piscomac Posted February 5, 2012 Posted February 5, 2012 Wondering if anyone has been up the Spur as of late and what the conditions may be for a possible Weds/Thurs climb this week? Any beta or guidance is greatly appreciated! cheers. Quote
B Deleted_Beck Posted February 5, 2012 Posted February 5, 2012 Looks 100%. Might be a little crusty by the time you get up there, but the snow should be stable and the top is steep but pretty well swept- no cornice or anything. Grab it while you can.. this time of year, that whole corner of the mountain is generally unstable with brief periods of stability. Quote
DarrellW Posted February 7, 2012 Posted February 7, 2012 On Sunday 2/5 Cooper was in the best shape that I have ever climbed it in. The high we got, the better the step kicking was. And we dug out the stone shelter enough to fit 4 guys in it, sleeping on 5 feet of snow! Enjoy! Darrell Quote
dougd Posted February 21, 2012 Posted February 21, 2012 Thinking we may have a climbing window Sunday, partner and I slogged up to Tilly Jane A frame Sat night 2/18 in a snow storm and got a few hours rest there. FYI the lock that is supposed to be on the door was "thrown away" by an unknown perpetrator, per Nordic Club member we met next day. Do not expect to be as lucky as we were to find the cabin unlocked. It was a welcome respite from the horrid conditions when we arrived @ 0100 Sun. Pushed on up to the rock hut Sun morning and here's what we found (pics). Decided not to climb the spur due to extreme cold temps and high winds up on the route. Forecasted 10 mph wind at tie in looked to be 20 - 30... There was probably 2' of new snow including 3 - 4' drifts on the hike in. Was a good trail laid in by us the night previous, and dozens of skiers/snow shoers that were coming up as we descended Sun pm. NF and upper spur... Quote
Water Posted February 21, 2012 Posted February 21, 2012 nice pics, always love getting up there even if having to turn around short. wondering if you would have climbed had the wind been less and it been a bit warmer? nwac had the avy risk up on all east/NE/lee slopes, wondering if you guys had checked that/would dig a pit/etc? hopefully don't sound like im shazzin on ya'll, I only know some basics on avy so err more conservative off what I read on NWAC. seems high cooper would be ripe though i dont see even any fresh sloughs into top of the elliot it looks like. cheers Quote
dougd Posted February 21, 2012 Posted February 21, 2012 nice pics, always love getting up there even if having to turn around short. wondering if you would have climbed had the wind been less and it been a bit warmer? nwac had the avy risk up on all east/NE/lee slopes, wondering if you guys had checked that/would dig a pit/etc? hopefully don't sound like im shazzin on ya'll, I only know some basics on avy so err more conservative off what I read on NWAC. seems high cooper would be ripe though i dont see even any fresh sloughs into top of the elliot it looks like. cheers I would have liked to get a closer look at conditions on the route. Yes I checked NWAC report before leaving Saturday and I think it was up to "considerable" -7k of course. Honest answers to your questions are "maybe" as we were pretty far from tie in at our high point... I was thinking about avalanche potential for sure. Hard to see but almost looks like cornice forming high on the route... I think if the weather had been more accommodating we would have gone up to tie in, initially taken the left side of the big snow slope, probably dug a pit there and make a decision whether to go higher then. But, we didn't get that far. I take no offense at your questions at all. Quote
Andesite Posted February 21, 2012 Posted February 21, 2012 It was blowing wicked hard at Tilly Jane on Saturday night, but Sunday was beautiful. My buddy and I were in the orange BD tent near the A-frame. We saw your tracks in the morning. Think I heard you coming through too (I didn't sleep much that night). We had talked about going up on the spur, but the conditions weren't favorable. Quote
dougd Posted February 22, 2012 Posted February 22, 2012 Yeah we saw your tent in the morning. Tried to tip toe around it so as not to wake ya. Breaking trail up Polallie ridge wasn't bad. That whole approach is just about all ridge actually... We felt avalanche risk was minimal up to tie in... I had watched the weather and snow accumulations since DarrellW posted up about his climb on the 5th and there wasn't much snowfall in the 2 weeks since then right up until Friday. This, and other weather and avalanche sources figured into our decision to go in and have a look for Sunday. We were prepared for the worst, & had fun. It was a good trip. Hope the pics/info help others... d Quote
B Deleted_Beck Posted February 22, 2012 Posted February 22, 2012 Excellent timing on that pic... Been looking for a recent shot of the NF for about a week. 'Schrund is filled in, looks like there's a nice fat iceflow cutting all the way through the cliff.... sweeeeeeeet. Quote
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