Climbed around on Children of the Sun and Champagne yesterday. Drove as far as the punchbowl and everything is pretty much in. Cable looks leadable, H2O2, Zenith, Salt and Pepper. If you are a brave soul, you could possibly cross the lake on the ice and do some of the routes that are in pretty fat on the West side of the lake. Temps are looking favorable for this weekend as well.

beer climbs are good too. bavarian dark isn't touching but it would be a great mixed route right now.

Oh, I should add that we walked up to the Emerald and it was pissing water over the ice. It was definately climbable, but I would recommend a poncho and snorkel with the customary face mask

how was the upper pitches of champange?

The lower portion of Champagne was well beaten out and a bit thinner than last time we were there. But, the upper pitches were beautiful blue thick ice!!!

I'll try to put up photos later tonight if time allows.

the upper part I was thinking of wasnt in last time per Dave and Pax

Oh, got it! No the 2nd pitch in the gully above what is seen from the road is still thin and wet looking. We didn't walk up to it, but could see lots of blackness between light streaks of ice.

Oh, sorry... yeah, I was thinking of the wrong upper pitch...
Nope, sorry... there was only rock and running water on the upper pitch above the gulley.

Zenith look'n pretty good



The Emerald, oops, what's that shizzle to the left there??



The Cable, looks leadable (Jens??, Eric8??)



Delusions of Grand Do'er?? The ice on the lake looks passable on foot...I'm not that brave though



Champagne, lower half looking a little beat up. Sorry about that

Nice pics! I'll agree that a lot of stuff is in good condition, but I'll say that Zenith is not in the greatest. Started up it with a light rain coming down it and by the time I was half way up I was greeted by a small stream. After battling up the wetness a ways and becoming completely soaked to the bone, I decided to bail. This was early in the morning Sunday, so without some really cold temps, I don't suppose it will get any better. The cable was also a bit drenching but not as bad. Also we think we saw someone on the climb across the lake you have the picture of (I thought it was Tea in the Sahara, but I'm not sure). Is anyone going to fess up to this?


Edit: Here's a shitty pic of it, but there is an unmistakable climber-like figure on the left side of the 2nd tier.

danielle and i walked in to climb the emerald onsaturday after getting scooped on the cable. after seeing the hosefest decided to tr instead. weekend climbers- a poncho wouldn't have helped, we almost drowned ! almost as fun as trying to run a coat hanger through your belay device!


top of the emerald

we climbed the first pitch of champagne on sunday. i'm not sure what some of you mean when you say upper pitches, it's a two pitch climb no? the first twenty five feet were a little scary but after the first little bulge it was fat ice the whole way. the upper half was fat, blue, and a bit wet(really wet on the left side). had to burrow a bit to get a placement on the final curtain. the second pitch looked enticing and is definitely leadable but we opted to tr the first pitch again instead. we were only able to go once though because the ropes started to ice over god dammit. good times on a great climb that i have wanted to do for some time




second pitch of champagne





first pitch



danielle getting her tr on!






i'm surprised we didn't run into you guys, we were there until one. finished it off with a trip to the beer bottles where we climbed a fun little thing north of bavarian dak (name?) looks like a pair had just climbed it(guys in a white vw?)

Nice. Yeah Champagne is a great route for sure! For those folks just getting into leading ice and looking for a (rare in WA!) moderate lead, the second pitch of Champagne makes for a great intro lead. The alders are actually not that bad and the climbing is surprisingly fun!

that second pic of champange is what I meant, that wasnt in last time.

Looks like we didn't get a good look at that second pitch. I wonder what it was that we saw, because there was a definate wet streak on the upper right of the bowl above the first pitch. Maybe something new??

I was the one with "tazman" that had just climbed that one north of bavarian dark (in the white VW). Believe it's called sody pop. short 40' or so 4. Fun little climb. I wanted to TR bavarian dark but we ran out of time, would've been a great mixed route. We also did the 1st pitch of clockwork orange.

sody pop was more fun than i thought, thanks for the grey webbing if you left it! should have took some pics, it was a great finish to a great day. looked like you guys were in a hurry, next time we will have to have a safety meeting. that is, if you are a "safe" climber. cheers.

that was a fun climb, wish it was longer. I did leave that grey webbing. we were in a hurry to get back because I told my wife I'd be back in spokane by 1:00. I think we left the base of the climb at 1. I was supposed to help with the mother-in-law dinner.

well then you clearly hadn't completed the crux of your day yet!

nope. I got an ear full.
but it was sooo worth it.

what kind of safety meeting??

how was that climb you guys were on? was it about the same thickness as sody pop? I banged the crap out of my ergos on the upper part of that climb. kinda thin in some places.

I think he was talking about the avalanche danger being so high that day, and our lack of concern towards it.

not you chris. Was talking to brad, he said this to someone..
"next time we will have to have a safety meeting"

what kind of safety meeting? come on, you know! the fun kind! although the specific safety topics can get a bit "hazy" at times if you know what i mean.