Ice Climbing Travel Suggestions

[TrogdortheBurninator]

Thinking about going somewhere to climb over presidents day weekend, and looking for suggestions from people regarding reliability and cost. Based on how warm things are around here, probably going to fly somewhere, but the question is where. Mainly looking for easy (grade 2-3) ice climbs of varying length. Only have 3, or at most 4 days to climb. Places I am considering are:

 

SLC - Tickets only $59 each way. might have a place to stay

Canmore - Tickets about $250 RT

Colorado - Tickets $180 RT to Denver

Vegas - Rock instead of ice, but tickets are cheap ($180RT) and I have a place to stay

Other suggestions are highly appreciated.

 

Seems like colorado involves a lot of driving after you arrive to make a short trip convenient. SLC seems prety convenient, but dont know about reliability. Canmore seems good, just want to know that the extra $$ is worth it. Might also be worth considering places with a backup plan if weather sucks (maybe good snowboarding or rock climbing).

[Alex]

Canmore for easy ice or Vega$

[cj001f]

East Coast. Adirondak's or New Hampshire.

[glassgowkiss]

my suggestion would be to go to quebec. ponte rogue, san alban. you can fly to montreal, rent a car, drive 2 hours north east and climb your little butt off. ponte rogue has a motel you can stay for 58 CAN/ night (don't remember the name). it has everything from WI3 to WI7. you can climb in the shade or the sun. also around quebec city there are some climbs, some multi pitch, you can find info in the new edition of the guide.

forget colorado, forget slc.

[TrogdortheBurninator]

Alex, in canmore, how necessary is it to rent a 4wd? Also, any reccomendations on cheap accomodations? Any reccomended guide books for canmore with a large selection of easy climbs? Will colorado be a pain in the ass with a tight schedule, and how is SLC compared to Canmore for finding accessible easy grades (1. No comparison, or 2. A relative newbie wont know the difference)

[TrogdortheBurninator]

montreal is about $420 round trip, and 9 hours travel time (one stop for that price). Might be harder to pull off with only 3 or 4 days. Good suggestion though.

[glassgowkiss]

where do you live? if in seattle, drive up to vancouver, fly to montreal red eye o west jet. right now they have 120Can sale (one way) plus taxes, so you'll pay about 390 Can RT with one plave change in toronto.

[cj001f]

montreal is about $420 round trip, and 9 hours travel time (one stop for that price). Might be harder to pull off with only 3 or 4 days. Good suggestion though.

Evening Red eye. Sleep on plane. late flight home.

[TrogdortheBurninator]

Im in seattle, but if possible id prefer to fly from here. Driving 2:30 hours to Van + 2 hours from Montreal to the climbing plus flying and waiting, I could probable just drive all the way to alberta and save the money and time. Is Quebec significantly better than Canmore in your opinion? If so, why?

[glassgowkiss]

for what you want- the answer is yes. you want to climb moderate climbs. at this point there aren't that many routes in the rockies that would fit your profile, are avalanche safe and would not be crowded.

i was very much impressed with quality of climbing in quebec.

other suggestion would be to fly to thunder bay, but in feb you might be dealing with very low temps.

the thing about Ponte Rogue is if you don't feel like leading it is fairly easy to hang a tr, as it is a gorge.

[cfire]

Drive to Abbotsford, park free, fly westjet $185RT to Calgary, rent car cheap from Calgary and drive to Canmore. No need for 4 wheel drive to get plenty of climbing in.

[glassgowkiss]

no longer free parking. now it's 4 or 6 bucks a day.

[cfire]

That new this year? It has been free ever since I've used it. I guess it was only a matter of time. Too bad...but it's still a good deal compared to the other airports.

[TrogdortheBurninator]

Any thoughts from anyone on the SLC area, the price is definitely right. Glassgowkiss, it sounds like your major suggestion is that most easy grade climbs in the rockies will be buried and avalanche prone. Any exceptions to this rule? I appreciate all the comments. I dont have enough $$ to travel very often, so id like to get the most bang for my buck.

