Paco Posted January 19, 2005 Share Posted January 19, 2005 Climb: Lillooet-Various routes Date of Climb: 1/15/2005 Trip Report: Thump, thump… thump, thump… Yeah, it’s chestbeating, and the TR really isn’t that interesting, but Jesse and I had an all-star three day weekend at Lillooet. In brief: Day 1: Carl’s Burg, The Tube Day 2: Three Ring Circus Day 3: Tres Burly (sans last pitch) In full: The three day weekend in Lillooet began with the usual late night drive arriving at the Mile-O around 12:30 AM in –16F temps. Damn that’s cold. Day one - The original plan was to climb the Loose Lady. In the morning we bump into a few other Seattle climbers, chat for a bit, and find out that they were also planning on climbing the Loose Lady. Breakfast at the Reynolds introduced us to a few more Seattle climbers who also were headed for the Loose Lady. WTF? Is every yahoo in Lillooet gunning for the same route? Jesse and I bag that plan and decide to drive down the Duffey and find something else to climb. We see Carl’s Burg. It’s impressive. “Hey Jesse, why don’t we just go boulder around at the base, see what it’s like up close. Yeah let’s bring the rack and rope.” As we lace up our boots we throw Skinny Puppy in the stereo. There’s nothing like some 1980’s dark electronica to fuel the day. Twight would be proud; at least in our music selection. On the approach we keep saying to each other that the climb is looking shorter and less steep. At the base Jesse asks the looming question, “So what’s the civil way to decide who gets to lead the pitch?” I respond, “Well, seeing as how you have already had a climbing trip to Banff this season and I have not climbed any ice this season it is only fitting that I should lead the pitch.” No arguments from Jesse. Fuck yeah; it’s all mine! 55 meters, a handful of screws, and two tired arms later I arrive at the belay. That pitch really wasn’t short! From the top I notice a seep coming out of the middle of a rock wall down the canyon that looks impressive. After Carl’s Burg there’s still some time to spare so we drive down the road and climb the Tube. The Tube is a fun climb with a steep pumpy start. On the drive Jesse sees the same seep that caught my attention earlier. It’s hard not to notice it. Day two - We head for Three Ring Circus, which looks fat from the road. This climb was super fun. I loose out on the “coin toss” and Jesse gets to lead the first pitch. Bastard! The first pitch involved technical moves and funky mushrooms. This was one of, if not the most, fun pitches of ice I have climbed. After the first pitch there is 65 meters of sustained WI3 for the second pitch. Fun, fun, fun! That night Jesse and I read the description (thanks JayB for the hook-up with the new guidebook) for Tres Burly, the climb we both have been eyeing all weekend. The guide book says that it doesn’t form every year and right now it looks fat! It took all of about 30 seconds for us to scrap our plans for the Loose Lady and turn our guns towards Tres Burly. Day three – We do the approach and I take the approach pitch (Not So Burly), which is a lot of fun. It had a nice steep curtain for the finish. After this approach pitch there is a lot of uphill climbing that finally leads to Tres Burly. Wow, it’s impressive, and the upper pitch does indeed look “gently overhanging” as the guidebook describes. At this point it’s raining and getting pretty warm. The climb is dripping a fair amount of water. We head up the first pitch to a hanging belay. It’s getting warmer, wetter, and later in the day. Some falling ice hits me. Our guns are pretty worked due to three solid days of climbing. We decide to rap off. Our soaking wet bodies appreciate this. We get back to the car around 4:30 drenched. The roads have already become very icy. The drive home will be slow, but we have had an awesome weekend. The drive home entails a long slow drive from Lillooet to north of Boston Bar where we have to wait all night for an accident to be cleared. We both slept surprisingly well in the truck with the seats tilted back. I’m glad we brought the sleeping bags “just in case.” Two other friends of ours stay in a hotel. Our three day weekend turns into four. It was fun hanging out with other Seattle climbers and meeting the large crew of Portland climbers many of which are cc.com regulars. ‘Til the next adventure. Gear Notes: standard ice gear Approach Notes: stay high for the initial traverse for Three ring Circus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ade Posted January 19, 2005 Share Posted January 19, 2005 Ice climbing and Puppy. Can't get better than that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpinfox Posted January 19, 2005 Share Posted January 19, 2005 Sweet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chica Posted January 19, 2005 Share Posted January 19, 2005 Awesome climbing guys; nothin' like Skinny Puppy to get ya' pumped It was great hanging with you and other folks - fun times! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbw1966 Posted January 19, 2005 Share Posted January 19, 2005 It was nice meeting you and Jesse, Paco. Nice TR! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelle Posted January 20, 2005 Share Posted January 20, 2005 Sounds like fun. Where are the photos? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fern Posted January 20, 2005 Share Posted January 20, 2005 fun trip. better a night in Boston Bar than a car in the ditch. what's this 'dark electronica'? back in the day we called it 'industrial' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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