pdk

Where is this place?

Is there any ice in Eastern Oregon? Wallawas, etc.???

With the exception of M-climbing, I use sabretooths for everything. Ice, mixed, glacier, alpine. I've done all my mixed and ice climbing over the last 3-4 yrs exclusively in them. I think they beat out vertical frontpoints for almost everything. You can even smear in them on rock (to an extent...).

Anyone have any current info on conditions? Also- looking to head up over new years weekend. Looking for a partner/s, however I'll warn you I'd prefer to head back and check out some of unclimbed lines further off the beaten path. PM me if you're interested. Coming from Portland.

Has the PDX drytooling continued recently? I haven't seen any updates recently.

LOL - i laughed at the "slowly" part too. Made me glad I was belaying....

That was crackman and I. Crackman was leading the second pitch. A friend at worked joked about how I was on TV last night and showed me the video. I was pretty surprised to see it was us. It was around 1:30 or so sunday afternoon, right as the ice storm blew into town. Its a shame all that ice will be falling down soon. And nice work on Black Dagger. We scoped it out Sunday - I very quickly realized it was beyond me. Glad someone got it before it melted. Did anyone get on the giant ice climb way back in Ainsworth state park? I was blown away by that climb- absolutely amazing.

My 2 cents after spending time climbing with some very experienced ice climbers: 1. it was kind of mentioned, but if possible place screws at an upward angle - 10 degrees, not horizontal. 2. T-slotting a screw through a hole in the ice is a BAD idea. You'd be much better off putting two holes in and slinging it. 3. although i'll take some flak for this, other than for protecting the belay (first placement or two after the belay), screamers can be overrated. I've heard of good reasons why they can even be bad in some situations (specifcally for ice climbing), but i can't recall exactly why. But it made a lot of sense at the time and came from some very well respected climbers who now rarely use them. I'll see if i can find the info. The BD website also used to have a really good section on ice placements - they may still. 4. I also take some flak for this, but we did a number of test falls (using a dumby) on good to shitty ice and although it was anything but a controlled a scientific experiment, it was very surprising just how well screws held, even in what I would consider shitty ice. Not that this should encourage you to throw caution to the wind, but i was shocked at some of the falls that held. 5. but mostly, i'd stress what the other have, look around, be creative - find something decent, even if it means downclimbing a bit to find a better placement. 6. ps - for ice climbing buy the ropes with the lowest impact force. While you do open yourself up to longer falls, it can make a huge difference. Probably more so than any screamer would.

I kind of figured with the low freezing level the last couple weeks something would be in up there. as far as things still being unclimbed, i guess i need to find some people who are into first ascents and the adventure of "looking" for new ice (i.e. suffering just for the hell of it). I've got climbing partners back east that are into that, but haven't found anyone out this way yet. How's the rock up there in thin conditions?

Looking for any info on conditions on Strobach Mountain and the surrounding area. Also, i'm fairly new to the area and just picked up the Washington Ice book. Are any of the climbs on Strobach Mountain and Dome peak still unclimbed? Seems hard to believe that they haven't. ps. if things are in up there, i'll be looking for a climbing partner/s this weekend. Coming from Portland.