SO-ICE Conditions 2009/2010
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Ice climbing is very dangerous. Even with proper instruction, you will get hurt and die. None of the observations below (they'rfe all lies by the way), in no way, shape or form encourage you to ice climb and are meant for entertainment purposes only. For those STILL interested in trying ice climbing: better to go to your local climbing gym, stand around in a bucket of cold water, tape cold packs to your wrists and climb a route once every hour... If you're still keen then read on!
Feel free to send an observations and non-stupid questions to akolosAAAAThotmailDOOTcom
(Image file names describe the route pictured.)
March 26, 2010 - Words of Wisdom
I came across this perusing a favourite blog of mine. Stay psyched Kelly!
do not believe everything you hear
do not desire everything you see
do not proceed to do everything you are able to do...
March 20, 2010 - Lac Waza (Danylo)
Maybe you should include Waza in your guidebook, so everyone knows how to get there. It's a good spot! -19C on Saturday morning in Rouyn-Noranada (Dave Britnell and I hung out in the motel for an hour avoiding the cold). Ice was thinner than on previous visits. The steepest line was unconsolidated, wet, airy mush (incredibly it looked to be buuilding). Dry lines on either side. Also did a fun slot climb behind the pinnacle (to the right of the main flow) and in the gully to the right of the pinnacle. With cold night temperatures, the ice up there should still be good for at least a week. The ice gets sun from mid to late afternoon.
March 13/14, 2010 - Bancroft (Danylo and Dave)
The house at the base of Rollercoaster is being renovated. No need to panic and think it's burned to the ground! Also, someone (the city?) has chopped down a swath of trees/saplings next to the parking behind the medical building - might be putting in a picnic area (there's a picnic table there now). Oh yeah, Rollercoaster and Curtain was still fat (but wet) on March 13-14. Still a lot of ice on Dirty Harry as well, but it was a shower stall.
March 7, 2010 - Mill Lake (Al)
You're right: Ice-O-Lation is a beautiful full 60m pitch.
March 6/7, 2010 - Raven, Bear and Livingstone (Boris and Anton from Ann Arbor)
We went to Raven, Livingston and Bear lakes. Ice was pretty much gone everywhere. Frankenhooker was still there, though quite slurpy. Mixed lines at Livingston (Lefty and Righty) and Raven (Inch Worm and No One Mourns The Wicked) were fun. (Hard, I feel that Ontario's M7 is tougher than Ouray's). Inch Worm had no ice at the start...
Camping on Raven lake (we put up a tent on the lake ice to the right of Wet Sherpa) was memorable: all night we were listening to chilling - and LOUD - sounds of cracking ice right under us. Frankenhooker was pretty cool (easy WI5, but with great exposure); Ultrahooker was all melted out at the bottom (didn't get on it)... All the mixed lines we did on this trip were pretty stiff.
March 7, 2010 - McCauley
The ice up there is getting kinda baked. The Blue Max Wall only gets into the shade at about 2:30, but looked pretty sketchy.
March 7, 2010 - Eagle's Nest
All the climbs were wet, but still hanging in there. Only Blue Angel and NF of Eiger (whose starts are THIN) were white. There looks to be like a pretty fun mixed start to NF of Eiger, The Curtain area is really fat, and will offer fun climbing this weekend with hero ice.
March 6/7, 2010 - Smuggler's Notch (Bob Park)
Cory and I went out to Vermont on the weekend of March 5-7th, we climbed in Stowe. Hwy 89 to 100 to 108 to a parking lot by the closed road. The trip is about 8-9 hours from Toronto don’t forget to stop in Montreal for some poutine. The state closes the road between Stowe and Jeffersonville during the winter (State Park). Hike about 15-20 north on the closed road (packed down by skiers and hikers) our first climb was Dave’s Snotsicles east of the road 10 min through the bush to the base of the climb you can clearly see the climb from the road. The climb is about 100 meters high grade 3-4, unfortunately the warm weather was baking our screws out as we climbed, earlier in the season this doesn’t happen. We climbed on the west side of the road the following day same distance in on the west side, you can see some of the climbs from the road. There were three climbs we enjoyed all around 50 meters grades 3-4. This time the ice was fat, plastic and the shade keep the ice in great condition. We stayed in Burlington the rates were much cheaper it’s about an hour drive from the crag. This crag boast 1.5 miles of closed road with many climbs 15-20 min from the road. Picture 010 is Dave’s Snocilies, picture 012 is one of the routes on the west side. I don’t remember the names on the west side.
