He reached out to us wanting to establish a date on the ice. Not for himself, but for his wife. She had a birthday coming up and he knew that doing some multipitch ice climbing was high on her list. We were there to make the day a reality as it turned out. The whole family was at our Basecamp the morning of, but dad was going to take off with their children while mom took off toward a fun day of ice climbing in Crawford Notch. Leading was Redline Guide Glenn Van Neil. What a cool birthday gift. One that gave a lot as Glenn’s synopsis will reveal…
Brittle Ice, Butter Ice, Birthday Ice
There’s nothing like when you get a birthday present filled with adventure! Ice climbing is always an adventure right? It was cold as we walked down the tracks along Mt Willard but birthday gifts were all around, a Left-Hand Monkey Wrench, an Upper Hitchcock Gully, a Rear Window, and to finish a Cleft! What a great day we had. The highlight climb according to our guest was Rear Window and it was definitely an accomplishment on the hard, brittle ice. A 20-foot column is a great present no matter the conditions but especially so when it’s super brittle. Imagine the gift within The Cleft, then, where we found soft, buttery hero ice. Makes for easy climbing, but our guest still liked Rear Window the best! I’m just glad we could make a great birthday present happen! —Glenn
Photo of Glenn from another party’s perspective. Courtesy of Matt Shove.