Mooney Mountain Guides and Climbing School - Ice Climbing Instruction, Lessons, Courses in New Hampshire and Vermont

Art Mooney UIAGM-AMGA Certified Mountain Guide

New Englands Ice Climbing areas are without a doubt the best ice climbing areas in North America. The long cold winters allow world class ice climbs to form consistently each season in New Hampshire and Vermont. Throughout Franconia Notch, Crawford Notch, Cathedral Ledge, Mt Washington, Smugglers Notch and Lake Willoughby are a variety of ice routes and snow climbs. These areas are perfect for your guided ice climb, course or lesson on technical ice climbing. Our local New Hampshire ice climbing areas are Newfound Lake, Rumney Rocks, Flume Gorge, Kinsman Notch, and Frankenstein Cliff which offer numerous beginning and intermediate ice climbing challenges on a variety of ice climbs and mixed climbs. The Advanced Guided Ice Climbs are a specialty for us with guided ice climbs of the Black Dike on Cannon, The Last Gentleman at Lake Willoughby, Repentance on Cathedral Ledge, and La Pomme d'Or in Quebec.

Mooney Mountain Guides offers beginner ice lessons, guided ice climbs, mixed climbing courses, ice climbing lead clinics from December to April. Our personal instruction will address your specific interests.

The New Hampshire ice climbing areas of Kinsman Notch, Newfound Lake, Flume Gorge and Rumney Rocks

offer numerous thick reliable ice climbs which are perfect for your beginner, intermediate or group ice climbing lesson. The wide variety of single pitch ice climbs, along with short approaches to sheltered forested locations offer fun climbing in a relaxed atmosphere. This relaxed atmosphere is conducive for learning and practicing waterfall ice climbing techniques. All of these areas are just a few miles off Interstate 93 in central New Hampshire. Kinsman, Rumney, Newfound, and the Flume are good choices for ice climbers coming from Boston and southern New England areas who are looking for one or two day ice climbing lessons.

Frankenstein Cliff

Frankenstein Cliff in Crawford Notch is the most popular waterfall ice climbing areas in New Hampshire. The Amphitheater at Frankenstein has one of the highest concentration of excellent moderate ice climbs in the region. It is a sunny, sheltered place with generally thick ice and everything from practice bulges to free standing pillars. Ice climbers of all abilities will find ice routes from one to three pitches in length to their liking. The Frankenstein Ice Climbing area is located in Crawford Notch State Park on route 302 twenty miles north east of North Conway NH.

Lake Willoughby Vermont

This northern Vermont ice climbing area may very well be the finest ice climbing area in North America. The south west facing cliffs of Mt Pisgah rise for hundreds of feet above the fiord like valley that cradles Lake Willoughby. The mile long cliff is plastered with steep ice pillars containing over 40 routes from NEI grade 4 to NEI grade 6. Lake Willoughby truly hosts the most challenging pure water ice climbs and mixed climbing routes in New England. A sunny aspect, long technical routes, pumpy steep ice and a spectacular location make this area one not to be missed. From New Hampshire travel north on interstate 93 to 91 north to Lyndonville Vermont, Lake Willoughby is 20 minutes from town. Lake Willoughby is 4 hours from Boston, we recommend two days of climbing for this trip to the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.

Cannon Cliff

Cannon Cliff is located in the Franconia Notch State Park, New Hampshire. The east face of Cannon Cliff rises abruptly above the valley. Over a mile long and 1000 feet tall in the center this cold windswept alpine climbing area hosts numerous serious testpieces and famous ice climbs. The Black Dike, Fafnir, Omega, and the Quartet Ice Hose each offer highly technical ice and mixed climbing. The Black Dike and Fafnir ice climbs can be the earliest ice climbs in New Hampshire to form and the last to melt, due to there sheltered north facing location in the center of the wall. Join MMG for a guided ice climb on Cannon and you will see why Cannon is considered one of New Hampshire's greatest alpine training grounds.

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Smugglers Notch Vermont

Vermont offers some of the finest, most varied ice climbing anywhere. Consistent and reliable conditions from December through March offer plenty of opportunities to explore. Smuggler’s Notch, a high alpine pass in the heart of the Green Mountains, holds challenges for all. From the base of Elephant’s Head Gully (WI3), you’re sure to wonder how such imposing terrain can be climbed at so moderate a standard. Trust us: It can, and we will! Looking for something a bit steeper? Blind Fate (WI4) begins with a pitch or two of moderate iced up slabs, and finishes with an astonishingly exposed crux pillar that seems to hang in the air high above the floor of the Notch. Mixed climbing is all the rage these days, and if you feel like getting scrappy, perhaps the thin cracks and steep ice of Poster Child (M4) are in your future. Whatever your pleasure, Smuggs has it all.

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Mooney Mountain Guides, LLC ~ 638 Old Bristol Rd. ~ New Hampton, NH 03256 Phone: 603-744-5853 ~ art@mooneymountainguides.com Stay in touch with our Mailing List:
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