New to the sport

[mt. dew]

I'm taking my first ice climbing class in a few weeks. What climbs in the area would be great for those new to ice. Looking for climbs in the Snoqualmie Pass area. Are there any good route books or reference material? Thanks for any help!

[hippie]

Washington Ice by J. Martin & A. Krawarik (Mountaineers Books) is a good book for finding climbs as well as TR's on this site. Good books for helping with technique etc. that I believe are still in print would include How To Ice Climb by Craig Luebben (Falcon Books) and Ice World by Jeff Lowe (mountaineers books). Freedom of The Hills has a nice section on ice climbing.My older edition is a little outdated for current techniques; I haven't seen the current edition. A post on Climbing Partners begging to be included on an easy trip somewhere might prove fruitful. I've been blessed with some of the best mentors anywhere; good experienced partners are the best learning resource.

[selkirk]

You really needed to ask that question last week

 

I think everything in Western wasthington is probably a puddle right now. Ice climbing over here really takes a good cold snap of a week or two before things form up. There might still be something over by Leavenworth, and Banks Lake might be in (climb descriptions can be found in the guidebook previously mentioned). you might also have a go at Dry Tooling at the SR900 Crag in Issaquah or the Black Ice crag at Exit 38.

 

Good luck!

[mt. dew]

Thank you for your input. I picked up a copy of Martin's book and Luebben's book. Yeah, I'll prolly beg to join some climbs after I take this beginner class in a few weeks.