G-spotter Posted December 30, 2006 Posted December 30, 2006 There's a big powwow there this weekend and hotel spaces are non-existant. Oregon Jack is in, very nice, thin at the top. Right side gives best climbing this year. Bridge: a lot of stuff is forming and very thin (Old Dogs is just verglas, Hell Creek is 50% water). Shriek of the Sheep is not in yet. The Gift is pretty much touching down but very very thin looking. Jade Falls, Capricorn, Nightngale, Blackbird, Mixmaster J, The Virgin and Taikonaut are in. There is a lot of snow high up. We triggered a small slab avalanche in the gully below Jade Falls. Nightngale gully looked pretty loaded at the top. Blackbird is not only in but has two separate pillars at the crux. Duffy: a lot of stuff is in but some of it is thin/early season. Seton Weeps are very thin ice. Three Ring Circus looks pretty good. Synchronicity is fat at the top but skinny low down (TrogdortheBurninator was trying this one today). A couple of rare or unusual things have formed. The Peterson-Smardige Dihedral at the Rambles is in all the way to the top! Shreddie is touching down. Even Serendipity looked like it might want to form up. El Nino is not in. Deep Throat had a big hole. Carls Berg is "sort of" in, narrow pillars not filled in between yet, maybe WI6 right now? Some routes are very snowy. We got defeated on Loose Lady by an 8cm thick ice layer over 20cm of snow over more cruddy ice. You could climb it but the cleaning a trench down to sold ice part (vertical postholing?) was incredibly laborious. Quote
TrogdortheBurninator Posted December 30, 2006 Posted December 30, 2006 I didn't get on synchronicity today, maybe you saw somebody else. The top did look good though. Nice running into you Dru; Where did you guys stay BTW? We didn't see you around at 4 pines. A few more tidbits Marble is a mixed bag right now: Icy BC is coming along nicely a couple parties on it today. It was reported that the 2nd tier is also formed and not too difficult. Deeping wall is formed, fun and leadable if you dig a little for placements Dihedral is super anemic. Delicate and felt way harder than deeping wall. Super fun though with a sweet ice chimney finish. The far left route was pretty fun too At rambles my wife and I spent a day playing around on the center line. It is in good shape and takes mostly good screws. Quote
G-spotter Posted December 30, 2006 Author Posted December 30, 2006 Oh ok, we saw this red Subaru parked for Synchro (in the wrong place on the hill,where you will get towed or ticketed, instead of down at the bridge) and it had WA plates and we thought it was you. Quote
TrogdortheBurninator Posted January 1, 2007 Posted January 1, 2007 (edited) Here are a few photos for marble canyon and rambles from last week Rambles Center Marble Assorted Edited January 5, 2007 by TrogdortheBurninator Quote
Don_Serl Posted January 1, 2007 Posted January 1, 2007 dru, tks for kicking steps up to Jade - Graham and I climbed it on the 30th. pretty long walk for a pretty little waterfall (in both aesthetics and size), but a superb location - and the ice was really nice. we also climbed OJ (excellent), and spent a day at MC (good value). re: conditions, dru and trog have covered most of it, but i'll add: Marble Canyon. *1st pitch Icy BC main column is very dubious yet; everyone seems to be climbing the left option - good idea. *2nd pitch is superb on the right, very thin otherwise. *upper tier is open and spewing. Air Care is not yet down. Body Shop is very insubstantial at bottom. *Deeping Wall Direct is in excellent shape; one hardly has to swing - hooks and easy pick placements into pockets the whole way - 'cept be careful about plating at the rolls onto the flats. *Waite for Spring still very lean, but coming along. *No Deductible is nearly ready to go. Bridge: not mentioned: *Terzaghi Falls is still open/running. *New Leash is complete, but looks 'boney' still. *Salmon Stakes open/running. *neither the bottom nor main column on Silk Degrees is formed. *oddly, given that very-seldom-formed columns like Blackbird and New Leash are 'in', nothing in the Like a Rocket basin is even close to touching down. * there was a full skin of ice on the lower sections of Hell Ck (only 2 days after Drew's report), and we spoke to a couple who were setting off (guy from Olympia...). didn't see them after, so no report of conditions, but I suspect from the poor