all your adventures lead you. Good writing, great pictures and way to keep the spirit of adventure alive! See you out on the peaks.

    • Greg
      wrote on October 2nd, 2013 at 7:24 am  
      18

      Actually, apparently Peter CAN speak for the FIS, since that’s precisely the site’s MO as well. Well said Peter!

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