[DirtyHarry]

Where did you find $180 RT tix to Vegas?

[TrogdortheBurninator]

Orbitz starting in FEB. $183RT

[glassgowkiss]

that's my point about avi danger and easier routes. for the latest conditions check www.gravsports.com . also www.live-the-vision.com

the exeption would be fron range and ghost valley (as low avi hazard), but i don't know what driving into ghost is. like i said fly red-eye, rent a car, climb for 3 or 4 days and fly back

[PaulB]

Since you're talking about a US long weekend, Quebec would be a good choice. There will be some road trippers from New England, but things should will still be relatively crowd free. If you're based in Montreal it's only two hours to Quebec City, or even down to the 'Dacks.

 

For what it's worth, central Canada has been having a stellar winter. Temps have been plenty cold, and I suspect that there is lots of ice in prime shape.

[PaulB]

Since you're talking about a US long weekend, Quebec would be a good choice.

Maybe not..... just noticed that Festiglace is Feb 18-20, so it'll be pretty busy at Pont Rouge.

[glassgowkiss]

talked to some reliable people who were there during festiglass. there is plenty of ice for all the climbers.

[Alex]

For Trogdorth's schedule nothing will beat Canmore for easy ice on the cheap. Fly into Calgary, get el cheapo rental car, get a couple nights reserved at The Drake or other such establishment, and climb easy ice nearby for 3-4 days:

 

Easy ice routes that are not av threatened near/in Canmore:

Rogans Gully

Junkyards

Grotto, His, Hers

Johnston Canyon

 

Easy ice routes that are not av threatened within an hour:

First 2 pitches of Louise Falls

Masseys in Field

 

Easy ice routes that are not av threatened within 2 hours:

Shades of Beauty

Snivelling Gully

Two Oclock Falls

Bow Falls

 

So many others!....

 

Yes, you might encounter crowds. But you will also do more climbing for less driving than anywhere else, I wager.

 

That said, Pont Rouge sounds like a cool suggestion, too!

[TrogdortheBurninator]

Thanks everbody, Pont Rogue sounds awesome, but it also seems tough to pull off with a tight timeline(and not wanting to drive me ass off). That last response is exactly what im looking for alex. Thanks alot.

Edited January 27, 2005 by TrogdortheBurninator

[hopalong]

What about Valdez?

Edited January 27, 2005 by hopalong

[Chad_A]

If the ice is in, SLC isn't that bad (for the price of the tickets...especially if you know someone who can put you up).

 

Santaquin and Provo Canyons can probably keep you more than busy with WI3 and 4, for the length of time that you have. My pal lives there, and ice climbs frequently. If you need info, I can call him and see what the local conditions are like.

[glassgowkiss]

ok alex, his and hers don't think are anymore there at this point, grotto is kind of wet and most of the pillars in johnston fell off

http://www.live-the-vision.com/wwwboard/messages/9142.html

http://www.live-the-vision.com/wwwboard/messages/9160.html

and from gravsports.com: After a month of really crazy weather things are starting to settle out. The avi hazard is generally lower, and most of the roads are back open (the Parkway is still closed from Saskatchewan River Crossing to Jasper but is supposed to fully open today, crazy quantities of ice on the road!). The extreme rain/freeze/tropics/-40 combinations have both laid in some interesting ice and destroyed the same. Cascade has fallen down and is currently not a climb (note the really huge debris piles in the middle and at the bottom), but Sea of Vapors still looks good, as do the other routes like Professor's (again, check out the huge debris piles for an illustration of why this route is bad in high avi hazard conditions). Hafner is still in surprisingly good shape, and the Hoar House cave has a full compliment of hoar. Neolithic is substantially different than it used to be, as is Cave Man, but both are still climbable at M10- and powerful M11 respectively. Overall the ice weathered the crazy weather pretty well, the concern now is sudden heating and avi hazard, about normal for the Rockies this time of year.

 

shades of beauty is more like 4.5 hour drive from calgary and has a huge slope above it and maseys has only about one mile of slope to the top of mt stephen- i would consider it one of the more dangerous places in high avi conditions.