condition of Old Dogs, Hell Ck can't be much better yet. *Steristrip is pretty much ready to go, for those who like it thin and sketchy. * Suncatcher looks 'in', but I'll bet (based on previous experience) the bottom of the Xwisten Steps is still gushing, so bypass the first section on the left if u make to trek up. * the river itself is wide open. there were ducks paddling in it down by the Yalakom and upstream below Silk Degrees. bring your wading gear... Duffey: also... *Counting Chickens is in, for those who want exercise. *Mixing with Mike also looked in - ditto above re: exercise... *the Strand has touched down, but needs to fatten up just a bit. *there's ice on Twilight Tiers, but there's way too much sun too. *while there is more ice on Serendipity than I've seen since the FA, it's a long way from 'formed'. *the column on Red Wall is formed, but is still tiny as always early season - wait a bit for this one. *there's quite a bit of ice on Tres Burly, so Not So Burly might be OK. *Swiller Pillar looked good. *Last Call looked climbable. *Deep Throat was open/running. *there's continuous ice on the Solarium. *the Bullock/Amelunxen was formed. *the only thing climable in Wader Land was the Groke. * the start of Rambles Left looked pretty lean from the road - anyone been up? * and I second the amazement at the amount of ice up in the Peterson-Smaridge dihedral. just viewed from the road, admittedly, but this may be a really good season for a walk up to the Upper Right. *plus - drum-roll!!! - SHREDDIE IS TOUCHING DOWN! it's a narrow column fully formed on the right, very unlike conditions during the FA season - see pg 187 in West Coast Ice: JI is climbing the 1st pitch; the belay for the 2nd pitch is on the ledge at the cave - this year there is no trace of the lefthand column or central dagger, just a skinny column on the right. go figure... better yet, go climb... (p.s. i'll bet it's not well consolidated yet.) * one cannot see much of Closet Secrets from the road, but the very upper section shows as 2 separated columns with a generous gap between them - in other words, lean... the forecast for Clinton shows just-below-freezing temps for the next few days, dropping to below -20C lows for the Jan 7-8 weekend, and the long-term trend is MUCH colder thru the following week out to the 13-14 w/e. should be good for the ice, but BITTER for climbing! enjoy, cheers, don Quote
Don_Serl Posted January 2, 2007 Posted January 2, 2007 (edited) a cpl photos to flesh out the report: Graham Rowbotham leading Jade Falls the view from the little 'bonsai' feeling cirque beneath Jade Falls - worth the 780m altitude gain... Old Dogs still forming, Steristrip to the left cheers, don Edited January 2, 2007 by Don_Serl Quote
fern Posted January 2, 2007 Posted January 2, 2007 The couple that tried for Hell Creek got turned around at the first rock pools, and went to Marble instead. Rambles Left lower is very thin. Use your rock picks, and watch for dinner plates at the top of the rolls (I popped both tools and fell 15 feet into a snowbank ). We went up the left line mixed gully thing which was good, but also thin. There is lots of ice in the Upper Right cirque, at least on the wall - the rock slab 'floor' is just thin snow and kinda sketchy to approach. The Column is in well, though aerated at the bottom, and dry yesterday, Not the Ben looked like a recipe for blunt picks. White Room is thin icicles and drools which looked fun. The Curtain wasn't touching down but was wet and forming still. The Dihedral has lots of ice from the corner extending way out right across the slab, though some looked like snow-included crap down low. The very top of the Dihedral was blue and wet. The Tube is not continuous ice to the top, it has melted back to rock and detached. Storm Brewing and Mumu Man have the most ice I have seen since the FAs but Small Creep is a gushing stream ??? ... it is a weird season for sure. Quote
G-spotter Posted January 5, 2007 Author Posted January 5, 2007 http://weatheroffice.ec.gc.ca/city/pages/bc-28_metric_e.html It's +4 in Lillooet and 0 in Chilliwack right now, WTF?? Lillooet looks warm and wet for the weekend, too. Quote
fern Posted January 5, 2007 Posted January 5, 2007 can someone (mod/admin) go add some line breaks between Trogdor's pictures so this thread is not a horizontal scrollfest???? Quote
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