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Eldorado NW couloir conditions??


kevin

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As of september 14th there was no Ice or snow and due to the still warm temperatures and conditions lately I would speculate there is no Ice.

 

If you want a fun route try the west(?) ridge, but not the one in the nelson book, it's not in any books. It's sort of a mixed climb and really fun. Here is a link to a site of someone elsewho climbed it and actually took the time to post about it

 

http://www.mtnphil.com/Eldorado2/Eldorado2.html

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quote:

Originally posted by kevin:

Has anyone been on this route lately or checked it out from nearby? Is the ice "in"?

I've heard the approach can be a bit tricky, anyone have any approach beta?

thanks

I am quickly learning that "in" is a very subjective term. Wayne and I went to do this route yesterday (10/13/02). We approached on Sunday and met two parties coming down who both said they looked at it and reported it was "definitely not in." We ended up going over to the N. Ridge and had an excellent view into the upper section. Needless to say we were kicking ourselves for listening to our fellow climbers than our own judgement. In our opinions this climb is definitely "in". Thin, but in.

 

The conditions of the route matched exactly our EXPECTATIONS of what would be there and therefore our assessment of "in". Unfortunately we were swayed by repots of "not much ice and lots of powdery snow." True there is snow, but it is quite consolidated on the northern aspects as evidenced by the quite solid upper snow/ice face immediately above the termination of the couloir. There was ice, not thick, but it seemed there would be occaisional screw placements as well as rock pro. This is a mixed climb. I don't relly know who we talked to; perhaps they expected a blue streak as often seen in the Canadian Rockies. But I think they will wait a long time before that happens. In fact I think right now there is NOT too much snow and when the next big dump comes, then the route will be "out" for the rest of the season. So if you are realistic about what to expect and are comfortable on a thin (but in) alpine ice climb, I hope someone ticks it soon. You can pm me for further approach beta. At least we have that down for next time! [Wink]

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Has anyone actually done the coulior route in Selected Climbs Vol II? I approached once via sibley creek and got lost two years ago, and tried eldorado creek and got dumped on two years ago. I have since given up after 2nd hand info of a 2nd ascent which was guided by an AAI guide. It seems like it's way short and if it was guided??? I don't want to speculate since I haven't done it, but it looks pretty short and none too difficult. Seems like a scenery climb with a short burst of climbing effort. I am not knocking this climb or anyone that's done it, but I'd like some info from someone who's done it to get the thumbs up. I was thinkin' of doing it in a couple weeks or posibly soloing it.

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Looked at route from base of N Ridge on Sat PM after approaching and ditching our bivvi gear at the base of the E Ridge. Could see the bottom third, which looked mostly like neve with some rock steps.

 

Sunday night the weather bailed, warm, windy with some snow. Didn't look like getting any better do we headed down. Made it to the trailhead before the rain started for real.

 

I'm guessing the upper section of the route had more ice in it and so it would go. By the looks of the base of the route nobody has actually been down there to have a look see recently (no tracks).

 

If I can't find anything better to do I just might have to go back and try again but I doubt the ice will be as fat as the picture in Nelson 2, for which a big warm rainstorm followed by a hard freeze seems to be required.

 

Unless you guys could see a whole lot more from higher on the N Ridge?

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  • 4 weeks later...

Soloed the NW Couloir today. There were five other climbers approaching the base as I topped out, so there's likely to be other reports as well. I used the approach in Selected Climbs, which works fine, although at least two of the other climbers dropped down directly into the Marble drainage from the Inspiration Glacier, which could be quite faster. The climb itself was in excellent condition, with neve wherever there wasn't ice; I'd estimate it to be WI2+/WI3-. As long as this high pressure sticks around, the climb will probably remain in great shape.

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