2019/2020 OR/WA Ice Conditions

[DPS]

I suspect the skiing is better than the climbing right now.  The attempts/exploratory hikes I made before this huge storm system moved through revealed very little ice, so this new snow will need to consolidate, bond, melt, freeze which will take some time and clear days and nights

[kmfoerster]

No need to head out in the hills, some kind gentleman gave me the conditions report this morning on my commute. 

[DPS]

That is priceless.

[ggres335]

Ancient Lakes. Up close its thinner than it looks in the best shots here. Lots of water and rock seen behind any solid spots.

[Joe_Poulton]

Anyone been to Banks the last few days?

[bedellympian]

Strawberries in Oregon have some ice. A little thin/sunbaked on 2/1 compared to previous visits. Some good stuff on the shadier aspects.

[Atom]

On 2/2/2020 at 10:18 AM, bedellympian said:

Strawberries in Oregon have some ice. A little thin/sunbaked on 2/1 compared to previous visits. Some good stuff on the shadier aspects.

This looks interesting. Is this a fairly known area for ice?

More specifically I'm interested if you are willing to share more details on getting there as I am not familiar with the area. 

[Michael Telstad]

The rain then freeze cycle last week made for some good alpine ice conditions at the pass. NW Butt on Chair was in cruiser condition yesterday. Would likely be hard to protect per usual. The upcoming snow fall will likely make it wallowy again. Hard to tell if routes on Snoqualmie are in or not. Someone should go check out NY gulley.

Had to chop out the cornice.

[bedellympian]

Found some ice on the East side of the Steens this past weekend. Approaches are fairly difficult but any cliff bands higher than 6500' with feeder snow slopes will probably yield something until the next major warm cycle. The couloir skiing was quite nice too.

Anyone been in here before?

[Peter Way]

Climbed the Cooper 30 and some fun mixed on Sunday.  It's still fat and happy.

 

[rat]

On 2/4/2020 at 10:20 AM, Michael Telstad said:

Hard to tell if routes on Snoqualmie are in or not. Someone should go check out NY gulley.

 

the photo in this thread suggests ice on nyg, pe, & tt but they might be a bit snow-covered at this time: http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=42748.0

[stever]

Has anyone been up NW Butt on Chair recently? wondering how the weather has affected the route since the last report

[Alisse]

@aaronohn was up there last Sunday.......

[aaronohn]

@Steve Roberts A partner and I were up there on Sunday the 8th. Conditions seemed pretty good. Snow from the day and night before was a bit loose on the top of the snowpack but offered good purchase with some solid kicks. The ice climbed well but there are areas of deterioration. More parties ahead than expected, so the path was maybe too obvious. At any rate, it went!

[genepires]

9 hours ago, aaronohn said:

@Steve Roberts

looks like a fair number of people have climbed it since last major snow storm?

 

[DPS]

Conditions were as good as it gets on Sunday.  After many, many times eying the East Face for the last 25+ winters it was finally iced enough to climb.  Protect? Probably not.  80 meters of steepish ice ran into a steep snowfield which I traversed to gain the NE Buttress. The ice step was fat and about 10' high.  The gendarme at the top of the NE Buttress was nicely iced and looked like a much more interesting variation. I wonder if it would be possible to climb to the top of this feature and rappel onto the NF to climb the last ice pitch below the summit pyramid. 

[Reiswigt]

Stopped at the Weeping Wall today while picking up my gear from BLUEWOOD. The ice was thin but we enjoyed it. Not sure if it will last to the weekend, but it might.

Edited March 18, 2020 by Reiswigt

[UphillSwimming]

New to this site and to the PNW (this is my first spring here)...wondering where I might look around this time of year for any ice that's left. Looking for anything in the AI/WI 3-4 range, long approaches or any other logistical stuff is no worries. Thanks so much in advance!

[DPS]

I doubt much seasonal ice is left. Reid Glacier Headwall on Hood, Liberty Ridge, Ptarmigan Ridge on Rainier, NR, Coleman Glacier HW on Baker, North Face, Price Glacier on Shuksan, Ice Cliff Glacier on Stuart are the kind of climbs that would be in shape. 

[Harperreds]

This is awesome and beautiful because it is December