Mahoney Alpine Adventures Blog

Variety is the spice of life they say. Well I am no expert on life’s seasoning but I do know a little about livin’. In the past two weeks I have had a plethora of variety; roofing on icy mornings, falling off a roof, ski guiding, guiding ice, snow science workshop, cutting down and trimming [...]

Who would have thought that a holiday road trip could be far more challenging and dangerous than alpine climbing!  I barely survived an epic road trip to South Carolina for Thanksgiving. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention as Claire’s uncle said grace, but by God; I am thankful.   It all started with my family reunion [...]

November on Mt Washington can be just about anything. I just returned from three days staying at Hermit Lake shelter and climbing. Mt Washington is by far the best mountaineering destination in NH and is really only rivaled by Mt Katadin in Maine in the North East. The great thing about Mt Washington is one [...]

Ah…Fall! It is the season to wrap up rock climbing projects finish up the yard projects and batten down the hatches for winter. It is also the season to train. The spring transition from ice climbing season to rock climbing season is always a shock. Your big muscle groups like your quadriceps and latissimus dorsi [...]

Ham and Eggs on the West face of the Mooses Tooth was first climbed thirty years ago but it has only been in the last ten years it has become popular, and for good reason.  I am not the authority on the Alaska range, but I believe it is the most accessible moderate climb to [...]

Unexpected bivies are notorious for being cold and uncomfortable that is just part of the deal. I have had only one unexpected bivy in my 18 years of climbing and that was in the front country. However I have had a few planned bivies that were cold and uncomfortable. One was this past fall on [...]

The snow gods love to play the game of temptation. When you know you shouldn’t, they make it the most compelling to try. Once you have put all the time into planning, training and juggling a ski trip it is best when the weather cooperates. Well on this past trip to Chamonix there were times [...]

Here in Chamonix it seems life would be simple, you are here to ski or climb, you get up in the morning sip your espresso and have a little bread and cheese and off you go. The trouble is that the weather does not always cooperate. I have been here for three perfect days of [...]

Oh Canada! That’s the feeling you get driving down the Ice Fields Parkway or bumping down the four-wheel drive roads of the Ghost in Alberta. I recently spent 8 days ice climbing up there with Eugene Kwan and we had a taste of everything. Our first day in the Ghost we enjoyed some four wheeling to [...]

Brother Andrew skinning up the Tucks trail Like the bartender said in the Blues Brothers movie “We have both kinds of music here, country and western!”  We here in NH we have both kinds of winter fun ice climbing and back country skiing, and this is a great year for both.  We just keep getting [...]