Wenatchee Area Ice Conditions

[TyClimber]

I am going to be spending the two weeks before Christmas visiting my family in Wenatchee and was wondering if any of the ice routes in that area are forming up, Leavenworth, Palisades, etc. It looks like the temps have been pretty cold there recently so maybe I'll get lucky! Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[kurthicks]

I'm heading over next weekend, I'll post back when I have some Beta. I bet things will be "in" to some extent by the end of the week if the temps stay about the same.

[rat]

worth leavin':

 

hubba hubba and environs---leadable routes but thin.

dog dome dike---more mixed up than usual.

rat creek climbs---not quite, need some more love.

icicle buttress---still real thin but its usually more itchy scratchy then kick 'n stab there.

careno crags/rainbow falls area---very thin and wet still.

drury---coming along nicely but still has holes and looks real wet.

chandelier---looked decent on saturday afternoon.

hidden lake---the far right route and the far left route (can't remember what i called them for that book) looked leadable based on scoping with binocs from north shore road. probably still kinda wet and funky. the others are building.

[TyClimber]

Thanks for the info man, I really appreciate it! Sounds like I might be able to come up with something, especially if it will stay cold the next week.

[TyClimber]

Rat, as you seem to know whats up when it comes to climbing around der worth maybe you can give some input. I heard a rumor that there is a possible easier mixed route up chicken gully on icicle buttress. Any truth to this?

[rat]

sorry, i don't know where chicken gully is....don't have a guidebook. in the past and with more ice than is there now, we've done two 3-4 pitch routes on the buttress starting in that alcove right of r&d....very nice 5.8ish rock and wi3-4 climbing. no doubt others have knicked around up there over the years.

 

looks to be some potential for easy to moderate mixed climbing on either side of warrior wall in the right conditions.

 

an easier thin ice route forms in the gully near lazy boy but it can get covered with snice...cool thin vein of ice at the start when i was there....maybe wi3 or so.

 

hope that helps in some way.

[DirtyHarry]

Just FYI: it got reat cold last night in the 11worth / wenatchee area - in the single digits.

[glassgowkiss]

what about white slabs? rat, check your pm.

[pup_on_the_mountain]

Updates from Kurt (wazzumountaineer).

Post he will, later maybe tonight .

 

 

12.8 Frenchman Falls - Not fully in. ice goes to top on both sides of flowing water. (viewed at

night). Since this faces south and has ice on it, I bet Banks is good to go. Fuggs is probably

climbable too.

 

12.9 Did a recon up the Icicle this morning:

Careno falls are thin, but might be leadable. Same for Rainbow.

Lots of ice on icicle buttress. looks like good mixed fun.

"The Smear" is in.

"plastic fantastic" is close

"hubba hubba" is in. going to climb it in an hour or so.

lots of little smears on the south side of Icicle creek across from Bruce's boulder

 

Will go check on The Drip tonight or tomorrow morning.

 

Kurt

[MCash]

Thanks for the update. I seriously doubt there is ice on Fugs, since the source for the water has dried up.

[kurthicks]

Conditions update:

Just got off Hubba Hubba with OlympicMtnBoy. Good ice, good pro, and fun climbing. Had to use a pin at the middle belay. we did the walkoff since it would be hard to find enough ice to do a V-thread. Definately colder up there than the forecast leads one to believe--my hands went numb twice

 

upon further review, these still need some loving before we start hacking on them:

Careno, Rainbow, whatever is next up-canyon.

The Drip (about 8' from touching down. someone should bolt the cave behind it as a mixed route)

The Pencil (missing the 2nd pitch)

 

good to go:

Hubba Hubba and surrounding climbs.

Drury (looks like a "go". there is some open water down low.)

Wet & Wild (looked OK)

The Smear

[rat]

glassgowkiss, pm sent. the gist was that as of mid-week there wasn't anything formed on snow creek wall that i would hike to. might be different now but i doubt it.

 

bolting the wall behind the drip maybe isn't the best idea. i heard of two aspiring ice climbers who top roped the thing when it barely touched down a few years ago....it collapsed the next day. they no longer aspire. this isn't a continental climate, despite the current anomalous temps.

[TrogdortheBurninator]

Took WMs advice and climbed Hubba Hubba main flow today. It is true that there is some good ice in shape in washington. Adding to WM's list, what I think is Chandelier falls by Lake Wenatchee was looking really good.

[MCash]

BWR and I attempted Drury today. The river crossing looked too swift up near the drainage to cross, so we crossed on the western end of Lake Jolanda, near the buildings. It was frozen several inches thick. We pulled ourselves accross in the canoe using our tools. The ice was stress cracking a little, but it was fine.