March 3 - McCauley Lake Update (pics by Nathan)
The ice has taken a beating from the warm temps. We've witnessed the ice go from Chrystal clear to saturated in the last few weeks. It doesn't look like the pic below at all...
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Forked Tongue Devil M7+ (~20m) (FA: Nathan Kutcher) This route is on the Main wall left of Blue Max. It climbs a slightly loose open book up to the steep, improbable looking headwall. Clip the first bolt and work your way up on small/technical but good well spaced holds. Stem onto the first dagger, climb it, then swing out around the second dagger/curtain and up to the top. Gear: 4 bolts a screw or two and a big sling or cordolette for the anchor. There is a belay bolt and small stance up and left of the start that the belayer should use to keep clear of falling ice.
The Independence of Oft-Linked Items M6+ (25m) (FA: Pascal Simard) TIOLI climbs the pillar immediately left of Blue Max and traverses left to finish above the next blob. Two pins protect the traverse and a bolt protects the overlap. Pascal was overheard saying: "This will become THE moderate trad classic in Ontario!". For gear bring a rack of cams, including tinies (a tiny offset helps) to #3 Camalot, saving a 0.75 for a horizontal slot above the overlap...
Adopt-A-Drip Project WI5 (20m) (FA: AK and PS) This ice line climbs the wall to the right of Blue Max. Fun features. A rest in the ice chimney provides a welcome relief. A Dick and Six Tits in Search of the V-Tree WI 4 (25m) (FA Joe and his harem) Climb up the initial slabs below Mortgage Derivatives and break right to the entertaining exit. Quickly Out of Trouble WI4 M6 (20m) (FA: PS) The first obvious ice line just above the beaver pond. Multiple starts gain access to the pretty ice sheet above. The FA slung the tree branch, only to pop out of a figure four trying to surmount the lip, and slammed into the tree. On the next attempt he used a pillar, which he avoided on the first attempt. It held. He climbed up. The end. (The curtain above is often hollow). |
Feb 28 - Little East River (Danylo and Don Collier)
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Little East River Crag This is a "nice" hidden crag with 6 routes, all easy angled, each 15-30m in length. Getting to the area is a slog. Park as for Fish Lake Crag. Once on the lake, turn into the southern arm. Be careful at the outflow of the Little East River - it's rarely frozen. Bushwack along the banks of the Little East River for approximately 200-300m, then head left (south-east) away from the river through the trees for another 300-400 metres. Allow an hour and 15 minutes to get there, breaking trail through heavy, wet snow. Since the vertical ice was thin, flows likely form late in the season.
Up the Creek (Without a Paddle),
WI 2+, 15m (FA Danylo Darewych, Don Collier Feb 28, 2010)
Paddle? What Paddle? We Don't Need No
Stinking Paddle! WI3, 5.2 25m (FA Don Collier, Danylo DarewychFeb
28, 2010) Tread Softly and Carry a Sharp Pick,
WI3+, 25m (FA Danylo Darewych, Don Collier Feb 28, 2010) Tuning Fork, WI3-, 20m. (FA Danylo
Darewych, Don Collier Feb 28, 2010) Mogul Run, WI2+, 30m (FA Danylo Darewych,
Don Collier Feb 28, 2010) |
Feb 28 - Fish Lake (Danylo)
Late Feb - Killarney (Ben and Blair)
On the whole conditions seemed to
be leaner than last year although the reliable lower angle flows are in. People
keep telling me that there are better places around Sudbury for ice but I
am drawn to the majesty of the park.
George Lake and Killarney Lake
Feb 27 - Raven Lake (Dave)
Hungryman is fat but baked.
Wet Sherpa is fat - awesome route with a fat exiting pillar.
