Don_Serl Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 (edited) Trip: Lillooet Ice January 19-20, 2008 - Jade Falls; Four Dressed up as Six Date: 1/20/2008 Trip Report: There is a goodly amount of ice up on the Duffey and out the Bridge River, but the temps had been pretty warm for the previous couple weekends. However, this changed midweek, and Graham and I set off for Lillooet at 4am Saturday expecting great conditions. After greasing up at the Cookhouse, we headed out the Bridge, intent on trudging up to "take a look" at the unclimbed pillar which formed this year left of Jade Falls. We found a car beneath and tracks up, so the approach was a casual 2-15, better than the 2-30 we took last year, and way easier than the 3hrs endured by Ade and Mark a couple weeks back. The pair (Paul ??? from Vancouver and his partner) were just starting up Jade, which looked superb. (The main column direct is a solid 4; the easier left side goes at about 3 or 3+.) I won the draw, so racked up and set off up the column, immediately finding pretty sketchy ice and somewhat frightening climbing. I talked myself up to the midway ledge, imagining that the column that led to the overhang would be solid, but it was hideous, and without the reassurance of decent screws there was no way I was going to try to pull the overhang onto the upper vertical sheet. In went a V-thread, and down I came! Luckily, there was an alternative: a skinny little column has formed left of Jade Falls, and Graham set about this. It was pretty near vertical, and very narrow, so it was difficult to get placements and screws, and very tricky to stay in balance. I reckoned he'd done a challenging lead as I followed, even if it was only 15m high. We rapped off a tree to the left, which sported a sling, so obviously someone has climbed this little feature before - anybody got any details? BTW, I've got a bit of an Asian 'head-theme' going for this area, stimulated by the Chinese association with jade, and the pretty little trees framing this beautiful cirque, so I've taken to calling the little column the 'Bonsai' column - and by association, the big, hard one must therefore be the 'Banzai' column! First ascent naming rights, of course, may supercede these choices, but for the time being... Who'd the Canucks get beaten by Saturday nite? Oh yah, LA! At least the pizza was good - the new Pizzarama place just at the start of the Duffey Lk road is really good, btw, altho they don't have a licence yet - but the Boealps guys brought their own beer, and the folks were cool about providing glasses... Once the RCMP and Native cop contingent left... Sunday we headed for Capricorn, and luckily found a track beaten in as far as the lower cirque containing Millars Pillar (which looked positively horrendous, altho I suspect the pair before us fought their way up it) and Four Dressed Up as a Six. (Start as for Hell Ck right side, then beat up and right to avvy track below routes, which is good easy frozen cramponning - only 1 hr). Getting higher, however, we lost the avvy crust, and spent 30 or 40 minutes gaining the next 80m or 90m, so eventually we quit and came down to climb Four dressed Up as a Six. This was hard, but not unreasonable, but I'll admit to being happy the column is only 20m high, and not 40m or 50m! So, only two short routes, but lots of exercise, and stout climbs, so a very enjoyable weekend. Lotsa folks out, so plenty of socializing too. Hope the weather lasts... Cheers, Gear Notes: lotsa screws, hooker, tape. Approach Notes: drive, walk. Edited January 23, 2008 by Don_Serl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-spotter Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 That little bonsai column was a 3 foot long drip last year... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheamclimber Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 Approach Notes: drive, walk. I have had a couple like that before too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmace Posted January 23, 2008 Share Posted January 23, 2008 were just starting up Jade, which looked superb. (The main column direct is a solid 4; the easier left side goes at about 3 or 3+.) Figured you would pipe up on that Drew..? Pretty sure I was told it wasnt any harder than a 3 last year Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulBackhouse Posted January 24, 2008 Share Posted January 24, 2008 I didn't realize we were climbing next to the legendary Don Serl on Saturday! We planned to take your advice and try for Three Ring Circus on Sunday, but feeling a little tired in morning, we opted for the much shorter approach to Carl's Berg instead. Also in great shape. We we're feeling pretty fortunate to have it to ourselves after seeing the number of vehicles up at the Rambles on the way out... Cheers, Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don_Serl Posted January 25, 2008 Author Share Posted January 25, 2008 yah, sounds like carlsberg is in great shape. btw, not sure how they got turned around, but some friends of ours walked down the wrong fork to try to get to three ring circus where the road splits 50m off the highway. the left (wrong) fork leads to Walden North and a dam - it's usually plowed. the right (right) fork is the enterprise creek road, which is usually NOT plowed these days (no winter logging), but is the way to 3 ring. this pair then went to Closet Secrets, which they found thin and hard to protect in places, but very good. cheers, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rafael_H Posted January 25, 2008 Share Posted January 25, 2008 Don, on an unrelated note, do you know how high the bolts go on Shreddie and what the M rating concensus is? Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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