Ice climb ideas for late August through late Sept.

[SplashClimber]

I am looking for an ice climb that is maybe one notch in difficulty above Observation Rock. I am very very new to ice climbing!

 

Can people throw out some suggestions for the time frame August/September in the North Cascades area. Or.... is BC the sure-fire way to go (and so plan for a 2 or 3 day weekend).

 

Is a better time to be looking for ice climbs in May/June?

[DirtyHarry]

February is a better time to find ice climbs in the Cascades. Though, May and June can be good for some moderate colior climbing like Triple C's, which sounds like a good route for your considerations.

[jmace]

Alpine faces oughtta be shaping up quite nicely now..Matier would be a good warm up fer sure NW face, go hit Slalok same area real easy, N face of Sampson proly happening, any thing in wedge area ought to be great right now...tons of stuff

 

Go get it

[mike_m]

NE Face of Eldorado, Entiat Icefall on Maude, Mesatchie Icefall Couloir are all really nice late season routes in the difficulty range and area you're interested in. They should be shaping up very nicely about now, though they may still have more snow than ice.

[MattLinden]

Anybody know if Observation Rock is worth playing on at this time? Is Baker a better bet this weekend?

[NTM]

I heard observation was good 2 weeks ago. I did it last year on Sept 18th. Go have a look...

[Jason_Martin]

The Cascades really have two distinct seasons for ice. The first is the winter/spring season where the routes are primarily melt fed water ice climbs and the second is the spring/summer season where the climbs are primarily steepish glacier ice and snow. It appears that the original poster is more interested in the latter type of climbing.

 

Though often thought of as may and june climbs, both the North Ridge of Mount Baker and the Coleman Headwall are climbed through late september. However, expect harder conditions than predicted in the guidebooks.

 

Other options not mentioned are the North Face of Mount Shuksan, the North Ridge of Forbidden as described in the Cascade Select guidebook, and Mount Buckner(if you can get across the shrund). If you dig carefully through Beckey guides you will find a number of lesser known small glaciated peaks throughout the range that have steepish routes on them that can be done later in the season.

 

Spring and summer alpine ice in the cascades tend to be best before the glaciers open up too much and all the snow melts. Some of the approaches become quite difficult and as stated earlier, some of the climbs become more difficult and dangerous as well.

 

Jason

Edited August 29, 2006 by Jason_Martin