New Year's Eve, New England Style: LET'S GO ICE CLIMBING!

UPDATE DEC 11, 2009: We have booked a 3BR/2BA house in the Crawford Notch. It's perfect! The cap for the house is 8 people, so we have two more spots open. Join us -- it's going to be an awesome way to usher in the New Year! Jana *** We are delighted to announce our plans for the New Year's Eve extended weekend: AN ICE CLIMBING TRIP TO NORTH CONWAY, NEW HAMPSHIRE! We plan to drive up on Thursday, leaving the DC area early (did I hear someone say "alpine start"? ), arriving in the beautiful (and hopefully beautifully frozen) White Mountains by late afternoon/evening. We are renting a house at the foothills of Mt Washington, so New Year's Eve festivities will start soon after we arrive. On Friday (New Year's Day), we have reserved Mark Synnott, an East Coast mountaineering legend, to guide us on the ice! On Saturday, we climb on our own, with our own Adam Heming providing instruction and some of the gear. (If you don't own, you'll likely need to rent.) We drive back on Sunday, January 3. Does this sound like a plan to you? WHO SHOULD COME: You need to know how to belay (so some rock climbing experience is required). Otherwise, you need no prior ice climbing experience. COST: Climbing: The guided climb on New Year's Day is $120 per person (includes all the gear). The next day we toprope on our own, but you will need to rent gear. Lodging: The price will be determined by how many of us come. For 10 people, you can count on $120-$140 per person total for all three nights. Travel: We will try to carpool in 3 cars max, and will share gas. Food/Beverages: We plan to cook communal meals and share the cost. To book the lodging ASAP, we require a $150 non-refundable deposit for all YES RSVPs at this time. There should be some cold weather coming to New Hampshire in the next few weeks, but if for some reason ice climbing conditions are not great, we've got backup plans: skiing (Cranmore, Attitash, etc are all within spitting distance), and maybe even some winter mountaineering... It's going to be fun either way! And it's good to have options. We are SOOO excited about this trip, and hope you can join us! Jana & Tania