dandy Posted January 23, 2001 Posted January 23, 2001 I am curious to hear from those who attended the First Lillooet Ice Climbing Festival. What routes did people get on? What were the conditions? Any funny anecdotes? How about Will's slide show? daler and I managed to sneak in an ascent of Synchrotron (next to Synchronicity). Conditions were favorable, if not a bit on the warm side. It looks a great alternate first pitch could form if it gets a bit colder and stays that way for a spell. It is almost in, all but about fifteen feet or so, and daler and I took a serious look at it. If you are interested, take a look at page 132 of "West Coast Ice". There is a hidden gully midway between the first pitch of Synchronicity and Synchotron. It trends up and left, topping out at the base of the pencil. We opted to traverse into the route from the base of this gulley. The last two pitches were superb, grade 4 and hardish 5 (which included a 30 to 40 foot unprotectable pillar and a foot or more of rotten ice), respectively. Thanx for taking the last one daler. We saw no signs of anyone else having climbed it, although we know of one party who had four or five years ago. Anyone else climbed it? Quote
512dude Posted January 23, 2001 Posted January 23, 2001 Dandy, hats off to you and daler! We climbed Synchronicity Friday and looked over at Syncrotron. What we could see looked harder than you mention but having not climbed it I take your word. Did you have to dry tool anything? Quote
EddieE Posted January 23, 2001 Posted January 23, 2001 I was lucky enough to get in on Will Gadd's clinic on Saturday in Marble Canyon, north of Lilloet. I'm pretty comfortable on ice, but it can't hurt to have one of the world's best yelling advice to you while you're up climbing. Ice in Marble Canyon (where the clinic was held) was pretty good. You can check out photo updates at bivouac.com. My girlfriend also reported that she had a great time at Kim Csizmazia's Women's Clinic and learned quite a bit. We went out to the Rambles on Sunday and climbed three pitches of grade 3 ice in decent conditions to finish the weekend - the toughest part was grovelling down steep frozen turf and a boulder field with shallow snow cover to get back to the car. Will's slide show, which included his paragliding in addition to competitions and travels abroad was entertaining. Kevin Mclane and Don Serl also gave good shows on Friday night. The festival was very well run and over 100 climbers packed the small town to make this first Lillouet festival a good one. Kudos to Lyle Knight and everyone who was involved with the planning - you can sign me up for next year. Quote
dandy Posted January 23, 2001 Author Posted January 23, 2001 512Dude, I think I may have put a foot on rock, but that might have just been for the fun of it. In other words, if you are thinking about doing this route, you don't have to lug an entire rack up the gully (like we did). We only used a couple of pins, a knifeblade, and some aliens (green, yellow, and red). If you go up the initial ice pitch, you won't even need these though. So, was the last pitch of Synchronicity still hollow? Quote
512dude Posted January 23, 2001 Posted January 23, 2001 Last pitch of Synchronicity was great. The only hollow section seemed to be the last third or so. My partner said he could hear everything vibrate when I hit the ice! Thanks for the beta. Quote
rayborbon Posted January 23, 2001 Posted January 23, 2001 Hey 512, Could you mail me so I can pick your mnind about Synchronicity? I may have spoke with you up there. Did you do it on Sat? -Ray Quote
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