Rumors of ice?? conditions update??

[sobo]

Conditioned

 

Where's the pics?

[TrogdortheBurninator]

even with 8-10k freezing level?

[Alex]

Definitely.

 

Strobach is N facing, snowmelt fed for the most part, 4500 ft base elevation, and only gets a tiny bit of afternoon sun. Should survive as well as anything except perhaps Marble up at Lillooet.

 

Will post a link to some pics on www.wastateice.net/Conditions.aspx later tonight.

[glassgowkiss]

i must say WA/BC sucks- all the potential, but that's where it ends. climbs were wet even 2 weeks ago- with much colder temps. looks like it's time to start rock climbing season again.

[Alex]

www.wastateice.net/strobachFeb08.htm

[kevino]

I pretty much just skeeted my pants.

 

Anyway, the ice today was buttah. No need for a second swing nor second kick. It was awesome.

[sobo]

Whered'ja go? Strobach?

[BillA]

Naming routes that you haven't climbed is lame, to say the least.

[Calder]

Where is Strobach, whats the approach like?

 

[Alex]

Naming routes that you haven't climbed is lame, to say the least.

 

When you climb it, name it anything you want, Bill.

[BillA]

I guess what bugs me about naming unclimbed routes is that 1. it perhaps makes people believe that the route has already been climbed and 2. that the name will enter the collective consciousness of the climbing community and thus take away from the first ascent party the right to name the route whatever they choose. But in the end I guess I don't really care enough about the issue to argue about it, so whatever.

[ryland_moore]

In partial defense for Alex, Second on Left, which is now referred to as Unholy Baptism was offered up to us for naming after we did the first pitch FA last year. Since we did not do the Second pitch, we declined to name it. Alex always seems open to name changes out at Strobach when you get the FA. The guidebook clearly states which routes have not been sent and if you want up to date info on which routes have been sent since the guidebook was produced, you can just PM Alex and he will ghladly provide you with that info. As it stands today only two or three of the routes since publication have seen FAs, although that may change this weekend with the number of climbers heading in there!

[sobo]

Where is Strobach, whats the approach like?

 

Five seconds of effort and three clicks of the mouse brought up more than 7 pages of Strobach references. More than enough to answer your questions. And that was just with "Strobach" in the subject line only. Hate to think how many pages would come back with "in subject and body."

 

FYI, there's a toggle in the upper right corner of every page on this board. It's called "Search." Learn it, know it. Live it.

[Alex]

Here is an update on Strobach conditions, as Dan Erickson and I headed in there yesterday for what turned out to be a day trip.

 

Travel in the am was fine, we broke a trail in from 609 all the way to Dome Peak climbs. It was SUPER warm. Then the sun came out and fried us (some routes are sheltered, but the approaches arent).

 

We ended up looking at some of the mean, unclimbed routes (there are 4 unclimbed routes at Motherlode, 1 in No-Mans-Land and 3 [now] at Dome) and in the end couldn't visualize any of the obviously hard ones: some have been affected by the warm temps, some are just too hard for me or Dan. We ended up climbing the last two remaining moderate FAs on the left side of the Dome Peak climbs, about 300 yards left of Watchtower. TR later

 

Then a storm system blew in and it started raining. As of today, there are only a few routes I would get on, given the choice:

 

* Primus Sucks - looking good and healthy. It's in a cold pocket.

* "First on the Left" - healthy

* Sad Ce'bu - low angle enough to not have support questions

* Ice Dreams - supported enough, and sheltered from the sun

* Watchtower - not sun-affected yet, still there.

* Unnamed Dome A - super fat, not sun-affected.

 

Pretty much everything else has taken on that "spring-time" look, where there's been enough melting and sun for the ice to be delaminated from the rock, rotting out, or "snice" that won't yield any pro. For example, the first pitch to Unholy Baptism/Second on the Left is very sun-rotten now (while its upper pitch now has a visible fracture line), and parts of Right Stuff have melted out. The first 20 feet of Sudden Change of Plan have melted out. Tower of Power is still blue and somewhat healthy, but probably will not last the week. There is an FA that Jeff Street and I were both gunning for at Dome Peak that is now extremely sun-affected and likely much too dangerous to get on, though it's upper pitch looks fine.

 

Travel in the afternoon was pretty poor: in some places we were post-holing in mashed potatoes with snowshoes on. It was so tiring we were completely bonked and wiped out by the time we got back to the Motherlode area from Dome.

[sobo]

Did you get to the end of the 609 road on sleds? Or were you able to drive all the way to the end of the road?

[Alex]

End of 609 on my sled, snowshoe in from there. There hasn't been much new snow over there for a couple weeks now, so the track is well-groomed.

[archenemy]

well here in BZN it is warmer than hell. I haven't looked at hylite yet, but my expectations aren't so high

[andrewbanandrew]

Judging by the temps in North Bend on Monday, I'm guessing most of the stuff at Snoqualmie Pass has deteriorated?

[glassgowkiss]

drury looked like shit. turning into mushy white and right side of the pillar (pretty big chunk already fell off. looking at the temps for the next week or so is also not promising any changes- maybe the season is over?

[Alex]

Lillooet is still good. Locally, probably over except above 5000 or so.

[DetachedFlake]

Slabs on the Tooth were short of ice yesterday. Imagine that. On the other hand, Death Picnic on N Table above Baker Ski Area was in great shape as of monday. Fat and friendly at the top.

[kurthicks]

did you lead it?

[andrewbanandrew]

Yeah I guess that means the ice is probably gone at Snoq. pass then eh

[kevino]

This may be a dumb question...what about hubba hubba? I've looked at it three days this week on my way in/out of colchuck lake and it still looks pretty good - from the road at least. What if someone was to get on it before the sun hit it?

[kurthicks]

Judging by the temps in North Bend on Monday, I'm guessing most of the stuff at Snoqualmie Pass has deteriorated?

 

I went up there today. The Kiddie Cliff area still has top ropeable ice on it. the Source Lake Line may still go; definitely on TR. Chair is looking good, with the NF being very similar to the photos posted a while back. The waterfall on the NEB is very white, so I didn't go up to have a look. The Tooth NE slab isn't looking good and I heard it was very scratchy as of Tuesday.

 

Skiing conditions suck, but travel is fine on snowshoes. I skied for a while, then managed to walk w/o flotation on old tracks without postholing before sunrise. Things get really soft when the sun hits--think knee/hip deep in spots.

 

anything south facing is out.