Moody Aunt Ruby
Lake Willoughby, VT
Moody Aunt Ruby (WI 6 R/X, 110M) – Will Mayo, Joe Szot & Ian Boyer
Photo by Doug Millen
Across the Lake on Mt. Hor, Joe Szot, Ian Boyer and I climbed the ethereal yellow icicles that hang from those compact limestone cliffs today, 12/13/2005, naming the route. Arriving at the base of the cliff with the temperature not much above zero and racking up above the southward rolling fog along the surface of the open waters below after having traversed the entire south end of the Lake, I realized that I had left the rock rack in the Flying Brick (my van). I asked the boys with a straight face, “Okay, who’s got the rock rack?” But, they knew the mistake was mine. My punishment was to lead the thing with only ice gear, which made things rather run-out. The first 60M pitch was the crux and involves a hollow vertical column of ice to a ramp to attain the golden double-tiered free-hanging icicles that hang above. These daggers of ice were the cruxes and required launching up gymnastically onto the hangers with gear well below. Joe Szot climbed the 50M WI 5 second pitch up mushroomed ice to a tier of free-standing columns and reached the trees. Moody Aunt Ruby was climbed on-sight in “ground up” style and was yet another in a string of phenomenally exciting days of ice climbing with close friends. Moody Aunt Ruby is definitely one of the most exciting ice climbs I have ever done.
-Will Mayo
