Drury Falls

[dan_e]

I attempted Drury yesterday with J.P. yesterday. The upper falls looked good and fat from the road last week so I though it was worth a shot.

Here's the brief story:

My hopes of climbing Drury this season were abruptly crushed after toping out on the first pitch only to find the second pitch to be a running water waterfall! We were able to see that the upper pitches are formed, but super mushroomed (looks like much more technical climbing than last season). The finish looked nice on a steep column. I am not saying the route is unclimbable. I am not sure, but it may be possible to avoid the second pitch around to the right, up past that big tree near the rock face. We were climbing in less than ideal conditions, it was warm (38 deg.) and there was some minor icefall on nearby drips. Avi danger was minimal, but there were some small slides. The approach was difficult (deep post-holing) after caching the snowshoes and crossing the drainage. There were many open spots in the ice were water was running hard, including a spot on the bottom of the first pitch. All that being said we were still happy to have at least attempted it this season, we saw no evidence of recent river crossings and there were no tracks (human) heading up to the drainage. I think Drury will have to wait until next season, unless maybe we get another spell of cold weather.

Dan E.

Ice Addict at Large

[ 02-18-2002: Message edited by: dan e ]