Climbing steep ice in Grafton Notch State Park 02.26.24 | Northeast Ice Climbing

Nice morning climbing in Grafton Notch with Mark. Conditions feel more like late March, not late February.

[@user-md7li5oe5x]

Ah, Grafton, where you can find blower conditions high up on the Cataracts, get avi'd into the trees at their base, and crag to your heart's content. When the Slot is that fat, you don't get a letup at the top or the chance to stem a leg out onto the rock for a rest. One trip with similar conditions, one of our party led the pillar that hangs off the buttress to the left - really he soloed it trailing a rope, freaking all of us out. The rock at each end of the Amphitheater also provided somewhat contrived dry-tooling/mixed fun with acceptable gear. Thanks also for your Tumbledown vid (from a year or two ago?); such excellent routes there.

[@HawaiiGirlAdventures]

😍😍😍😍😍

[@michaelobrien7359]

Looks like the slot? I was there on Saturday. Thought it climbed like WI4, if not out of line I am wondering your thoughts. New to ice this winter and trying to get a handle on what to expect from grades.

[@MattyBowman]

Ice grades are often debated, for various reasons, mostly due to the constant change in conditions. This climb early season is typically grade 3. As the season progresses and ice builds, it becomes steeper pushing into grade 4. For comparison: Dracula is classic grade 4.

[@michaelobrien7359]

@@MattyBowman Thanks for the reply. I appreciate your input! Dracula looks like an amazing climb that as a new climber I aspire to and know I am not ready for at this time. I lead the slot so we could put up ropes in the amphitheater and later that day someone with quite a few yrs of experience mentioned that he thought its was of similar difficulty to Dracula which I doubt that it is/was. Let's hope winter is isn't over yet. Cheers.