Gothics always inspires. It challenges hikers and climbers of nearly any level and draws me back at least a couple times per year. The north face shown in this video once intimidated me when I saw it from the Orebed Trail, now it's an annual retreat. I feel only relaxation and freedom once I start moving upward.

Ranger Scott and I tagged Gothics’ North Face yesterday. I’ve never gotten on it during November so this was quite a treat. We took a chance and had a great day as a front moved in. I feared it would be covered with some un-bonded snow, but we found a mixed back of snow climbing, ice climbing, and scratching up bare rock. The approach involved breaking through a couple feet of virgin snow from the Orebed Trail to its base. Clouds enveloped us and strong winds pounded drove the spindrift as we climbed the top 400’ to the ridge where we found 4-5’ of snow.

Eleven hours of hiking and climbing makes for a fantastic day. Welcome to technical climbing on Gothics' South Face. This is the Original Route circa 1800s rated 5.4.

Full account: http://forums.adkhighpeaks.com/showthread.php?t=27630
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsAj039YGMM

Another adventure. We began the day at 5:30 a.m. and arrived at Pyramid Mtn. summit at 9:30 playing a game of hurry up and wait. When we arrived there was no view...none. The clouds lifted and revealed a rather gloomy wet face on Gothics.

Pyramid Peak was the way to go - dramatic views of slides on several nearby high peaks made the 12 mile trip worth the work. It was a nice hot day with the sun radiating off the trees leaving thick air dense with the smell of balsam in our lungs. On the way down, we stopped at Beaver Meadow Falls for a nice splash of cold water on our faces before continuing back to the trailhead.

We'd just climbed the "Back in the Saddle" (northeast) slide on Saddleback and wanted one more climb; Gothics West Face slabs looked gnarly. A bit over 600' of elevation gain on steep terrain was the perfect end to our day. For those who are familiar with Gothics, this face is just to the right of the cable route if looking at it from Saddleback Mountain.

The red line is for photo inset reference ONLY, not as a defined route; conditions change by day.

This was leg 1 of a day-climb up Gothics Rainbow Slide (East Face), South Face (Original Route 5.4) and North Face (Finger Slide 5.1). Full pictures and story are located at this address:

http://forums.adkhighpeaks.com/showthread.php?t=21847 or at www.mackenziefamily.com/46/46r.html on the Slides and Bushwhacks page.

The neve was good to solo the Original Route on Gothics. There was some open rock and ice surrounding the crack, but pristine conditions on route. The red line is for photo inset reference ONLY, not as a defined route; conditions change by day.

More photos and pictures at: www.mackenziefamily.com/46/46r.html on the Slides and Bushwhacking page.

This was leg 2 of a day-climb up Gothics Rainbow Slide (East Face), South Face (Original Route 5.4) and North Face (Finger Slide 5.1). Full pictures and story are located at this address: http://forums.adkhighpeaks.com/showthread.php?t=21847