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Slide climbing is a type of hiking or mountaineering popular mainly in the Adirondack Mountains. It focuses around utilizing the region's multitude of "slides," which are areas where the soil and growth have been washed away in a landslide, leaving a strip of bedrock; these slides have a wide variation in type, which could last as short as a few hundred feet to over a mile long, and as gradual as the hiking trails in the area to the point where they can accurately be described as cliffs.
Hiking is the preferred term, in Canada and the United States, for a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails (footpaths), in the countryside, while the word walking is used for shorter, particularly urban walks. On the other hand, in the United Kingdom, and the Republic of Ireland, the word "walking" is acceptable to describe all forms of walking, whether it is a walk in the park or backpacking in the Alps. The word hiking is also often used in the UK, along with rambling, hillwalking, and fell walking. The term bushwalking is endemic to Australia, having been adopted by the Sydney Bush Walkers club in 1927. In New Zealand a long, vigorous walk or hike is called tramping. It is a popular activity with numerous hiking organizations worldwide, and studies suggest that all forms of walking have health benefits.
Mountaineering is the set of activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, hiking, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing and bouldering are usually considered mountaineering as well.
The Adirondack Mountains form a massif in northeastern New York, United States. Its boundaries correspond to the boundaries of Adirondack Park. The mountains form a roughly circular dome, about 160 miles (260 km) in diameter and about 1 mile (1,600 m) high. The current relief owes much to glaciation.
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The activity gained much of its popularity after Hurricane Irene in 2011, where the downpour in the High Peaks region caused many slides to expand and appear. However, utilizing slides as means of climbing mountains likely goes back as far as the exploration and mapping of the area in the mid to late 1800s. [1] In addition to the sport of simply climbing the slides, others utilize them as a unique way to summit the peak (despite the rough bushwhack they may require to get on or off the slide), or for the purpose of backcountry skiing towards middle to late winter when the snow has accumulated.
Hurricane Irene was a large and destructive tropical cyclone which affected much of the Caribbean and East Coast of the United States during late August 2011. The ninth named storm, first hurricane, and first major hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, Irene originated from a well-defined Atlantic tropical wave that began showing signs of organization east of the Lesser Antilles. Due to development of atmospheric convection and a closed center of circulation, the system was designated as Tropical Storm Irene on August 20, 2011. After intensifying, Irene made landfall in St. Croix as a strong tropical storm later that day. Early on August 21, the storm made a second landfall in Puerto Rico. While crossing the island, Irene strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane. The storm paralleled offshore of Hispaniola, continuing to slowly intensify in the process. Shortly before making four landfalls in the Bahamas, Irene peaked as a 120 mph (190 km/h) Category 3 hurricane.
The Adirondack High Peaks is the name given to 46 mountain peaks in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, United States that were originally believed to comprise all of the Adirondack peaks higher than 4,000 feet (1,219 m). However, later surveying showed that four of the peaks in the group are actually under this elevation, and one additional peak that is close to this elevation had been overlooked. Due to tradition, no mountains were removed from or added to the group as a result of the revised elevation estimates.
Backcountry skiing (US), also called off-piste (Europe) or out-of-area, is skiing in the backcountry on unmarked or unpatrolled areas either inside or outside a ski resort's boundaries. This contrasts with alpine skiing which is typically done on groomed trails benefiting from a ski patrol. Unlike ski touring, backcountry skiing can include the use of ski lifts including snowcats and helicopters. Recent improvements in equipment have increased the popularity of the sport.
Despite its popularity among the group of dedicated hiking community, it is inherently dangerous. A slip of fall could leave you dead, or injured or wounded hours away from help. As such, many climbers choose to learn on easier slides first, such as the Bennie's Brook Slide on Lower Wolfjaw, and then work their way up to more difficult and demanding slides. They typically require the use of rock shoes at the least, with helmets, harnesses, ropes and belay devices also being necessary, also with crampons or skis/snowshoes in the winter with ice protection as well, on the more difficult slides, such as the East Face Slide on Mount Marcy. While some are very easy to find and exit, others require extensive skill in backcountry navigation and an intimate knowledge of the area.
Lower Wolfjaw Mountain is located in Essex County, New York. Landscape artist Alexander Helwig Wyant (1836–1892) named Lower Wolfjaw, together with neighboring Upper Wolfjaw Mountain, about 1870 for their appearance in profile. The mountain is the northeasternmost of the Adirondack High Peaks in the Great Range of the Adirondack Mountains. Lower Wolfjaw Mountain is flanked to the southwest by Upper Wolfjaw Mountain, and to the northeast by Hedgehog Mountain.
A climbing harness is an item of climbing equipment for rock-climbing, abseiling, or other activities requiring the use of ropes to provide access or safety such as industrial rope access, working at heights, etc. A harness secures a person to a rope or an anchor point.
A crampon is a traction device that is attached to footwear to improve mobility on snow and ice during ice climbing. Besides ice climbing, crampons are also used for secure travel on snow and ice, such as crossing glaciers, snowfields and icefields, ascending snow slopes, and scaling ice-covered rock. There are three main attachment systems for footwear: step-in, hybrid, and strap bindings. The first two require boots with welts, as a tension lever attaches the crampon to the heel. The last type are more versatile and can adapt to virtually any boot or shoe, but often do not fit as precisely as the other two types.
