Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Thursday 16 February 2017
Ice climbing: Part adrenaline rush, part puzzle-solving test

ROBERT F. BUKATY gerous.
Associated Press Earlier this month, an ice
HART’S LOCATION, N.H. climber had to be rescued
(AP) — Chuck Monjak was after falling 50 to 60 feet
partway up his first-ever on Cannon Cliff in New
attempt at a nearly verti- Hampshire. In upstate New
cal ice formation when he York, a woman survived a
found himself in a terrify- 70-foot spill at Kaaterskill
ing predicament. With his Falls, and another climber
weight supported only by tumbled nearly 40 feet at
the tips of his crampons, he Platte Clove, both on the
had to figure out how to same day in late January.
get around a bulging col- Monjak, a rock climber
umn of ice. turned ice climber, said the
He thought about giving key is to stay within one’s
up. But he kept his cool. abilities. “We’re not new to
“It’s both an adrenaline the terrors of the heights or
rush and it’s a puzzle-solv- the predicaments we put
ing test. A lot of engineers, ourselves in. The new part is
technical people get working your way through
into this because of the that terror. It’s just you got
problem-solving abilities a new set of tools and a
necessary to do vertical new set of obstacles,” he
ice,” said Monjak, an opti- said.
cal systems engineer for a In this Sunday, Feb. 6, 2017 photo, Darwin Castillo, of Washington, D.C., drives the pick of his axe On Dracula, Monjak trust-
semiconductor firm. into the ice while climbing “Dracula,” a 100-foot tall ice formation on Frankenstein Cliff in Hart’s ed his life to a rope being
If the location’s name Location, N.H. belayed by his partner,
Associated Press
where Monjak was learn-
ing to ice climb didn’t
evoke a sense of horror —
Frankenstein Cliff — then
one look at the route he
was attempting certainly
did.
Dracula, a 100-foot ice fall,
is one of the most challeng-
ing of the more than two
dozen ice climbing routes
that attract thrill-seekers
to New Hampshire’s Craw-
ford Notch State Park each
winter.
Frankenstein Cliff was not
named for the monster In this Sunday, Feb. 6, 2017 photo, a climber kicks the front
In this Sunday, Feb. 6, 2017 photo, Yuki Fujita, 69, packs his gear points of her crampons into the ice while working her way up a
after a uplifting day of ice climbing on Frankenstein Cliff in Hart’s story, but for a 19th-cen- route on Frankenstein Cliff in Hart’s Location, N.H.
Location, N.H. tury German landscape Associated Press
Associated Press

Yuki Fujita, who has been
climbing Frankenstein’s ice
for nearly 50 years. Fujita,
69, a retired nuclear en-
gineer, climbed the route
first.
Elsewhere in the park is Are-
thusa Falls, where a 60-foot
pitch attracts climbers.
In late January, Akiko
Kawai, 51, of Medford, Mas-
sachusetts, was climbing
with two partners. As she
packed her gear following
several successful climbs,
In this Sunday, Feb. 6, 2017 photo, Chuck Monjak, of Dedham, she said she doesn’t dwell
Mass., climbs “Chia,” an ice formation on Frankenstein Cliff in on the sport’s dangers.
Hart’s Location, N.H. “You can choose the level
Associated Press of risk,” she said. “The more

In this Sunday, Feb. 6, 2017, photo, a large chuck of ice crashes painter who was attracted winter to create extraordi- informed you are about it
by as Carlos Olascoaga, of Mexico City, sets an ice screw while to the beauty of the cliffs. nary icefalls. the more you are aware
climbing on Frankenstein Cliff in Hart’s Location, N.H. Groundwater seeping out Climbing such ice struc- of the level of what your
Associated Press of the granite freezes each tures is thrilling — and dan- comfort level is.”q