[TR] Cdn Rockies- Real Ice 12/22/2005

[Alex]

Real Ice

[JoshK]

its not hard to grasp, i thnik the problem is someone went to the rockies when the once in a 5 year artic out flow hit and every one climbed shit that hasnt been done since last ice age. now they are pissed off, I doubt any one would try and compare the canadian rockies to washington.

 

Hardly. I could hasve come here as well.

 

Sorry to get everybody's panties in a bunch, I really wasn't trying to "hate". I love it here and certainly wish we had more ice, it was just rather amusing to read the constant going ons about the once in ten years ice season. I'm sorry I came across as a dick.

 

But sorry Alex, your comment about the stuff in the gorge (or anywhere in our state) being on par with the cdn rockies even when conditions are great are laughable at best. The place is a fucking mecca for ice climbing. It's amazing the shit that forms. It is not only the colde temps but the topography that lends itself to frozen waterfalls.

 

Unfortunately it looks like any chance of ice around here is melting away with this fantastic weather I was lucky enough to catch.

[Dru]

actually, the thing about the rockies is that the climbs are so fucking far apart except in little clusters like field. the density of climbs around hope or on the duffy is way higher than in the rockies. but the rockies have 2 big advantages

 

1) consistent road access up most major drainages - there are thousands of unclimbed routes around here you literally cannot get to in the winter short of a chopper

 

2) a season that is 6 months long as opposed to 1 week (hope) or 2.5 months (lillooet)

 

but, all things considered, when both areas are formed up and fat i'd way rather be climbing ice here than in the rockies. the rockies is somewhere i'd go when i can't climb here, just like i will only go to smith rocks if it is raining or cold in squamish

[JoshK]

but what about the parkway dru? They aren't close together as in within 50 feet, but they appear one after another for miles and miles in a row and most of them are big long climbs. staying in the rampart creek hostel and hitting a bunch day after day is the way to go.

[Dru]

i always run out of gas driving around the parkway from rampart. that thing is like 230km long and the climbs are spaced out quite a bit. if there was an all-weather highway through homathko canyon there would be probably 10x the number of ice climbs in it per km as along the parkway.

[Cobra_Commander]

what I like about the rockies is you can go do cool adventurous stuff in the ghost and waiparous and also do cool sporto ice stuff at places like haffner, or something in between like professor, louise, etc. and you can pretty much count on them being there, and it being sunny and pleasant at times

[DirtyHarry]

What I like about the Rockies is that if I was there and I wanted to go climbing I could. But if I'm here and I want to go climbing right now, THERES NO FUCKING ICE.

[Choada_Boy]

I heard that one of you was more of a "pain in the ass" than "co-author" of the WA ice guide and since "talk - action = zilch", I'll just discount your opinion entirely.

 

Having said that, is this thread for real??? WA ice climbing pretty much sucks ass. CDN Rockies is where it's at. I don't see people coming from all over the freakin' world to climb ice in WA in the winter. The shittiest year in CDN blows WA away any year period.

 

Dru: Name 5 200m+ WI climbs in WA.

[jmace]

Choada has taken waaay to much choad in his life time

[Dru]

how long is goat wall?

[JoshK]

i always run out of gas driving around the parkway from rampart. that thing is like 230km long and the climbs are spaced out quite a bit. if there was an all-weather highway through homathko canyon there would be probably 10x the number of ice climbs in it per km as along the parkway.

 

Yeah, I hear ya on the gas - we coasted into Lake Louise on fumes, just like last time. Next time I am taking an extra 20 liter gas canister. Where is this canyon of which you speak?

[Dru]

east of wadd. if there was a highway in it you would be able to drive as close to waddington as you can to robson.

[JoshK]

Wow, yes, i'd imagine there would be some really sweet lines in there! Maybe even as good as the Alpental Valley??

[eric8]

so if your going to chest beat josh please do it properly and tell us what you climbed.

 

Bonus thumps if you have pics of leading narly shit.

