G-spotter Posted January 2, 2010 Share Posted January 2, 2010 Trip: Whistler & Lillooet Ice - various routes Dec 26-30 Date: 12/28/2009 Trip Report: supposed to be a 4 man trip but stemalot came down with pussy flu over christmas so it was 3 of us: doug, jesse and i. dec 26: up hwy 99. full breakfast with fresh waffles at elephant & castle in whistler. checked out entropy, looked snowy. back to calcheak. mostly thin. jesse led "get off the couch" wi3, only route thick enough to take screws. we set a tr on the left side and did 'take me to the cleaners' 5.6 WI3 Get Off The Couch Take Me to the Cleaners drove up to d'arcy, checked out things there, then on to lillooet. dec 27: up the bridge as far as terzaghi dam then back down. hell creek falls. approach had tracks partway but they bailed at an open pool. we skirted this on the left via scrambly ledges and rock chimney. led centre-right line on HCF, WI3 60m, fat and blue at the bottom then snowy ramps at the top. 2+ on left side is thinner than normal. Wi4s to right are in but thin at the top. Approach rambling Jesse following Doug following Dec 28: Back in the Bridge for Xwisten Steps. looked like Step #4 was in from the road as was Suncatcher. Xwisten Steps on the left and Suncatcher high on the right. Big zoom from the road. Hiked in to the base and the hidden step #1 was in and relatively fat, but hollow at the top. a fun lead, delicate moves to avoid eggshell thin sections. continued up the long Wi2- gully ramble to the base of step #2, which was fully in the sun and quite rotten. None of us felt like leading it so we set a TR and gave it a couple of burns. Crappy ice but fun climbing. Decided not to hit up Steps 3 and 4 given the conditions on p2. Made it back down to the car at dark. Xwisten Step 1 Xwisten Step 2 Dec 29: up the Duffey to Downton Creek. Drove past Carl's Berg to first bridge, snowshoed to Sgt pepper at 4th bridge. plugged up bushy gully to base of route. soloed WI2 to base of pillar. Pillar was all chandelier/aerated, couldn't get any solid screws. Putzed around trying various lines to no avail for an hour or so and eventually we all gave up and bailed. While hiking out, saw a fun looking short gully line by the 2nd bridge. jesse and I climbed it, WI3, 45m. Found a sling on top. I'm interested to hear of the previous ascent party's name for this one to put it correctly in the next edition of the update... Jesse about to test the solidity of the Sgt Pepper pillar The unknown WI3 Dec 30: Headed up the 99 to Fountain looking for "white Van"; couldn't find it. Drove through Fountain Valley & down Hwy 12 to merry Widow. Hiked in through the scree and bush only to find it had a huge gushing hole you can't see from the road. Back to the car and on down to Hwy 1. stopped off in Kanaka Bar and found Kanaka Column in fat and solid. persuaded Doug to lead the first WI2 pitch - his first ice lead in about 12 years. Jesse led the 2nd pitch which was in WI3 shape with ice right to the top, unlike the FA conditions. Doug leading pitch 1 WI2 Jesse leading p2 WI3 Doug seconding p2 A quick walk off and we were off to Canyon alpine for a late lunch. Drove back down to Fraser Valley in blizzard that turned to rain in Chilliwack. Pretty good 5 day trip. Gear Notes: 22cm screws would have been somewhat more useful for chandeliered pillars - we only had one 19cm and no 22s. Approach Notes: Car & sometimes snowshoes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danhelmstadter Posted January 3, 2010 Share Posted January 3, 2010 looks like a lot of fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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