 

The 1/2 mile hike upstream through the brush sucked the big one! Bascially if you like postholing through fallen branches covered with snow and crossing rockfields with unconsolidated snow, smashing your shins into the granite, then this is the approach for you. Up the drainage to the base of the falls is more of the same.

 

The upper section of the upper falls is in good. The lower portion of the upper falls is thin and has two freestanding pillars, one of each side. The lower falls is missing entire sections of ice. This route is nowhere close to being in condition. We need some meltwater and 3 weeks minimum.

[TrogdortheBurninator]

This is how Hubba Hubba main flow looks right now

 

[kurthicks]

Martin, i saw you guys driving around with a canoe all day. funny shit. too bad i didn't recognize you. have you grown a beard? thanks for the good beta on Drury.

 

Trog- good to see you got out. too bad I missed you.

 

I spent the day cruising the icicle. Did a couple little solos near Icicle buttress. fun stuff.

 

edit: looks like a lot of Wet & Wild fell down. I also skied to check out Mountaineer Creek... no visible ice from the road.

Edited December 11, 2005 by wazzumountaineer

[JoshK]

Wow, that is some pathetic looking ice for being the closest thing to in. The "ice" is about the only thing I don't miss about washington.

[rat]

yeah, all hail washington's world famous ice climbing....

 

two full pitches of good itchy scratchy turf and wi3 exist on the far left side of duty dome starting a couple hundred feet up from the start of briody's rock climb (gold rush?). we also climbed a fun pitch to the right of peak-a-boo tower. as with most icicle valley rock climbing, these are generally slabby affairs. don't bother sharpening your tools or bringing screws.

[cynicalwoodsman]

Last season I spent a couple weeks in early-mid February eye-ballin' some stuff that came in up lake from the Hidden Lake climbs listed in the book.

 

There looked to be a really long line up the main gully of the next basin west of Hidden Lake.

 

Does anyone know anything about that stuff? Has it been ticked?

[Alex]

Two friends and I climbed a really nice, sunny line up the Tumwater towards Stevens Pass (futher than the rest area) today, very visible w/ easy looking approach from the road by the sign that says "Adopt-A-Higway" "Chris". (<edit> It turns out this is "Chandelier", which has not formed in a number of years </edit>). A couple other cool cats were already there at the base when we arrived...

 

Anyway Chandelier was the fattest any of these cool cats or I had ever seen it, a nice stylish 45m WI3 - melting away in the sun. We did rock paper scissors for the lead. My famous friend won, and lead the route in one long pitch to a nice tree belay, and then my taller friend added a second tricky mixed pitch up the rock above (with pure rock gear, pins and cams to 3") between a thin free standing pillar and the melted-out, falling apart main flow.

 

If you would like to climb Chandelier, which has a short approach that can even avoid the private property around it if you try, some nice ice, some "snice" for spice, nice exposure, is south facing, with no av hazard and is probably one of the few honest WI3 routes around AND is certainly the fattest its been that anyone can remember (which means it takes at least 10cm screws), I would get to the base of the route before dawn!

[OlympicMtnBoy]

Yeah, Hubba Hubba with WM was a lot of fun, but we drove around and didn't see a while lot else that was ready quite yet. Maybe more for a new years ice party? Maybe I'll just have to drive to Canada. Hey WM, where are the pics?

[eric8]

one of the few honest WI3 routes around

 

 

photos I'm curious what an honest 3 looks like

[rat]

if it's the most obvious flow above the chain-up area west of the nason creek rest area, it has historically been known as "chandelier". it was named after the nearby defunct "chandelier cafe" that now only serves ghetto housing to fun hogs. mr.e's super secret neighborhood.

[cynicalwoodsman]

So yeah... anyway, what do ya call the ice that forms on the lake side of nason ridge in the next drainage west ot the hidden lake routes?

 

There was a bunch of routes that came in last season above the basin below the lookout.

 

It looked like it would require a significant approach. One would probably have to ski or s snowmobile up the little wenatchee past the gate, or bushwach across the little wenatchee iself and head straight up the hill toward the base of the routes.

 

It looked like sick stuff; several lines; very steep; and the main gully looked to be at least 2500' worth of fun.

 

Is anyone familiar with this stiff or know anything about it?

[rat]

what i know and mostly what i don't know:

i have looked at them but don't know if they have been climbed. the approach, as you know, is problematic and includes about 1500' of elevation gain after getting to the south side of the river. some of the lines show up early in the winter then get covered with snow because they are not steep enough. the low snow year last winter made them stand out a bit more. the approach and objective hazard of the terrain trap gully you mention might not be worth the couple short sections of easy appearing ice in it. in my opinion, there are two lines, probably less than 2 honest pitches long, that might be worth exploring. they are not well formed right now.