Alex

Nice job! Ice looks good. The curtain-ish thing in the very center of your last photo is also an FA waiting to happen

I don't know, Paul.

Global warming will make it easier in a few short years.

what Gene said. Most of the time the upper stuff is a snow slope and completely buried. The Rap Wall is the wall at the very center of your circle in the pic.

Mid-late march is generally already the end of the season for the Canadian Rockies; I've had a fantastic trip 3rd week in March, and I've been rained out 4-days-in-a-row third week in March, so watch Gravsports for ice conditions and watch the weather. If the weather here locally in the PNW is remotely any good, late March is perfect ski touring and alpine climbing season.

Craig first attempted it January 20th, 2007, and Jeff Street and I climbed it complete the next day (Jan 21st), along with the FA of Bleeder Project and an ascent of Ice Dreams. In the condition it was in at the time of the FA it was 4+. However, almost all the times I've ever seen it outside that season it's been considerably harder/more technical. The picture above shows perhaps typical conditions.

Really nice Ade and John. Looks like June, not January!

Someone did. Not super fat, but def lots of climbable ice. Motherlode area. Dropline.

You left out: Blew the clip. and Is staging his falls for a mag, as he has two seperate photogs taking snaps of him at the same time.

nice. my experience with pandome is the pro is usually crap until you're on vert ice. nice outing!

free bug

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I think your best option is to ski backcountry as much as possible. Ski lessons will not help you much at this stage of your development, and lift-served skiing does not teach you anything further that will be applicable to backcountry skiing, plus is very expensive. It's hard to get the mileage in the backcountry, but it's the only place you'll find a variety of conditions that will ultimately make you a better skiier in those same conditions. I don't remember the boots you were wearing when you broke your foot, but I thought they were fairly lightweight touring boots? A really good boot can't be emphasized enough: one that will keep you warm and dry all day, and not make you sweat too much in the up-tracks. Finally, multiple sets of good skins and anti-balling wax will get you out more often. I suffered with a single set of (albeit pretty good) skins for too long and missed the second day on a lot of weekends because my skins had gotten wet enough to not dry overnight.

Thanks for the pics! Looks like it's cold enough, just not enough water. The recent snow should help a little bit with that.

Generally speaking if you head up the cattrack on the w side of the valley, and stay high in the first open boulder field (as you approach the "Kiddie Cliff"), and then hug the left side of the first large slide path leading up to Tooth area (I think it might be called Mushroom Slide) you'll be as sheltered as possible in that valley. But the av conditions really do suck right now. Once you are out in that bowl below the Tooth, you'll be exposed to some real av slopes, albeit not big ones, on the opposite (Tooth) side of the valley, leading up to Pineapple Pass. The approach up to Pineapple Pass is a prime av slope!

Oh it definitely freezes, it's just been too warm the last week now for that to happen. Good on you for getting out and thanks for the pics!

That's terrible!

I had her first, youz alls had sloppy seconds.

I spent one season living in Concrete. Since WA 20 closes in the winter, Marblemount is very very quiet in the winter. If you want lift-served skiing you have to head back out to I-5 and up to Mt Baker. If you want backcountry, the outlook is very good if you are willing to suck up and do approaches from the valley bottoms in winter.

pics?

If Alpental is still closed on Mondays, go hike their ski hill.

Thanks for the feedback, I will double-check the coords....

Just for reference, alpental falls is actually the route in the background of your last pic. What you were on is Alpental 4, basically the bottom cliffband of Phantom Slide.

Really cool Craig! I'm certain that just about everything in the Palisades is private. Good on you for asking permission!

That's a pretty big If. I'm not planning on heading there anytime soon.