daler Posted December 21, 2003 Share Posted December 21, 2003 Warning- I do not promise that these are the conditions you will find. Climbing is Dangerous! Avy conditions always change, check them for yourself!!! Other than that conditions are super fat and Avy conditions were fair with warm temps settling the snow. We saw no natural releases. If you are not on the way yet get in the car and drive north, there are so MANY climbs in. What we found- Dec 13th- Climbed Carlsberg and Pilsner- Berg is fat and probably only 4+ or very easy grade 5. Pilsner can be climbed as a grade 5 but there are plenty of grade 6 lines to be had. We took ice behind the central pillar and pulled onto it about at the lip. Probably 6- or so. 14th- Oh Le Tabernac and Mercy Buckets. In and still getting bigger. The upper bowl climbs are also in but there was some wind slab so we did not make the trek up there. Mercy Buckets was mostly ice with a couple of rock moves at the start, 6- with bolts to the right. We also climbed the central line on Tabernac at solid grade 5. 15th- Ah- The Ghost. What a place. Driving into the south ghost is no problem with a good rig. We also checked out the north ghost- this was a little spicier with drifts up to 2 feet deep. My Toyota with 3” lift had little problems but don’t try it with a Subaru yet. We climbed wicked wanda in great conditions. 17th- Hydrophobia via Waiporous creek. Once again the road was “ok” until the second crossing but at the next cutline we almost got stuck. Backed up and went back across the second crossing and parked. 2 hours and 18 minutes of mostly ok walking put at us the base of the super fat Hydro. A steal in 5- conditions. We used a 70 meter rope and did it in 1.5 pitches. On top at 11 am. We were going to do the Hydro- Sorcerer linkup but the wind was at Hurricane force and we bailed. 18th- Aerial Bounderies. This is a must do as it almost never formes. It is dry now and probably won’t last all winter. Lots of hooking and fun technical climbing. Used the 70 meter again and did it in 3 pitches. 19th- Warmed down on polar circus to see if the pencil was a go. Damm still 3 feet from touching, it was hard to tell from the road. Polar was so fat and plastic we did not place a screw the hole way. Definitely the year to tag this one!!! Watch the traverses slopes, we used some terrain belays. The last pitch can be climbed in 4+ conditions on the left, we took a nice 5- dihedral right of center. Back at the car by 1pm Hope this gives some help. Below is few photos. There are beta photos of pilsner and Oh le tabernac in the gallery. dale Aerial Bounderies The Pencil Wicked Wanda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JUSTO Posted December 21, 2003 Share Posted December 21, 2003 Thanks for the conditions report as I am heading up on the 27th. Reports like this are one of the best things about this site. Psyched to get on some BIG BLUE ICE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted January 5, 2004 Share Posted January 5, 2004 just got back from climbing in Europe where the conditions have been miserable. Literally flew over Canmore on the way home. Its trips like that that make one appreciate how accessible and what an amazing ice climbing mecca Banff is! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DPS Posted January 5, 2004 Share Posted January 5, 2004 Yeah, and don't forget about Franklin Falls! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fredrogers Posted January 5, 2004 Share Posted January 5, 2004 Well, it's been minus 40F at night and not much warmer during the days(minus 22F) since Friday. The ice is brittle and everyone's cars are frozen- including mine. Wait for this cold snap to be over before you come. It is so suck here right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Posted January 5, 2004 Share Posted January 5, 2004 you there with send bot? Hope you guys dont freeze too bad, hey at least its not melting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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