The first slab was short, and surrounded by forest. Crossing a small strip of vegetation brought us to the next, slightly larger stretch of slab. This in turn led upwards to a larger expanse, and so on. Soon we had wider views, up towards the summit and back out over the valley and the peaks beyond.
The lower part of the slide was slabby and relatively low-angled. The slide gradually got steeper as we ascended, and at the same time, gradually became less smooth and more craggy - interrupted by short blocks and steps. Because of this generally concave arrangement, we could look up and see the sweep of our climb, all the way to a prominent sharp edge right against the skyline - the top of the slide. This concave-shaped slope also revealed a surprising number of other climbers - the busiest I'd ever seen it on this route.
Brushy Crags
We transitioned from simple friction walking up the slab to winding around the beginnings of the crags. We quickly closed in on a large group ahead of us. They must have been relatively new to this sort of thing, for they were quite tentative. They were friendly, though, and we engaged in a bit of banter with them as we caught up to and ultimately passed them.
Part-way up the slide - at about the 3700-foot level - is a semi-vegetated section. Here, we needed to engage in a sort of combination of bushwhacking and scrambling - scramblewhacking, if you will. This section was short, however - perhaps only a few minutes' worth of time - before we emerged onto the steep and open upper bit of the slab. The best and most interesting part, as far as I'm concerned. The sharp-edged crest that marked the top was now quite close.
courtesy JInnes
courtesy JInnes
courtesy JInnes
We then spent the next while trying to find the best way up the line we had committed to (there is no specific best line, and several routes will go). Generally it was all class-3 scrambling, although you could probably manage to put yourself into a bit of class-4 terrain if you weren't paying attention. I'm pretty sure, for example, that we strayed further left on this climb as compared to previous ascents.
courtesy JInnes
Pu chose to finish by angling even further left to the slide's top rim, where Jenn and I traversed right across a ledge to an easy set of gullies that then allowed us to top out further west. Definitely the top part of this slide is the best, with the dry, grippy and blocky rock combining with a bit of airiness to add a little excitement.
Once on top, we sat with our legs dangling over the edge, enjoying view over the Dix Range, Noonmark and Giant. At the same time, we could look straight down and observe the climbing party we had passed earlier. They were taking their time, slowly but surely feeling their way up to us.
Pu was quite pleased with the day so far. Amazingly, in all of his thirteen years of coming to the Adirondacks, this was his first slide climb, and he had enjoyed it immensely. Perhaps soon we'll have to take him up the Trap Dike!
courtesy JInnes
Slide scramblers and summiters
After a relaxing snack break at the slide's rim, we decided to move away and visit the actual summit, leaving room for the substantial number of other climbers who were already atop the slide or who would soon be arriving. A bit of herdpath between open crags brought us to a larger open area facing south and south-east. The highest of the crags here was the actual summit.
I had thought that the renaming ceremony for Grace Peak had involved some sort of plaque or monument at the summit, but if so, I couldn't find it.
We opted to take the slide bypass route for our descent. We could have done a downclimb of the slide itself, like we did on other occasions, but it would have been slower, and the wet slipperiness of the lower slabs would have required some delicacy. Instead, we followed the main herdpath along the ridgeline towards nearby Carson Peak, taking a right on a fairly obvious herdpath, which led down towards the north (this junction is about 250 yards west of the summit).
