Panos Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 (edited) Hi folks, Has anybody here in the forum climbed the Hourglass ice route? I was up there yesterday with a friend (Aaron Zabriskie) descending from Shuksan and we saw this sweet route of green ice. What is the rating of this route? To me it looked equivalent to a good WI4 (80m/snow-slope/50m) with plenty of exposure to big cornices at the top and right. In March or April it would be a nice early morning speed climb. Anybody interested in climbing it this season? . Edited February 19, 2008 by Panos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DetachedFlake Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Haven't climbed it, would love to. I'm in Bellingham and can keep an eye on it. Can you give me a head's up on conditions on Shuksan as of the other day? Looking at hitting Shuksan this weekend. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurthicks Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 how were snow conditions up there Panos? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-spotter Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Didn't JayB and partner climb that ice route at WI3+ about 4 years ago? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayB Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 I think the Hourglass is to the left of that route, which is between Hell's Highway and The Hourglass. Route photo below. I suspect that most of the exposed rock at the base of the route gets buried pretty early, and it turns into a WI2ish snow-ramp by this time of year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayB Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Hey - read through the original thread and found a photo that someone posted from April '04 (I think): The snow ramp ends at the same height as the first belay, which was pretty much a full 60M lead in early season. Pretty amazing accumulation up there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe_Poulton Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 That looks fun too bad I have to wait a whole season...damn ACL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Panos Posted February 22, 2008 Author Share Posted February 22, 2008 (edited) Conditions up there were superb at the steep parts (>50deg) not facing the sun. Instead the south slopes looked quite unstable and that is why we turned back from climbing the Shuksan summit pyramid (South face). The Hourglass was formed really nicely. I am sorry I do not have a photo handy. It had two sections of greenish ice and a snow slope in the middle. Large cornices at the top right but a safer and easier exit to the top left. It looked like a WI4 to me. I would be keen on hiking up there light (one 60m rope, 6-8 ice screews, 1 snow-picket, bivy gear) on Saturday and climbing it early on Sunday morning, then return staight to the car. The Winnies Slide was very safe last Sunday - soft snow though - that means going up from the car to the base of the climb would be an effort of at least 5-6 hours. I am happy to do the steps ;o) Call 2-zero-6-seven-six-6-zero-913 Edited February 22, 2008 by Panos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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