spionin

nice! you know what had too much snow on it for good time this weekend? colfax. you should look into skiing that

5'4.5" and 127. the weight can stay the same, it's fine, but the leaness will change. i generally run less during winter and it makes a big difference. i used to row a lot (on water, not just an erg), and that used to do wonders for my hamstrings, which helped a lot for uphill hiking. by spring i am planning to ramp up the trail running, and gym climbing.

great trip and AMAZING account. it sounds like you guys just got back from the crusades or something! in general, yes.

recall info: http://www.totemcams.com/blog/?p=738&preview=true

really beautiful rock and aesthetic routes. good job and thank you for sharing!

as a learning ice climber i bear no dilusions about my abilities. i did not post pictures pumping up my climbing abilities. i was on a cragging trip, practicing climbing, and trying to lead a route that was difficult for me. granted, i don't like to be made an example of, let's pretend that i'm ok with being made into a public learning aid. i have many pictures of myself in bad climbing form - behind just about every climb. everyone (there were at least 3 parties at rainbow yesterday) who saw me climb can vouch that i probably bit off more than i could chew. but hey - i tried.

i know, i know. i'll start by pointing our the poor screw placements, and the clipping of both ropes to the screws. i should say though that there wasn't a z-clipped screw there, and although the rope on the left looks to be going up, it wasn't the actual case. the screws where also placed more than a foot apart. in this picture the climber is next to the screw with the green screamer. there is no way i could have placed anything above to the left of it - the ice next to the rock was very thin and hollow. i did not place any rock pro. but that just sounds like an excuse. the route was hard, with variable ice, and i had to traverse to get good placements.

yea-yah! good style!

wow! fantastic!

that's awesome! second month of skiing, huh?! way to pursue this! stay safe!

wow - glad you finally posted this! the falls look great - i love how complex the terrain appears to be with multiple crossing ice lines.

whoa... productive! sounds like an excellent trip! thanks for the additional beta, great to keep other options in mind.

word. 4 people, $54 (tax included)/night for two nights. artery - i only have two pics, and in both the bottom is obscured by a rock. i do remember noting that it was touching down, especially since valentine was totally melted, but i didn't look too carefully. sorry!

Trip: cody, wy - various Date: 12/27/2010 Trip Report: cbcbd, Z-man, PeakPimp, and i took a trip to cody, wy for some ice climbing this week. i didn't love the 15-hr drive, but we got a little odometer present just as we rolled into cody. i'll take anything as a positive omen: beautiful the first day we wanted to attempt a 4-pitch route called wyoming wave (wi3+), which is approached by climbing a wi4, 60-m route called cabin fever, according to "winter dance". however, mountain project describes cabin fever as a 3-pitch route, combining the title pitch with the first two pitches of the wave. Z-man and i approaching cabin creek drainage first pitch Z-man and PeakPimp jumped on first. Z-man's lead cbcbd, leading half-way up the 1st pitch it was incredibly pumpy. in addition, the ice was very cold and dinner plated a lot. i tend to whack the ice, so i had to try a lot for good placements. definitely got my ass handed to me on that one. a very stout warm-up! 2nd pitch (1st pitch of wyoming wave) - wi3+ PeakPimp leading again, very blobby, very brittle ice Z-man and PeakPimp got to jump on another pitch, but due to fading light cbcbd and i didn't have the time for it. bummer - we heard it was the best. PeakPimp and Z-man getting ready for the final rap day 2. we learned from our inefficiency on day 1 and split up. Z-man and PeakPimp went to do main vein (wi3+ in the guidebook), and cbcbd and i headed off to broken hearts. approach Z-man on p1 of main vein funky ice parasol PeakPimp found an ice cave for a belay broken hearts is noted in the guidebooks as "possibly the single best route in the united states". a pretty strong statement, though the route was indeed pretty awesome. we climbed the 4 first pitches and a number of small steps in-between. bighorn sheep pitches 1 and 2 of broken hearts blobby, brittle ice cbcbd leads p2 the money pitch! (as it always works with foreshortening - the part above the crack is in reality longer than the bottom part) cool ice "roots" yep, a 45-m wi3+! one of the coolest things about broken hearts is that the longer pitches are spaced out by numerous solo-able steps, up to about 15 feet in height ...climbing its right side pitch 4 (wi3) the first 4 pitches are most commonly climbed, and offer a walk-off. the next pitch is my only valentine (wi5), which is the unformed route on the right in this pic the thin, green pillar on the left is carotid artery (wi6). no we didn't climb that. pitches 6 and 7 of broken hearts are rarely formed and even more rarely climbed. both go at wi6. this is a route called left ventricle (wi4), which we passed on the descent. as usual - awesome, cold trip with cool people! Gear Notes: the usual Approach Notes: don't drive to wyoming with a punctured tire. if you have to, air compressor proves very useful.

makes perfect sense. thanks guys!

thank you for the very diplomatic response i wasn't picking on CO! i was just wondering - i had also climbed in ouray area as well as around colorado springs during two seasons in 2007 and 2008. at the time the climbs seemed plenty challenging, but looking back at the pictures i'm surprised by the raw numbers assigned to them. having gone to bozeman and cody since then, the numbers suggest that i not only failed to improve my climbing ability, but have actually gotten worse. great. still, for those of us lacking in judgment and/or confidence to jump on any given route, those numbers do provide a convenient guideline, and i just wanted to hear another person's opinion. thanks again!

great report! hey, what did you think of CO grading (compared to LW, or Bozeman)?

i was going to play christmas, but i think i'd rather go climbing or skiing. gotta be back by saturday a.m. -veronika

looks awesome! wow... thousands of feet... of WI... ... 36 hrs in single push?

i figured out how to read the original. sounds like a great toast. thank you!

whoa! way to start the season ...in full sprint! congrats, badasses.

nice! you guys look like you're having a stellar time!! and thanks for the conditions update!

cold temperatures... pros: A LOT of stuff is in. the ice looks beautiful. the weeping wall looks like a page out of the guidebook. cons: the fresh snow makes approach more tedious (hike wallow up to r&d took a while). climbing in -38 deg C is not feasible.

to the edge of it. we couldn't see anything, so figured that it would be no fun to try route finding down the field. i'm guessing the field itself would have had pretty stellar snow.

awesome pics, kevin! thanks for the stoke!