An Average Day Off in the Wilderness Program

After realizing that the office was humming along nicely and that the workload for the first week of classes was not overwhelming, climbing coordinator Mike Carlin and assistant director Eben Widlund decided that Wednesday, 1/16/13, would be a good day for conditions scouting and professional development in Smugglers Notch. In other words, they decided to go ice climbing and see how much damage last weeks thaw had done. A quick trip up the road revealed that all was not lost. The trail to the climb Grand Confusion was quickly dispatched and Eben lead the 70 meter, some what hollow, but climbable route. Mike quickly gained the top and the two decided to keep exploring. While Jefferson Slide had water running down one side, the center proud line was climbable, and Mike took the lead. Two pitches and a quick descent later, the two were, back on the road with plenty of time for mike to make it to class. Despite warm temperatures and melted conditions, Smugglers Notch is still world class ice climbing and only getting better.