[JoshK]

ha! chestbeat? hardly. i am a shit ice climber, not to mention I have not climbed on the frozen stuff (save alpine ice) for over 2 years. we did a bunch of moderate stuff - lady wilson's, midnight rambler, cascade (too much rolly WI2, but fun upper pitches), bridal viel, piss gully, polar circus (up until the pencil then retreated, but really really worth it for those pitches anyway), and i think some more I cannot remember.

 

only a couple of pics of boringness since my poor camera took a several hundred foot fall, bouncing off ice and rock the entire time and exploding into worthless metal and plastic, but that is another sad sob story...

[glassgowkiss]

i always run out of gas driving around the parkway from rampart. that thing is like 230km long and the climbs are spaced out quite a bit. if there was an all-weather highway through homathko canyon there would be probably 10x the number of ice climbs in it per km as along the parkway.

smoke less weed pal. open a friggin guide book and see how many routes are on mt wilson alone. then look at weeping wall area, howse area. just because YOU can't climb that shit doesn't mean it doesn't exists. most likely jus the stanley glacier headwall holds more ice then washington and lillooet put together.

[glassgowkiss]

how long is goat wall?

when is it in condition? let's take something that forms every year or at least every other year.

[Dru]

i always run out of gas driving around the parkway from rampart. that thing is like 230km long and the climbs are spaced out quite a bit. if there was an all-weather highway through homathko canyon there would be probably 10x the number of ice climbs in it per km as along the parkway.

smoke less weed pal. open a friggin guide book and see how many routes are on mt wilson alone. then look at weeping wall area, howse area. just because YOU can't climb that shit doesn't mean it doesn't exists. most likely jus the stanley glacier headwall holds more ice then washington and lillooet put together.

 

I know poles can't count higher than 11 even with their fly unzipped. Simple fact - within 60 km from Lillooet there are more established ice routes than within 60km of Rampart Creek. Sure Polar Circus is long, Weeping Wall to Weeping pillar is long, but those aside most routes in the area are no longer than a long Lillooet route like Shriek or Capricorn or Mother.

[JoshK]

One side of my family is of Polish descent. My father is a mathmatician (Princeton and Berkeley trained), so I'm thinking we can count pretty well, so shut the fuck up with that shit Dru.

 

Domacles+Seven Pillars, Slipstream, etc. etc. etc. Funny that Mr. Canadian Pride is trying to downplay the fact that the cdn rockies are a pretty awesome ice climbing destination. I think the fact that you meet people from across the entire globe there who have come simply to climb ice speaks pretty strongly to this point. You don't find this anywhere in the PNW or even the US rockies areas that have ice either.

[Dru]

This isnt about quality dumbass. This is about concentration of climbs. JoJo's guide "Weeping Wall, Mt Wilson, DT, Murchison area has over 100 routes". There are more routes than that within an equivalent area around Lillooet.

[JoshK]

OK, well, great, hopefully everybody will realize lillooet has vastly more climbs and stays away from the rockies. How did lilooet come into this anyway? I thought WA was the topic...

[Dru]

I wouldn't ice climb in WA if you paid me $100... for $1000 I might.

[Blake]

Most useless thread ever.

[JoshK]

Most useless thread ever.

 

 

Agreed. I'm sorry I started it...acutally, nah, it's been amusing.

[eric8]

ha! chestbeat? hardly. i am a shit ice climber, not to mention I have not climbed on the frozen stuff (save alpine ice) for over 2 years. we did a bunch of moderate stuff - lady wilson's, midnight rambler, cascade (too much rolly WI2, but fun upper pitches), bridal viel, piss gully, polar circus (up until the pencil then retreated, but really really worth it for those pitches anyway), and i think some more I cannot remember.

 

only a couple of pics of boringness since my poor camera took a several hundred foot fall, bouncing off ice and rock the entire time and exploding into worthless metal and plastic, but that is another sad sob story...

 

cool i would rather read about what people climbed and what routes then enjoyed than pages about of useless drivell...

 

but just to fuel the fire.. I don't climb ice with that many folks and this is based solely on my ice climbing partners. Every partner i have that makes an annual trip to the rockies can lead wi5 versus the ones that climb ice lilloet or in wa most of whom many lead 3's maybe the occasional 4....