Birdbrain Boulevard

[Climzalot]

Anybody ever climb it? Seems as though I have heard pretty mixed feedback as to the difficulty. As with any thin/mixed route I am sure the difficulty varies with ice conditions. What's the concensus? Pretty freakin hard and scary, or mostly doable by mere mortals? Is the protection reasonable with the right gear?

 

Thanks.

[glassgowkiss]

it has been soloed by at least 2 people. and with m6 rating hardly falls under "hard route"category. the main issue if it is formed up at all (lower ice pitches) and the avi danger. i was there in 2001 and not a drop of ice was on that cliff then. talk to Scott DeCapio...

[mike_m]

There's a Ouray-area conditions report on www.skywardmountaineering.com that includes Birdbrain Blvd for current info

[daler]

The route is good. If it has ice its no problem but if the frozen H2O is scarce it can be the real deal. Either way it is fun and should not be missed.

 

Remember- Easy is a relative term, Hince the term Sandbag!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

cheers,

 

Dale

[daler]

Just climbed the route recently.

 

It is in "good" shape. Take more pins then listed and a #4 camalot is very nice.

 

Be prepared for runouts on thin ice above questionable gear. Only used about 8 srew placements on the whole route. Many blades were used!!!

 

I love this route- One of the best of its kind in North America!!!!

 

cheers,

 

dale

[kailas]

I thought all you guys were up in the PNW shouldn't you be talkin about PNW ice climbing? I mean the PNW is where it's

happening, right.

[Climzalot]

Nice Daler. Thanks for the update. Good info on the #4. I can't say I would have thought to bring that along. Sounds spicy to say the least. Hopefully what little ice there is doesn't go away or get chipped off in the next few weeks. In addition to a handful of small pitons, and #4 what other gear is useful? Will the usual small cams, nuts, and short screws get the job done?

 

Thanks again.

[DirtyHarry]

I thought all you guys were up in the PNW shouldn't you be talkin about PNW ice climbing? I mean the PNW is where it's

happening, right.

 

Ice in the PNW? huh?

Not this year Jack.

[daler]

no nuts were used. about 12 pins would be good. Mostly thin blades a couple of angles and about 3 medium arrows would do you fine. As for the rest we used doubles in yellow/blue tcu. No long srews needed.

 

We used 70 meter ropes.

[sill]

The route is super cool, I was able to do it last Sunday. Awsome long pitches. The climbing was only junky in a couple spots. Not as hard as I thought it would be, but still really cool. We didn't take enough pins though, only took three. Ranks up with the Talisman as my favorite ice/mixed route in Colorado.