Don_Serl Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 Trip: Closet Secrets and a Fountain hike - Date: 2/10/2007 Trip Report: Graham R and I once again did the early commute to the Duffey Lake road Sat morning with a few options in mind. After looking over the Bullock-Amelunxen and deciding the bottom and top tiers looked pretty anemic, and after observing the same on the Waiting Game, we decided on Closet Secrets. The route is fat and the ice was good. There was a bit of water flowing on the surface but it was not troublesome. As always, a nice climb. We crossed paths with Gary Shorthouse and Adrian B, who had climbed what is apparently a new route in a huge long gully system located about 100m west of the Seton Ridge bridge, maybe 2km east of the Tube. Apparently they encountered a bunch of little steps (10m to 15m high), mostly Gr 2 to Gr 3, and ended up WAY up the hillside. Sounds enjoyable - I wonder if it always comes in? When we checked into the Mile O, I was told there were 3 Danish climbers in residence who wanted to meet me. They had picked up cheap tickets to Seattle, driven a rental to Lillooet, and were itching to climb. Fine, altho I've never really thought of Lillooet as an international ice climbing destination. Problem was, seems like West Coast Ice is sold out at REI and Feathered Friends - why am I not rich? The info gap was closed over dinner and a beer and with Graham's borrowed guide - we even won the Canucks hockey nite draw at the Reynolds - a fun evening. Sunday we thought about Swiller Pillar but I couldn't imagine it not suffering from the sun, so we went off in search of the elusive White Van, somewhere on the NE face of Fountain Pk. I never did get satisfactory info from the FA party for the guide, and it showed - we walked up into the main gully (per guidebook), post-holing a fair bit in crusty snow, and reached a 20m Gr 2 step in 1 1/2hrs (350m gain). We geared up and soloed this, then continued another 2 hours (!) up the gully (another 300m gain; much postholing) looking for the supposed "long pitch of Grade 3 folowed by a shorter one of Grade 3+" (to quote the guide). I don't doubt the climb exists, but I'm still none the wiser about its location. Ah well, we got our exercise, and we had some adventure, so all's not lost. And the drive home was early and easy... Overall, there's still a fair amount of ice left, altho it's getting into late season condition. I'll post fuller details on what's in and what's not on westcoastice.com. cheers, don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jens Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 Don, Seattle could use a few hundred more copies of your guide. People are asking me about Lillooet at lot at the gym. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gertlush Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 - why am I not rich? I think at the very least the Lillooet Chamber of Commerce should give you the keys to the city. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don_Serl Posted February 13, 2007 Author Share Posted February 13, 2007 (edited) Don, Seattle could use a few hundred more copies of your guide. People are asking me about Lillooet at lot at the gym. I can understand the bureaucrats at REI looking at their computer screens and making a decision not to reorder an ice guide at this time of year because to do so will negatively affect their GMROI and therefore their personal year-end bonus (actually, they almost certainly have a computer restocking program that makes the decision for them - why should a human be involved?), but I AM surprised Feathered Friends are out. it hasn't been a great season, but it's been way better than last year, and there's still plenty of ice - altho watch out for the warm stuff coming this week! p.s. maybe the gym shld carry a few copies? cheers, don Edited February 13, 2007 by Don_Serl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don_Serl Posted February 13, 2007 Author Share Posted February 13, 2007 (edited) I think at the very least the Lillooet Chamber of Commerce should give you the keys to the city. probably they haven't gotten around to it cuz it's a small town and nobody locks their doors... p.s. how were the Rambles? cheers, don Edited February 13, 2007 by Don_Serl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnyd Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 (edited) Hey Don, I was with the Bellingham group that sat next to you @ the reynolds on sat. Rambles Left and Rambles Center were both in pretty nice shape on saturday, fat ice and not too much drip. Marble canyon was good on sunday, although i think that the dihedral route on the far left may be done for the season, deeping wall was nice, as well as a route just to the left (if you didn't mind being in the shower for 10 meters) and the first 2 pitches of icy bc were looking good... get it while there are still gettings to be had! Edited February 13, 2007 by jonnyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrogdortheBurninator Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 Did dihedral ever form up this year? It was definitely thin around the new year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmace Posted February 13, 2007 Share Posted February 13, 2007 think it was the fattest ever this year.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northvanclimber Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 think it was the fattest ever this year.. maybe compared to last year.... seem to remember it being a fair bit fatter just a couple years ago. it's too bad though, cause it's usually a nice warm up if in good conditions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmace Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 oh I was just going by what Don and Drew said about it, I can never remember from year to year and I second the amazement at the amount of ice up in the Peterson-Smaridge dihedral. A couple of rare or unusual things have formed. The Peterson-Smardige Dihedral at the Rambles is in all the way to the top! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrogdortheBurninator Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 I was referring to "The Dihedral" at marble, not the P-S dihedral. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmace Posted February 14, 2007 Share Posted February 14, 2007 my bad, sorry guys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don_Serl Posted February 15, 2007 Author Share Posted February 15, 2007 think it was the fattest ever this year.. at very least, Closet Secrets is fat... [GR on the first pitch] go do it... and why isn't there anybody taking the chance to get on Shreddie while it's up? it's not so bad... I ain't no youngster, and if I can climb it... come on, lads... cheers, don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don_Serl Posted February 15, 2007 Author Share Posted February 15, 2007 Hey Don, I was with the Bellingham group that sat next to you @ the reynolds on sat. tks for the info, jonny. still good times out there. especially for you guys - travelling with a buncha ladies! now THAT's unfair... cheers, don Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gertlush Posted February 15, 2007 Share Posted February 15, 2007 I might have to stop and check out the Lillooet nightlife next time I'm up there, especially if there's ice climbin' girls around! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wild_Bill Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 Everybody knows there's no ladies in Lillooet, which is why Jon and I imported ours from the States. ...Although come to think of it, we did see the bartender doing the walk of shame Sunday morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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