Hurdy Gurdy Extravaganza

Lynn and I suffered through the worst post hole session that I have ever endured. The words of my friend Kellie kept running through my head, "Sherrie your legs are like alders, but mine are like douglas firs", I so wish that I had that pair of douglas firs busting that trail! In some places it wasn't even post holing, it was more like body shoveling. I had to use my knees to collapse the snow so that I could step on it....it was up to my boobs. More than once I wondered what we were thinking...and then I thought that karma was slapping me around for making fun of slow shoers so much this winter....anyway it was a fantastic day, long and very worthy!

The Hurdy Gurdy Climbs

 

I have no idea how Lynn could look so happy wallowing through the snow, but she did!

 

The middle climb looked bad ass, I was pretty much intimidated by the grey looking ice and the blank looking rock section between the two pitches. But it looked interesting so we decided to give it a go. After climbing up the thickest looking ice on the route and bottoming out 13cm screws, I pretty much decided by the top of the pitch that if the thickest looking ice wouldn't take short screws the top would be pretty much unprotectable with the rack that we had. I think that the line would go but you would need some super stubbies (10cm) and some rock gear.

Lynn and I at the Top of the First Pitch

 

Lynn Side Hilling over to the Second Climb

 

Car to car it took us 13 hours. It would have been so much faster had the snow not been so brutally soft and deep. But there is a beautiful trail in now for anyone else that wants to get after it!

To see lots more pictures of the climbs click here

Hurdy Gurdy Climbs 2008_03_10