spionin Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 (edited) Trip: cody, wy - various Date: 12/27/2010 Trip Report: cbcbd, Z-man, PeakPimp, and i took a trip to cody, wy for some ice climbing this week. i didn't love the 15-hr drive, but we got a little odometer present just as we rolled into cody. i'll take anything as a positive omen: beautiful the first day we wanted to attempt a 4-pitch route called wyoming wave (wi3+), which is approached by climbing a wi4, 60-m route called cabin fever, according to "winter dance". however, mountain project describes cabin fever as a 3-pitch route, combining the title pitch with the first two pitches of the wave. Z-man and i approaching cabin creek drainage first pitch Z-man and PeakPimp jumped on first. Z-man's lead cbcbd, leading half-way up the 1st pitch it was incredibly pumpy. in addition, the ice was very cold and dinner plated a lot. i tend to whack the ice, so i had to try a lot for good placements. definitely got my ass handed to me on that one. a very stout warm-up! 2nd pitch (1st pitch of wyoming wave) - wi3+ PeakPimp leading again, very blobby, very brittle ice Z-man and PeakPimp got to jump on another pitch, but due to fading light cbcbd and i didn't have the time for it. bummer - we heard it was the best. PeakPimp and Z-man getting ready for the final rap day 2. we learned from our inefficiency on day 1 and split up. Z-man and PeakPimp went to do main vein (wi3+ in the guidebook), and cbcbd and i headed off to broken hearts. approach Z-man on p1 of main vein funky ice parasol PeakPimp found an ice cave for a belay broken hearts is noted in the guidebooks as "possibly the single best route in the united states". a pretty strong statement, though the route was indeed pretty awesome. we climbed the 4 first pitches and a number of small steps in-between. bighorn sheep pitches 1 and 2 of broken hearts blobby, brittle ice cbcbd leads p2 the money pitch! (as it always works with foreshortening - the part above the crack is in reality longer than the bottom part) cool ice "roots" yep, a 45-m wi3+! one of the coolest things about broken hearts is that the longer pitches are spaced out by numerous solo-able steps, up to about 15 feet in height ...climbing its right side pitch 4 (wi3) the first 4 pitches are most commonly climbed, and offer a walk-off. the next pitch is my only valentine (wi5), which is the unformed route on the right in this pic the thin, green pillar on the left is carotid artery (wi6). no we didn't climb that. pitches 6 and 7 of broken hearts are rarely formed and even more rarely climbed. both go at wi6. this is a route called left ventricle (wi4), which we passed on the descent. as usual - awesome, cold trip with cool people! Gear Notes: the usual Approach Notes: don't drive to wyoming with a punctured tire. if you have to, air compressor proves very useful. Edited January 2, 2011 by spionin Quote
YocumRidge Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 As usual - V, an awesome trip and report! Thanks for the stoke of some healthy albeit brutal ice and painless approaches. Quote
Captain panther Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 noice! next time peakpimp, next time... Quote
pu Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 Nice work Veronica and friends. Where did you guys stay in Cody? Quote
John Frieh Posted January 2, 2011 Posted January 2, 2011 Nice work team. Solid effort The place to stay in Cody IMO is the Super 8 assuming you either have AAA or are comfortable asking for a multi night discount. Got any more full size pictures of the artery that show the base of it? Quote
spionin Posted January 2, 2011 Author Posted January 2, 2011 Super 8 ...AAA word. 4 people, $54 (tax included)/night for two nights. artery - i only have two pics, and in both the bottom is obscured by a rock. i do remember noting that it was touching down, especially since valentine was totally melted, but i didn't look too carefully. sorry! Quote
Taluscat Posted January 3, 2011 Posted January 3, 2011 send the gnar d,v,z and double p!! yeahh... Quote
tanstaafl Posted January 3, 2011 Posted January 3, 2011 Rad. Way to rip it up. Sorry I didn't make it back from AZ in time to head out with you! Quote
Tom_Sjolseth Posted January 4, 2011 Posted January 4, 2011 Nice work, folks! Daniel and I are down here in Cody right now having a blast. The ice is FAT right now, but it's cold and brittle. Temps dropped into the -20s on 12/30-1/1. High on Boulder today was fun, but very brittle. We climbed Chasing the Sun yesterday (just to the right up Cabin Creek). We climbed Welcome Wagon on our first day out here. It's been really windy too with gusts yesterday in the 50s, sustained at 35. Probably headed for Ovisight tomorrow, or possibly Moratorium. Then off to Hyalite for 7 more days of bliss. Sorry to hijack your TR. Thanks for the photos! PS.. I want to plug the Cody Motor Lodge.. we got a room with two queens for $40/night. It's not bad here. A little smoky in the hallways, but inside our non-smoking room it's fine. They gave us two free coupons for an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet at Irma's which I highly recommend. Quote
spionin Posted January 4, 2011 Author Posted January 4, 2011 whoa... productive! sounds like an excellent trip! thanks for the additional beta, great to keep other options in mind. Quote
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