10 Best Ice Climbs in New England

[RjBlake]

Let's see if we can't get a reply or two on the forums...

I was reading the mountain project page for Parasol Gully and came across this comment from user "GunksWest" (Todd Swain)

One of the ten best ice routes in New England. Fun climbing in a beautiful setting.

What are the ten you ask? Here's one person's list (in order of technical difficulty):

Parasol Gully (Dixville Notch)
Cinema Gully to Cauliflower Gully (Mt Willard; Crawford Notch)
Pinnacle Gully (Huntington Ravine; Mt Washington)
Waterfall Gully (South Basin; Mt Katahdin)
Black Dike (Cannon Cliff; Franconia Notch)
Dracula (Frankenstein Cliff; Crawford Notch)
Ragnarock (Smuggler's Notch)
Way in the Wilderness (K Highway)
Repentance (Cathedral Ledge)
Last Gentleman (Lake Willoughby) Mar 7, 2015

I've only climbed two of those routes, so who am I to judge...but what would make it onto your list?

[DonGillespie]

I've climbed 1.5 of those so I can't really comment either but I it looks like I have a new list to tick now.
I know its cliche but climbing through the window out of the cave on Standard is pretty fun.

[cwoodall]

I have no contribution to the list as I have followed precisely 2 of these (Dracula and Pinnacle), but they were pretty awesome, so if that is the quality I am expecting from the rest, I am excited.

I want to try and snatch Parasol and Cinema this year. (and if I can find someone I would love to follow anything else on the list)

[johngassel]

It’s really tough to make a list like this without any criteria other than best climb. I’ve done most of the climbs on that list and they’re all great, for sure.

I can think of a few of those that wouldn’t make my list though.. and I would certainly add one or two from the Dacks such as Positive Thinking and Power Play Direct.

[cwoodall]

Out of curiosity John, what are the ones which would not hit your list?

Given the grade distribution of Swain's list it seems to me that he was trying to get a nice range of grades. Possibly the "best in class" climbs; given that I guess what I would say maybe the question is giving 1-2 slots for each grade from WI2 to WI-whatever-normal-humans-can-climb what would be the best climbs in that grade range. I assume he is also in part evaluate setting, history, reliability, and quality.

One of the things I think about a lot as a climber is how much the history of a route seems to contribute to its desirability and perceived quality. Either people want "fresh" and "untouched" or historically significant and a "test piece", but the quality climbs in between which were not in the right place at the right time often get overlooked. This is fine for me because I can climb them without a line now

[johngassel]

Out of curiosity John, what are the ones which would not hit your list?

Chris, the two that didn't seem to match the quality of the others to me were:

- Cinema Gully to Cauliflower Gully
- Waterfall Gully (South Basin; Mt Katahdin)

I've never thought Cinema was that great.
Ice climbing in Katahdin is great, but Waterfall is probably not the best route there.

[RjBlake]

One thing I like about the list is the range of grades, which I omitted. Adding them now (with the standard Will Gadd caveat about ice grades). It seems like we need a version of this list that collects some of the top climbs at each grade...

I think Cinema to Cauliflower should be replaced with LHMW to Cleft. Also I think it needs more WI3 and WI4 (I'm certainly not biased by my current abilities in any way...)

WI2+
Parasol Gully [WI2+] (Dixville Notch)
Cinema Gully [WI2] to Cauliflower Gully [WI2-3] (Mt Willard; Crawford Notch)

WI3
Pinnacle Gully (Huntington Ravine; Mt Washington)

WI4
Waterfall Gully (South Basin; Mt Katahdin)

WI4+
Dracula [WI4+] (Frankenstein Cliff; Crawford Notch)
Ragnarock [WI4+ M4] (Smuggler's Notch)
Black Dike [WI4-5 M3 (5.6)](Cannon Cliff; Franconia Notch)

WI5
Way in the Wilderness [WI5] (K Highway)
Last Gentleman [WI5] (Lake Willoughby)
Repentance [WI5 M4-M5] (Cathedral Ledge)

[johngassel]

Some good 3's that are missing from that list are:

- Standard Route at Frankenstein
- Chouinard's Gully at Chapel Pond

Either of those should be included before Mt. Willard climbs imo. I'd be willing to bet that Standard Route is the most widely known and most climbed ice route in all of New England.

[RjBlake]

Wasn't Yogi Berra referring to Standard Route when he said "Nobody goes there anymore, It's too crowded."

[johngassel]

HATE CROWDS? YOU ARE CROWDS.