managing rock and winter climbing goals
Fall is unquestionably the best time of year to rock climb in the northeast: the temps are cooler, humidity is lower, friction is better, and the months come with names such as “Sendtember” and “Rocktober” that clearly indicate what you should be doing with your time. If it’s not raining, you should be crimping, pinching, and heel-hooking your way to redpointing bliss. I mean, why else did you actually try to go outside to climb through the misery of the summer, where temps and humidity levels found a perfect equilibrium around the 90 +/- 5 mark?
But If everything is so clear-cut though, why do I always feel so conflicted as we get into mid-October? November is right around the corner, and that’s… winter? Late fall? Bonus sending season? It’s hard to know. I know northeast ice climbers are chomping at the bit, but two of my hardest sport climbing sends to date happened between the last week of October and mid November!
I used to think of rock climbing and ice/mixed climbing in the same vein. They were both extensions of each other in my mind, and one seamlessly flowed into the other. This has changed for me, however. As I’ve pursued rock climbing, especially sport climbing, more seriously and systematically, I’ve come to recognize myself more and more as being a multi-sport athlete.
There’s definitely crossover benefits between rock climbing and winter climbing, but the demands of each of them require different physical and mental skill sets, or at least similar skill sets in different doses!
And thus, my current dilemma (and likely one of many during this season): do I go all-in on rock season to the bitter end? The summer was so hot, and lasted so long into September that this is an appealing thought.
Many of my friends keep asking if I’m ready to get out and swing the tools. I’m ALWAYS ready to get out and swing the tools, but I’m also one-hold away from sending my current project, and this is obviously a powerful draw. But I also have big hopes and goals for the coming winter season, and getting time on the tools NOW will likely set me up for greater success on those objectives.
Knowing that winter is around the corner, I inevitably find myself on my tools at one of the few local drytooling spots when I could be climbing rock at Rumney. Am I wasting a rare late-fall day with perfect sending conditions? Or am I investing in the season to come?
And why are people so insistent upon checking whether I’m ready for winter (besides my obvious stoke for ice climbing)? Because they know, like I do, that every October seems to produce that special alchemy of rain and cold up in Franconia Notch that causes ice routes to come in. The Black Dike on Cannon Cliff regularly gets climbed in October, and the allure of winter climbing is strong. Only one party gets to say they’re the first ascent of the season, and few can say they’ve climbed the Black Dike in October. That’s pretty cool, but is it the goal?
“Only one party gets to say they’re the first ascent Black Dike for the season, and few can say they’ve climbed the Black Dike in October. That’s pretty cool, but is it the goal?”
I’ve never been the first up the Black Dike in a season. I’ve turned around at the base, opting not to climb it one October morning, only for another party to do it later that day. I’ve shown up 30 minutes behind another party that nabbed the season’s first ascent.
For me though, that’s not the goal. I want to climb it early in the season because it’s FUN to climb it in scrappy conditions, and I feel I learn so much more about myself, the medium, movement, protection, and tapping into flow when it requires ALL of my attention.
Ultimately, I want to feel mentally and physically prepared for even steeper, rare lines if/when they come in. I’ll likely venture up to Cannon earlier than most to get some early season climbing done, but I don’t need to be the first to climb the Black Dike.
As far as winter climbing goals go, I’m more interested in being ready to be the first up harder, rarer lines when they form, like I was on Call of the Wild last year, or just having the skills and confidence to tackle harder mixed climbing in an alpine setting.
I consider myself lucky to have climbed Omega twice over the last few years, but probably could have climbed it even more if my traditional mixed skills were more dialed in. Mean Streak made a rare appearance last year, only for me to have family obligations prevent me from getting out.
Some things we can’t control, but we can control how fit we are, how dialed our systems are, and how mentally ready we are. Hard rock climbing and its movement patterns, fitness, and demand for focus allow me to tap into skills that I can transfer to winter climbing. Getting out and back into the rhythm of winter climbing is another necessary component to being ready for early season opportunities. Right now, I think I’d be more proud of ticking my current sport project because of the work it has taken me to get it dialed in than I would be of just having impeccable timing with the weather on Cannon.
And so it goes… watching the weather and looking for that inevitable shift. Right now it’s still rock season, but I’ve had ice seasons where I climbed ice every weekend from November 11th through April. I’ve also climbed ice in November, only to be back to rock climbing in December.
November 2021 had a week that included hard rock climbing, drytooling, and ice climbing… It’s nice to think that we can have it all, but at some point I’ll need to stop waffling back and forth and just commit. The key to success with winter climbing is often just a matter of timing - you need to be ready when the route is in, and the route isn’t waiting for you.
“Some things we can’t control, but we can control how fit we are, how dialed our systems are, and how mentally ready we are.”
As October moves into November, the questions that will guide my decisions on whether I get out on rock, head to the drytooling crag, or hit up early forming ice are going to have to be “what will I learn the most from?” and “what do I need the most right now to achieve my goals?”.
I’ve found that keeping these questions in mind keeps me focused and allows me to approach my objectives with purpose, even if there’s always that nagging feeling of FOMO when you choose one pursuit over the other.
Right now the draw of potentially sending a project and enjoying some prime rock climbing conditions are winning out. I’ll be out on the rock (sans tools) this weekend, but the weather here in the northeast is fickle, and I can’t really guarantee that will be the case for much longer!
“As October moves into November, the questions that will guide my decisions to get on rock, head to the drytooling crag, or hit up early forming ice are…
“What will I learn the most from?” and “What do I need the most right now to achieve my goals?”
I’ve found that keeping these questions in mind keeps me focused. They also allow me to approach my objectives with purpose, reduce FOMO, and get closer to my goals then doing what is “cool” in the moment”
Patrick Cooke is the project direct coach for the dark arts of winter climbing.
Learn more about him on our Coaches page + read about his experience sending Call of the wild, WI6 last year.
You can take a listen to his take on the sport (over 1000 ice leads in the last 18 years) by listening to his podcast interview on first ascent podcast.