Feb 21 - McCauley Lake
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Lightweight ID WI3+ M4 25m (FA Pascal Simard and AK) Climb the left of two lines on the Gift Wall (just above the beaver pond). Supplemental rock gear may be used to protect the rotten ice. Even if the ice doesn't touch down, a pleasant mixed variant can lead to the ledge 30 feet up. One can avoid the final rotten ice bulge by climbing the mixed corner on the left. A lower off anchor is in the alcove. Gift by Omission WI3 50m (FA FJN and Joe Palma) Climb the right streak. If the ice is thin and rotten, swing gently. Otherwise enjoy.
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Feb 21 - Sherbourne Lake (Nathan)
Highlander is in but got hammered pretty hard by the sun. Might not be as "in" as usual. The pic is in the AM, before the sun hit... (The Quickening looks like an instant classic! - ak)
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The Quickening M6+/M7- (30m) (FA - Nathan Kutcher, Feb 21, 2010) Start on the ledge above the pit left of Highlander. Climb hard to see pockets clipping two bolts along the way to the horizontal breaks. Follow good holds right and up towards the dagger placing cams along the way. Pull onto the dagger and join Highlander to the top. Gear: #.75- #3 Camalots and screws. Finger sized gear could also probably be used once on the dagger.
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Feb 20 - Diamond Lake
WED was in fat conditions, as was just about everything. Anton and Boris drove into the area from Michigan to sample some fine SO Ice. They liked it very much. They climbed BEW in adition to many others, but were unable to find the pin that protects the exit. Perhaps those that go there next, should carry along a knifeblade and/or bugaboo to replace it, just in case they didn't "overlook" it ;-)
Feb 20 - Bow Lake (Dave)
Pics by Alex Welsh. Red Rains is in and great!
Feb 18 - Raven Lake
Inch Worm has dried out. Mr Poe is in great shape, as are the other climbs to the left. No One Mourns the Wicked is in unusually fat and easy shape.
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No One Mourns the Wicked WI4 M6 27m (FA: AK) A route that features a bit of everything... Anchors at the ledge, allow for a multi-pitch. A ledge extending from Wet Sherpa extends to the anchor, and allows for the first pitch to be top-roped. Start up the first few feet of Wet Sherpa, but break left and surmount the hanging dagger. A bolt protects the rock moves, and keeps climbers off the sloping ice. Bust up to the ledge. Belay here, or continue up the next pillar. Arrange gear in the cave. A tricam also fits in the crack above the cave. Traverse left into the next crack system. Good holds lead up to the parallel sided crack. Step left again and up to the lower-off anchors, which were strategically placed to reduce rope drag... Ice on the traverse makes life much easier, and brings the grade down a notch. Gear: 0.75 to 4 Camalot, small nuts, tricams. |
The Tibet Wall: Inch Worm (on the
Left) and No One Mourns the Wicked (on the right)
Feb 14 - McCauley Lake (Dave, pic by Don Collier)
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To the right (north) of Blue Esther is a large area made up of slabs, trees and cliffs. The following three routes are found in this area and are characterized by their deep blue color. The length of each route will vary considerably with the amount of snow cover. While they are of lesser quality than most of the routes at McCauley Lake, the first ascentionists had a lot of fun climbing them. They were all climbed on Valentines Day 2010. Wardlaw's Water Wall 20m, WI 2 (David Wardlaw, Jon Newman, Dave Britnell and Don Collier). The blue bulge, perhaps 100 m right of Blue Esther. So named because D. Wardlaw did not want his name associated with such a trivial piece of ice. It didn't work! Freeze! Say Z! 30m, WI 2 (Jon Newman, Don Collier, Dave Britnell and David Wardlaw). Just to the right of the previous route and around a buttress. Climb the blue ice in two steps. The name of the climb is the favorite expression of a delightful autistic child that D. Collier works with. Hillbilly Hare 45m, WI 3 (Dave Britnell, David Wardlaw, Jon Newman and Don Collier). Located high up on the far right side of this slabby area is a line of thin blue ice. Easy but in an aesthetic location. Named for a Bugs Bunny character.
