Alex

If it gets warm and sketchy then the "old standbys" for cold are Murchison, Bow Falls, Panther Falls. On average that stuff will be at least 10 degrees colder than the stuff near Canmore. Weeping wall if it's not too cold but it gets sun affected quickly. Field is also a good bet, though not Silk Tassel. Super Bok might be cool. If not Massey's is a consolation for the walk. In real sunny high av conditions I tend to stay away from Cascade, Bourgeau climbs, Kidd Falls, anything with hazard above.

no shit. a little warm up and poof, all gone. Well, so much for that wa ice season

cowgirls was sickly shape compared to clockwork, doubt thats changed. not enough water or cold this season

nice. good to see it touching down, maybe its time to go for pitch 2

No, but there is a little less ice compared to the last time we climbed it. For you if youre leafing strong you should go do Shitting Razorblades

nice strong send on both counts, thats a hard route! the thing to the left is an FA afaik, do you want to provide some naming and info for posterity?

Update from our Columbia Basin tour on Sunday Fugs Falls - "formed"/building, but very thin, it needs to be colder. Probably best to TR it if you go. Frenchman - not in. Soap Lake stuff incl beer climbs - It was cold enough but it's been too dry. None of that stuff is even remotely worthwhile. Champagne - Anemic, the upper 15 m of the first pitch has no ice, so TR only. Scotch - No. Clockwork Orange - The bottom pitch is in and makes a potentially safer practice area than Punchbowl. Middle pitch is about 6 feet from touching down, and will touch down in the coming week. Upper pitch is in, but very thin first 10m. Cowgirls - No. Absent Minded Prof - No, very dry. Cable - It's there, to the ground, mostly icicles, TR only? H202 - Mean shape, very thin, but touching down. Salt and Pepper - In. The mixed pitch to get to the ice is not for the faint hearted. Emerald - Don't know. Shitting Razorblades - In, it received it's second ascent in the past week. Zenith - Not even close, it's too dry. Pee Wees - a few climbable lines. Punchbowl - In with deathcicles present. Seeing all this stuff, I'd say it's a pretty bad year for the desert, looks like it's generally been too dry and a couple degrees too warm. Happy hunting!

any info on vantage? I might head out there Sun and if bad continue up through park and blue to banks.

I actually recall having this conversation sometime after the guidebook was published, but I don't remmber whether it was in the context of someone aving actually climbed it (less likely) or someone just asking about it

anyone - craig? - seen Fugs or Frenchmans lately?

Chair peak N Face was climbed several times this weekend, as was Pineapple Express.

Terrible news

The cold temps trend should continue through this week. The weather pattern we are seeing is because of an interesting weather phenomenon in the polar region, that will allow cold air to push S into the United States (in general) for a period of time. So hang on because this weather pattern will be with us for a little bit, and should lead to some interesting conditions around Washington, Oregon, and BC.

way to work it. route received a repeat ascent after you, too. way to keep the stoke alive.

doubt its ever been. take lots of pics and post a TR after you send!

what gene said. i've climbed it, good fun anf actually significant elevation gain but close to the landing strip. youll get the full dose of weather, building camps, and falling into crevasses,...which is what its all about

nice effort

layton's stories are always good. dude, you should write a book!

nice jeff

that's a lot of ice to mess around on, looks like the junkyards! oh, except the flowing water in the middle, stay away!

nice find!

V-threads are used in situations where there is enough ice eg multipitch *and* no natural anchors, and there is enough ice eg thick enough. Neither of these two criteria is typically met on ice climbs in the PNW outside of Lillooet area. (I also think if you found a lake frozen enough to practice on, you could probably find a real climb to practice on.) 1) You really do need enough ice to create a proper v-thread. A lot of climbs in the Cascades won't be of the quantity or quality where v-threads come into play. 2) v-threads are often used when there are no other good options, eg no trees. I've almost exclusively used them climbing in the Canadian Rockies, and in the Lillooet area on the larger multipitch climbs. I don't use v-threads much in Leavenworth, for example: tons of trees around. My suggestion would be go practice REAL v-threads, including rapping off them, at the Rambles or Marble in Lillooet, or at Canmore Junkyards or some other practice area in Banff. Once you've practiced them there, in these kinds of settings, you'll have an idea for how you might get off something like Weeping Wall if you get in over your head....

Nice updates. I'm bummed about Der Worth, usually around this time of year at least you can count on something to scratch around on over there. The snow sure has been epic this year so far but the ice, meh. In one of the earlier Strobach pics that was posted, there was a shot of Primus Sucks - which *typically* is the left-most route of the entire area. However, in that shot there was an obvious thing forming to it's immediate left. If by some weird twist of fate that thing actually stays around and gets climbable (which it should, as it gets no sun until late Feb), it would be one of the few remaining FAs at Strobach. This one: http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/plab/data/500/medium/20121215-PC150211.JPG Another thought: It seems the "hydrology" has moved favorably climbers left this year: Unholy Baptism in rare shape already and some heretofor unformed things coming, with other stuff only half good.

Dude, no brainer, Bozeman and Cody are in the Cascades....geez...

Or forums for TRs from CA or MT??