Doug_Hutchinson Posted January 14, 2003 Posted January 14, 2003 Climbed "Iron Maiden" (5.7, AI2) on I-rock last Friday with Matt Sullivan. The same inversion that is spelling death for the skiing resulted in warm weather and glove-free rock moves. Great route with good (rock) pro but pretty shitty rock. I almost was able to front point into the rock. Proper respect and gratitude to Wayne Wallace for lots of pioneering on I-rock and generating a fantastic topo. Extra special bonus was skiing 2500' of perfect corduroy on Palmer mostly in full sunshine until skiing into dense, dense fog near the bottom. (Raving about c'roy shows what an incredible crap snow year this has been on Hood). Quote
MtnHigh Posted January 14, 2003 Posted January 14, 2003 Any ice forming on I-Rock or is she bare??? Quote
rbw1966 Posted January 14, 2003 Posted January 14, 2003 Hey Doug--I am a little confused. How can the rock pro be good if the rock itself is crappy? Front-pointing rock sounds like fun though! Good job. Quote
Alex Posted January 14, 2003 Posted January 14, 2003 (edited) Illumination Rock is as solid as it gets. Well, for Oregon anyway Edited January 14, 2003 by Alex Quote
rbw1966 Posted January 14, 2003 Posted January 14, 2003 Really? More solid than French's Dome? Broughton's Bluff? Smith? (OK, bad example). I hope its more solid than Mt. Chossington. Quote
Alex Posted January 14, 2003 Posted January 14, 2003 Hey Frenches Dome! That place is pretty cool. Yeah, its probably more solid than Smith or Mt Washington, certainly more solid than anything in the Sisters Quote
b-rock Posted January 14, 2003 Posted January 14, 2003 French's Dome is as solid as I've seen it in OR. Of course, I've also seen a fair amount of epoxy there too... Quote
b-rock Posted January 14, 2003 Posted January 14, 2003 (edited) MtnHigh - Illumination looked ok Saturday, a bit thin but definately climbable, still a lot of rock showing. I'll post a link to a couple of pics tonight if you want. Edited January 14, 2003 by b-rock Quote
MtnHigh Posted January 14, 2003 Posted January 14, 2003 b-rock, share the info and pics. I need something to dream about. Quote
Doug_Hutchinson Posted January 15, 2003 Author Posted January 15, 2003 To answer RBW's astute question about good pro in bad rock: the surface of the rock was flakey and everything that looked like a nice edge pulled off in one's hand. However, the cracks were solid enough to take good cams (or pins). The route is on the downhill (SW) side of I-rock which was somewhat protected from glacial scouring. By the looks of it, I would assume on rock on the prominent wall on the east side is much better since it looks cleanly cut by recent glacial activity. Quote
rbw1966 Posted January 15, 2003 Posted January 15, 2003 I've climbed on the east side and thought it was pure choss. I was just scrambling around the lower-angled portions though. Perhaps the steeper sections are more solid. Thanks for the clarification Doug. Quote
b-rock Posted January 15, 2003 Posted January 15, 2003 It appears I only got one pic from the saddle, kind of a crappy picture: Quote
wayne Posted January 16, 2003 Posted January 16, 2003 Congradulations Doug and Matt! That was probably the second ascent. Aside form my playing on it,Your trip was one of only a couple forays I have ever heard of that dealt with the I-rock in winter conditions , believe it or not. So , it has interesting rock quality but , I have so much fun climbing on it . The next thing you should look for is Rime Dog .It starts in the left steeper gully and goes straight up from there. It is my favorite and I may repeat it for the 3rd time this weekend. As far as the East Face is concerned the rock at the very start is bad .the middle is great but the finish is bad too. I have climbed stiff cracks there in the summer, but it is a bit sunny for winter stuff except for March Madness, a pure water ice route. Good job! Quote
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