Jump to content

Canada Poll


Lambone

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 48
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Lambone said:

Ok, new question. Avy danger looks to be high now, forecast says "Ice climbs with snow above them are a bad idea."

 

 

 

So if conditions continue to worsen later this week, what are some good routes that arn't prone to avy hazard?

 

Matt,

 

If avy condition are high it is a good bet that the Ghost will be fine. It is part of what is called the dry range and usually has way less snow and many of the climbs don't have bowls above or below them. You will need to rent a 4x4(pay for the extra no hassle insurance and don't tell them where you went)

 

Wicked Wanda 4+

Malignant mushroom 5

Sorecer 5

Hydrophobia 5+

Good the bad and Ugly 3-5

This house of Sky 3

 

I have climbed all of these except house of sky and they are all 3 Star.

 

Dale bigdrink.gif

Edited by daler
Link to comment
Share on other sites

since you are flying into calgary ghost is a good place to go. take a snow shovel with you and chains. when you drive to the north ghost don't follow the road or you'll get stuck in the drifts. instead turn left at the bottom of big hill, go to a dyke and follow the dyke till the little log bridge. a couple of river crossings and you'll be under gbu.

also other routes to consider there:

fist and a fang

candle stick maker (don't know if it is in this year)

anorexia nervosa & weathering hights

you could solo this house of sky the first day and climb on gbu, go to fist and a fang the next and then try something else if you have any juice left. Valley of the birds has some fantastic climbing. don't underestiamte the eagle- it can be pretty hard for the grade.

as far as other routes- don't go under any snow slopes till you figure out snow conditions and avi hazard.

one thing i have learned about the rockies. i don't make plans, since they never pan out. i just go there, see what i can get on and climb.

going to the ghost for 3 days is kind of miserable right now. you'll have to stay in a tent or your car for 14 hours a day, can't dry out.

re polar circus. it's not the big slope above you have to worry about. it's the traverse across, half way up the route (pencill by-pass). that slope gets loeaded with spindrift and can avalanche out.

you can also do mixed master. watch out for a snow slope leading to the last pitch, it did slide before. weeping wall is safe so is murchinson falls.

also consider getting on some mixed climbs there. grotto falls are has 0 avi hazard. there are 3 or 4 mixed bolted lines there, plus 3 ice lines, so you can spend all day there.

and get ready to get spanked, it will be a good test of your real climbing abilities.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks guys, this is really good info.

 

Ghost is a possibilty, my buddy has a pick-up. What we do is kind of up to them as well, I just want to know some options.

 

So near the icefields/Rampart Creek we've got Weeping Wall and Murchison, both classic. Polar might be sketchy, any other options that might be a good alternative for day three? How far is grotto canyon from that area?

 

Would you be able to tell if the slopes on PC had slid from down low?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

grotto is about 10 minutes east of Canmore on hwy 1A. there are three nice mixed lines to get pumped on. the routes are not that long though since you can TR all of them. as for PC, i remember thinking that you could see the debris below it since you can see it on Lady Wilson's quite easily and they're basically neighbors...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i have a friend who got hit by a piece of ice bigger than a microwave there last year. hellno3d.gif it could easily have killed her, but she walked away just fine. i'm not saying it's a bad place to go, but just be careful because it's a bowling alley. i'd rather take my chances with avys than be there on a busy day.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Matt, I don't think there's any way you could assess the slopes on the pencil bypass on PC. When I was there last year, we left the car thinking avie danger would be zip b/c there was only a bit of old crusty consolidated snow at the base. We were definitely surprised to traverse off the 3d pitch to find thigh deep windslab that had been deposited that night. That whole bit was pretty spooky.

Edited by J_Fisher
Link to comment
Share on other sites

i don't make plans, since they never pan out. i just go there, see what i can get on and climb.

this is basically the most useful beta ever posted on the website. making a fixed plan weeks in advance with no idea what conditions will exist on the day is a recipie for failure in the absence of radical flexibility. just go there and climb some shit cause its all good.

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another consideration re: avy hazard, for those not familiar with the Rockies:

 

Sometimes the mountains will look dry, or "boney," but the bowls will be wind loaded. This can lull you into thinking that the hazard is low, when in fact it is not. Just something to keep in mind. thumbs_up.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

J_Fisher said:

Matt, I don't think there's any way you could assess the slopes on the pencil bypass on PC. When I was there last year, we left the car thinking avie danger would be zip b/c there was only a bit of old crusty consolidated snow at the base. We were definitely surprised to traverse off the 3d pitch to find thigh deep windslab that had been deposited that night. That whole bit was pretty spooky.

 

I'm at work and the # is in my guide book, but they have info on avy conditions for climbs such as PC and Borgeau L&R. They actually "control" those climbs, but you still need to use your own common sense. There is so fucking much to do, you can find something on any day. Be flexible and smart.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Re avie control on Polar Circus: there's a sign at the base that talks about this. I think the wardens try to "close" the route when danger is high and they haven't bombed it yet. My impression, though, was that the control was on the slopes above the route and not on the route itself. Maybe I'm wrong.

 

Retro's suggestions are great routes but Carlsberg and Kitty Hawk don't meet the low avie danger requirement. Kitty Hawk is a giant funnel. I've got 1st hand knowledge that it's not a fun place to be when the slopes above release.

 

Of course Matt's probably on his way home by now anyway...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

big snow dump not only effected avi conditions, but also driving. people are getting stuck in Ghost and are digging for hours at the time. there was monster truck or two, making it into south ghost and north ghost is a good question. you can make it to the bottom of big hill and try to walk from there.

whiteman falls is in and the road is open till Dec 01. other option could be climbing south, in waterton park.

as far as polar circus- it's not the big slope you have to worry, it's the small slope on pencil bypass. it get loaded with spindrift. there is no possibility of protecting this slope is it slides. why is this so hard to comprehand by some of the posters on this board? wazzup.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks yall we did...

 

Proffesor Falls

Weeping Left (bailed due to ice fall and heavy snow sluffs)

and Louise Falls (fat and fun!)

 

Polar Looked Sweet but turning the Pencil looked spooky and the sun was bringing tons of snow down on southern aspects. Photos to come... bigdrink.gif

 

What a fucking awsome place thumbs_up.gifthumbs_up.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...