Breaking him in...

[Coulter]

Okay, so maybe I was in reality trying to break him The "him" in question is my oldest daughter's boyfriend Jimmy turned Fiance officially on Christmas Eve.

They both drove up from Florida for the holidays to visit, though Jimmy had other intentions in mind. It's a long (funny) story but he asked me for my blessing in panic mode early afternoon on Christmas Eve and had proposed to her by the end of the night. Of course I've had him out to the rifle range, the beaver swamps, woods, etc. to get a better of idea of what this young lad is made of. He passed all of those tests so the next logical step was to drag him and his soon to be bride up a mountain. Off to the Adirondacks we went!

I was also meeting one of the team members (Dan) for the Rainier climb next year, so we ascended Wright Peak in a party of four. Keep in mind, being Florida born and raised, Jimmy has never seen snow . He had some serious issues with staying upright on the snowshoes, but other than that he did really well on the mountain.

Here are some pictures from his "initiation"...

Jimmy, Deanna and Dan closing in on the summit of Wright Peak with 40 MPH winds, clouds and snow.




I've been Deanna's father long enough to know this is a fake smile. She wasn't real happy with the last summit push. She needed some coaxing for the last few feet.


But she persevered made it!! Dan, Deanna and Jimmy on the summit.



Me, Deanna, and Jimmy...


Dan assisted Deanna and Jimmy on some sections of the descent with with ropes for safety.




It was cold up there...below the summit was hovering around 16. When we reached the summit my altimeter wouldn't even tell me the temp. It just said "Low". The wind chills were certainly at 0 or below. Good times!


I think my daughter found herself a keeper. She's not too happy about the training he's been getting under my wing, but that sure beats the alternative. He wants to move up this way so we can go play more. Welcome to the family Jimmy, and my ever vigilant scrutiny

[coyote101]

Congratulations to Deanna and Jimmy. 

Pat

[FinsnFur]

I dont know if your cruel or funny lol
Congrats to the kids
Nice pics by the way. 16 degrees and zero degree wind chills sound like perfect fishing weather to me though. We grill out when it warms up to the teens around here

[Okanagan]

Yes, congrats to the happy couple -- especially if he sticks around after this break-in jaunt!

You know, some people hike and climb places like that in summer.   

[Coulter]

There has been a few brave ice fishermen around here already. That ice ain't thick enough for me to go out on just yet. I checked the windchill charts. 16 degrees with 40 mph winds would have put the windchill right around -8 when we were on the summit. Needless to say, we didn't hang out long.

Summer climbing? Who woulda thought? Actually, I'm working on re-climbing all 46 peaks in the winter season now. This was my second summit of Wright Peak. I just figured I'd drag some unsuspecting souls along with me this time. Jimmy really enjoyed it, Deanna did too, just not quite as much when we reached the summit. 5 down and 41 more to go for my winter ascents. Next trip up is right before LBL