Trapdike, December 2014
Two friends and I climbed the Trapdike on Mt Colden in the Adirondacks on Dec 20, 2014
trapdike, mt colden, adirondacks
The Adirondacks received a lot of snow this past December, so on December 20 the Trapdike was much more of a snow climb than an ice climb. In fact, at several points I was swinging my ice tools through a few inches of snow and into rock. And on the slab we found ourselves similarly having nothing under the snow to stick our crampons into.
Because of all snow, the gully part of the climb was easy at first. The 3 of us roped up together with a 60-meter rope, and Josh put in a few anchors and ice screws at the most tricky and exposed points. All 3 of us used 2 ice tools, although for much of the climb I gripped onto the top and used the handle like a mountaineering ice ax.
trapdike, mt colden, adirondacks
Once we got up to the final waterfall you could see that there was a lot more ice and the climbing was steeper. We decided to belay each other on this one pitch, for which we needed the full 60-meters of rope. Josh has by far the most experience ice climbing, so he led the pitch. Jacquie and I followed.
trapdike, above the final waterfall
We then moved straight forward, moving as far up the gully as we could to avoid the steeper slab sections.
trapdike, mt colden, adirondacks
trapdike, mt colden, adirondacks
The slab itself was a bit difficult because there wasn't hardly any ice below the snow to dig your crampons into. There was a few inches of snow, but often it felt like we were walking on rock with crampons. And because of the nature of the slab, there is a lot of exposure and nothing to stop you from sliding down if you fell. We kept to the far right where there was more snow and better traction.
trapdike, slab
trapdike, slab
trapdike, slab
Near the top the slab got even more steep, so we decided to move right into the trees for the final few hundred feet and bushwack to the peak of Colden.
trapdike, near peak of Colden
mt colden peak
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