yellowlab03 Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 When does Lane peak usually start to get good to climb? It is on my to do list this winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajpederson Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 I did The Zipper 12/22 last year and Lovers Lane 2/11. Both had little bits of ice, but would have been climbable before we were there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaskadskyjKozak Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 I did The Zipper 12/22 last year and Lovers Lane 2/11. Both had little bits of ice, but would have been climbable before we were there. I climbed Lover's Lane last December (around the 18th if I recall). We brought 2 60's for the rap, but maybe that was overkill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajpederson Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Yeah, we were able to rap with a 60 because the Zipper was so full of snow, but i wouldn't recommend that for this early in the season. I think a 70 would reach if you don't want to carry two 60s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffreyR Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 I did the zipper around christmas a couple years back and wouldnt do it any earlier. With the amount of snow falling right now, it may get good in the next couple weeks if it all consolidates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laurel Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 I did the Zipper last weekend. Conditions could be described as early season, but it's in. Especially if you like squirming behind chockstones. Do it now before it gets less fun (ie. easier)! Well, maybe not right this moment, since it is nighttime and the Longmire gate is closed and the snow stability may not be conducive to climbing a wind loaded terrain trap. More details than you need: There were more than average bushes, rocks, and stream crossings on the approach. I "discovered" a stream crossing technique that uses snowshoes to take advantage of excessive bushes. On the route, we were expecting (hoping for?) two ice and/or steep snow steps -- instead we found three rock/mixed (ie mixed w/ the usual hollow ice, powder snow, dirt, plants, etc) steps. We roped up for the third one, which was probably not necessary, but I found a little chockstone chimney in the back of a cave that I had to squeeze through. No way would I have fit through with a pack with snowshoes strapped to it, so I needed to drag the rope up to haul with anyway, then it turned out the snow above could take pickets with a bit of stomping, so I built an anchor to haul the packs and belay my partner up the outside of the chockstone (figuring that trying to pull packs and snowshoes through the hole was just asking for trouble, and not having enough rope to finagle a way to haul on the outside and also allow my partner to enjoy the squeeze). Most of the route was pretty much plowing heavy powder. Most of it was knee deep except for the last 50 feet or so at the top where it was above my head. You most likely are taller than me so YMMV. Oh, and lest I forget the descent, we found more open creeks than expected coming down from the Denman/Lane saddle so we got extra fun on the way down too (or maybe we just went the wrong way). Some photos: I unfortunately did not get a picture of the awesome squeeze hole because I did not have room to get a camera out of my pocket but it probably looked kind of like this: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowlab03 Posted December 6, 2012 Author Share Posted December 6, 2012 I'll be heading down to CA next week, so it looks like January will most likely be when I will have my first shot at Lane. Thanks for the info all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakedouglas Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 Any update on recent conditions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine et Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 ...bump? anyone been up recently? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave schultz Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 There is a good TR here: http://www.turns-all-year.com/skiing_snowboarding/trip_reports/index.php?topic=26840.0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine et Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 I was hoping for some recent information. I saw that TR too, and didn't realize for a while that it was last year (2013 now). I expect we'll find similar conditions, and ice tools and screws will turn into training weight, but figured I'd see if anyone had been up there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alpine et Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 oh nevermind! just noticed the author probably incorrectly wrote 2012. thanks for making me look at that again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowlab03 Posted January 11, 2013 Author Share Posted January 11, 2013 I think (hope?) the person just labeled it wrong. It was posted up on the 5th of Jan 2013. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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