Cpt.Caveman Posted December 28, 2002 Posted December 28, 2002 http://www.snafflehound.com/images/Colonial13.bmp Credit leejams. BTW the North and East faces of Pyramid Peak were well iced and looked ready. If the weather and conditions improve somebody should try them out. Lee has some photos that he emailed me after our trip. Quote
Dru Posted December 28, 2002 Posted December 28, 2002 dude Iain is gonna be jealous big time of the fact someone else registered www. .com as a domain name Quote
Cpt.Caveman Posted December 30, 2002 Author Posted December 30, 2002 Here's the east face of Pyramid a week old too. Bet it's looking icier now Leejams' photo -huge image- but detailed if you want to go climb it. Quote
mattp Posted January 2, 2003 Posted January 2, 2003 Both Colonial and Pyramid were a heck of a lot icier than that when Daylward and his buddy climbed Watusi a couple of years ago. I may have a picture of Pyramid somewhere, with FAT ice on it. Quote
forrest_m Posted January 2, 2003 Posted January 2, 2003 colonial n. face in feb. 2000 btw, i hope anyone contemplating going up there already knows this, but the basin below colonial is one of the most dangerous places in the cascades when avy. danger is high. this is just one of many criss-crossing avy. tracks we crossed: Quote
Cpt.Caveman Posted January 5, 2003 Author Posted January 5, 2003 re-Both Colonial and Pyramid were a heck of a lot icier than that when Daylward and his buddy climbed Watusi a couple of years ago. I may have a picture of Pyramid somewhere, with FAT ice on it. ********************************************** That's cool Mattp, this was just a friendly photo report for those interested. I guess I'll just keep future ice reports to myself. People can drive up there yourselves to check it out. Personally I 'm sick of people responding in the fashion without thought. I never said that Colonial is in and mentioned that there was a possibility it could be in shape soon. Meaning next month or so. I do think that Pyramid was in and climbable but if you want to debate that then I dont really care to. I prefer to leave that frame of mind for political debates. Thanks for the photos forrest. Quote
slothrop Posted January 5, 2003 Posted January 5, 2003 I think mattp was just commenting on the stark difference in conditions between then and now. I didn't detect any antagonism. It's an awesome photo in any case, and thanks for posting it. Quote
Cpt.Caveman Posted January 5, 2003 Author Posted January 5, 2003 RE-I think mattp was just commenting on the stark difference in conditions between then and now. I didn't detect any antagonism. It's an awesome photo in any case, and thanks for posting it. ******************************** Maybe so. I just read it like it was mostly talking about Pyramid Peak. I dont have any desire to climb Colonial at the moment and am not personally eyeballing it. However I did like the looks of the EF of Pyramid Peak... Which if the snow conditions were better then I might have considered returning to climb the E or N Face. Quote
slothrop Posted January 5, 2003 Posted January 5, 2003 Word. Maybe we'll get some fat ice after freezing levels drop again. Gotta be lots of melting going on in the next few days. Quote
Cpt.Caveman Posted January 5, 2003 Author Posted January 5, 2003 Mainly what I mean is that if my gaper fat ass was considering climbing it then most people would..... I think I have good judgement of my skills. Quote
mattp Posted January 5, 2003 Posted January 5, 2003 Yo Cavey - Slop is right. I wasn't dissing you. I merely stated that both peaks were significantly more formed up at that time. I might also have added that there was then three feet of snow along side the highway at Colonial Creek, and that the snow cover in the woods made an approach directly up the creek almost friendly. I figured this topic was intended to present information, and I thought mine was pertinent. Quote
Necronomicon Posted January 5, 2003 Posted January 5, 2003 Cave, Could you post a low rez image for us dial-up slobs? I've tried to view your pic, but I wait forever, and I have no patience. Quote
Cpt.Caveman Posted January 5, 2003 Author Posted January 5, 2003 I removed the photos. I can email you them if you send me a pm with your address... Tell me what ones you want to see. Quote
mattp Posted January 7, 2003 Posted January 7, 2003 As long as we're all in our cubicles, consider these: Here is a view of Colonial from the base of Pyramid Peak, on the day that Dan and Forrest completed their climb. You can see that there is a lot more snow on it than in Cavey's pic. And here is the east face of Pyramid, on the same day: Quote
j_b Posted January 7, 2003 Posted January 7, 2003 (edited) the climb may remain quite thin in el nino years. If the cascades are usually too low by a 1000' to be a mecca for winter climbing, what does it mean about warm, low snow years? But perhaps Colonial gets his share no matter what. Edited January 7, 2003 by j_b Quote
Necronomicon Posted January 7, 2003 Posted January 7, 2003 It's a she, and she's a total bitch. Is it in right now? Quote
j_b Posted January 7, 2003 Posted January 7, 2003 So she is the queen of the Ross Lake drainage. Is it in right now? I have not been there recently but I doubt it. It rained up to ~7000' late last week (and buckets), then it got plastered by some colder stuff but not much of it. So it does not sound good. And skiing probably sucks as well (or alternatively this could be classic cascade skiing: rain runnels that have a wavelength a significant fraction of ski length .... yuum!) Quote
Lambone Posted January 8, 2003 Posted January 8, 2003 I might have missed this info, but can you drive to Colonial Creek? Or do you have to ski or sled in? I allways thought the road closed somewhere around Newhalem. Never been up there in the winter...yet. Quote
mattp Posted January 8, 2003 Posted January 8, 2003 Most of the time, the road is plowed to the trailhead above Ross Dam, so you can even drive past Colonial Creek and drive up the hill on the other side of the bridge for a pre-view of Colonial before you head up there. Quote
mattp Posted January 8, 2003 Posted January 8, 2003 Most of the time, the road is plowed to the trailhead above Ross Dam, so you can even drive past Colonial Creek and drive up the hill on the other side of the bridge for a pre-view of Colonial before you head up there. Quote
forrest_m Posted January 8, 2003 Posted January 8, 2003 (edited) lambone, the road is generally plowed to ross dam, where the trail goes down to the lake at ross lake resort. this is at the top of the hill past (east of) the bridge at colonial creek campground and several miles beyond where you want to park your car. i think it is kept open to there so that maintenence workers can access the dam and its associated structures. ymmv, depending on snow conditions of course. (darn you matt, you beat me to the draw not once but twice!) Edited January 8, 2003 by forrest_m Quote
Lambone Posted January 8, 2003 Posted January 8, 2003 oh, cool. Thanks. I'll havta gett up there this winter and have a look. Quote
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