It hits us every time. Winding down the cold country roads of Northern Vermont and coming around that final bend to see the cliff, our jaws fall to the floor. The sight of so much massive ice is just so wild and the scale of it all is hard to wrap your head around. All you know is that it is big and beautiful, inspiring and intimidating.
Lake Willoughby is one of the greatest concentrations of steep ice climbing anywhere in North America. You simply don’t find routes like this sitting side-by-side anywhere else. A return guest of ours – who has travelled all over the country to ice climb – loves The Lake because of its “bang for the buck”. A 30-50 minute approach and you’re there. Rappel down one route and you might be standing directly below another. It’s incredible.
Known mostly for pitch after pitch of relentlessly steep climbing, a little known fact is that Lake Willoughby is also home to phenomenal moderate climbing. On the far right end of the cliff is an area known as The Tablets. This zone offers a smattering of multipitch WI 3-4 routes that have the feel of several Standard Routes that have been stacked right next to each. The only difference is that often there are hardly any other climbers in sight.
A day at the Lake does require some investment and effort. It’s way up North and is a long drive for most of us. Add to that the alpine start that many of the big routes demand and you’re commonly looking at a really early morning. But the reward for a day of climbing there is a big as the routes are. A cold day spent in the far reaches of the Northeast Kingdom on some of the best ice in the nation is always worth it. Every single time.
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Rates
- Private$465
- Two People$300/person
Ice Climbing
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