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Pineapple Express-NY Gully?


Dane

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looked like there was ice on the first pitch of pineapple a week ago. Given the warmth we're having now and the cold predicted for the weekend, I'd say those routes will be worth the walk. I wouldn't expect a lot of ice on the crack topout of NYG though!

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NY and Pineapple super thin/ not there as of the 3rd. Nothing looked remotely like the pic up top. Our climb had the most white stuff of any line in the area...

http://cascadeclimbers.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=925314

 

Thanks for the info! Looks like you had fun. We should have headed overthere to follow your tracks on Saturday...We got lured to Chair Peak instead on Sat and as expected met up with multi-parties on route.

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Went up to try NY Gully today with AlpineDave and Chad Kellogg. We started kind of late and in snowfall, about 3-4" new, and wondering if the forecasted winds with this snow would turn the route into a spindrift disaster. But the approach was still easy with a good firm base, just a little postholing in the final couloir. The winds were not bad at all and nowhere near what had been forecasted, though the cold definitely moved in as the day went by.

Chad and I had climbed NY together a few years ago, and Dave had climbed Pineapple, hence we knew better than to expect to find much if any real ice, but we were hoping for good neve. No such luck! The traverse pitch to reach the dead snag was mostly soft snow over rather loose rock- not particularly difficult climbing, but heady and requiring thoughtful movement and with uninspiring protection. Combined with the cold, it was not fast climbing conditions. It was after 12 by the time we were all at the snag; though the gully above looked pretty bony, it certainly looked worthwhile and fun, but it also seemed likely to be continued slow and we smelled a likely benighting on the horizon...so that coupled with the temps dropping (sniffle) and a forecast for frigid cold tonight (wahhh! :cry: ) we let ourselves turn tail and run home to dinner.

 

Bottom line: it's good enough right now and worth going for it, but get going early in these short days and get ready to scratch, not swing! :)

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but we were hoping for good neve. No such luck! The traverse pitch to reach the dead snag was mostly soft snow over rather loose rock- not particularly difficult climbing, but heady and requiring thoughtful movement and with uninspiring protection. Combined with the cold, it was not fast climbing conditions. It was after 12 by the time we were all at the snag; though the gully above looked pretty bony, it certainly looked worthwhile and fun, but it also seemed likely to be continued slow and we smelled a likely benighting on the horizon...so that coupled with the temps dropping (sniffle) and a forecast for frigid cold tonight (wahhh! :cry: ) we let ourselves turn tail and run home to dinner.

 

 

Thanks!

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  • 1 month later...

Dave B. and I climbed New York Gully yesterday (1/31).

 

-There was fairly solid snow covering the traverse pitches to the main ramp. Good warm up.

 

-The first 2 ramp pitches had an occasional veneer of ice but nothing really that could be swung into, not really any neve to speak of, and plenty of loose snow to clear off the rock, which made locating gear placements challenging. The moss sticks are the bomb. The final ramp pitch (the one that leads to the shoulder below the hand crack), which had a lot of ice on it when I climbed the route in 2006, had thin (unprotectable) ice and in this condition it felt steeper and more difficult than before.

 

The last pitch, above the hand crack, didn't have much snow on it and had great moss sticks!

 

-ice screws can stay at home.

 

If someone gets it before it snows again, it might be a touch easier now with all the snow cleared off; trying to spot the next possible protection was the crux. A hard freeze would likely make the route easier, as the snow up there was pretty moist.

 

 

 

Have fun.

 

 

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