[Baker Ice]

HMMM, I think I saw some ice on Pan Dome recently, too. It didn't look like much, but looks can be deceiving! In fact, I too have climbed Pan Dome, and I remember thinking that it was much more fun than hanging out in the city or spending another monotonous evening climbing at the gym.

dandy

[Ice climbing etiquette]

Here is my opinion on the subject. I feel that the early bird catches the worm, or the iceworm as the case may be. I guess the way I see it is that a route is like a rollercoaster...first come first served. You get to ride once, and if that is not enough, you gotta go to the back of the line. I'll pass on the right-of-way stuff. If I get snaked out of a route by anyone (badasses or beginners), I can only view that tragedy as my own fault for not getting up early enough or being too slow on the approach.

[Grivel helmet with clear shield]

Alright, I just couldn't help responding to this one. Instead of the water hitting your glasses and obstructing your vision, it will instead hit the visor and obstruct your vision. As far as fogging is concerned, your glasses will fog even worse as a result of the decreased air circulation. I do not know whether rain-x will work on plastic, and it might ruin the shield. If you go that route, you better test the rain-x first.

[Trango Ice Clip]

Try the Black Diamond Ice Clippers. They are huge, comfortable, and cheap. You can even clip your tools to them for rappels and sections of toolless climbing. I find them to be a convenient place for racking all kinds of stuff when not on lead.

[climbing trip partner sought]

Are you going on a seven month road trip? If so, you will definitely improve more than two letter grades. I would head to California first, then go up to Squamish in the Summer.

[The Plum]

I hear that The Plum is in, but is very wet. When a cold spell hits, the race is on.

[Lillooet Ice]

512Dude, I think I may have put a foot on rock, but that might have just been for the fun of it. In other words, if you are thinking about doing this route, you don't have to lug an entire rack up the gully (like we did). We only used a couple of pins, a knifeblade, and some aliens (green, yellow, and red). If you go up the initial ice pitch, you won't even need these though. So, was the last pitch of Synchronicity still hollow?

[Lillooet Ice]

I am curious to hear from those who attended the First Lillooet Ice Climbing Festival. What routes did people get on? What were the conditions? Any funny anecdotes? How about Will's slide show?

daler and I managed to sneak in an ascent of Synchrotron (next to Synchronicity). Conditions were favorable, if not a bit on the warm side. It looks a great alternate first pitch could form if it gets a bit colder and stays that way for a spell. It is almost in, all but about fifteen feet or so, and daler and I took a serious look at it. If you are interested, take a look at page 132 of "West Coast Ice". There is a hidden gully midway between the first pitch of Synchronicity and Synchotron. It trends up and left, topping out at the base of the pencil. We opted to traverse into the route from the base of this gulley. The last two pitches were superb, grade 4 and hardish 5 (which included a 30 to 40 foot unprotectable pillar and a foot or more of rotten ice), respectively. Thanx for taking the last one daler. We saw no signs of anyone else having climbed it, although we know of one party who had four or five years ago. Anyone else climbed it?