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Feb 13, 14, 15 - Kluke Lookout, McCauley, Papineau (Danylo)
I was in the Madawaska/Maynooth area with a whole gang of people over the Family Day long weekend. We climbed at Kluke Lookout, McCauley Lake, looked at Papineau, and climbed at Bow Lake.
Kluke Lookout is thinner than last year at this same time, but several of the routes - Ursus, Lepus Americanus, Lontra - were in. Quercus wasn't.
McCauley - in very good shape. Lots of ice and routes - some thinner, some fatter than last year. I climbed Blue Esther and The Wailing (both excellent routes; except for the shrubbery-thuggery exiting The Wailing - bloody shrub just about sent my glasses to the bottom of the cliff) and one of the Stooges (which lives up to its name). Blue Max is just touching down (looked hard). Yellow Fever, Mortgage Derivatives, Bifurcation weren't in (thin, not completely formed). Don, Dave, Jon and Dave W put up three new routes (see above for descriptions - ak). There was a hardy foursome from Guelph camped at the base of the crag (good on ya!) who were climbing in the North CWM, which looked to be in good shape. The East wall area looked fat; didn't check out the Talus area, but it looked like there was good ice at the far end.
Papineau looked good from afar, but was far from good when we got close - on the thin side, baked and rotten. Slaughterhouse 5 looked the best of the lot, but would have been too difficult for me. My So-Called Life wasn't in. Ian Gets Out was thin on the bottom with some sun-rot showing. The short practise slabs were fat and blue of course.
Bow Lake - honking fat hero ice mostly, but the black rock is starting to poke through in places, as the sun is already packing a punch when it appears from behind the clouds.
Slaughterhouse 5 wall
My So-Called Life
Feb 8 - Bon Echo (Van Kaenthongrath)
Feb 6/7 - Bancroft, Bow, Papineau, Diamond (Danylo, pics by Danylo, Colin Huggard and Janet Trost - thanks
Bow Lake - looked fat from the road. Bumped into Josh later, who had climbed Red Rains, so that's in too.
Eagle's Nest - getting fatter all the time. The ice has finally reached the bottom of North Face of the Eiger (just in the corner) and Blue Angel, although it was too thin to take screws at the bottom. The tops of both climbs are in fine form. Papineau Lake - stopped to take a look at the main crag from across the lake. I'm not really sure what I was looking at (I've never climbed the routes there)... Would be worth checking out.
Diamond Lake - also getting fatter. Distinct Society and Guardian Angel are both in now, although the top of Distinct Society is candled. There is a nice vertical column to climber's right of the tree on Guardian Angel. Where Posers Dare is still thin and seems to be sublimating away. Where Egos Dare - still thin in places, but good solid ice. Kermit's Finger - fat. Tammy Baker's Face - bottom still looked very thin from the lake. No Job Too Small at the far end of the crag even looked to be in.
Jan 30/31, 2010 Raven Lake (Nathan) (Way to get out into the thick of things! I've edited the description a bit... After the cold snap and now milder temps, the first weekend of February should offer fat conditions everywhere - get out there! ak)
It was really cold Saturday morning. Sunday was warm enough but was snowing so hard it was still kinda miserable. We did a new route at Raven this weekend - Inch Worm (M8-)!
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Inch Worm M8- 27m (FA Nate and Rebecca) I'm not sure on the grade, not that I ever am, but maybe less so on this one. I'm just throwing out a number. It seemed way too hard for M7 - committing and intimidating climbing, which may make it seem harder than it really is. I really suck at grading. It starts 50 or so feet left of Wet Sherpa. It starts out on easy, but thin and detached ice. Climb the smear passing some thin cracks that take good nuts. Past this there are two bolts (the second added after the FA) protecting the thin ice up to the big flake/block. After resting at the flake and mustering up the courage to tackle the headwall work left and into the thin seem making use of steinpulls to gain the shallow hooks up the seam. At the base of the crack you will be rewarded with good turf sticks before getting into the business. Work up into the crack jamming anything you can into it. If you are lucky there will be usable ice inside the alcove and dribbling down the face. If not be prepared for few if any footholds and a lot of squirming to get into and established in the alcove. Once in the alcove, work out the crack in the roof and onto the big ledge. At the back of the ledge there is a two bolt anchor to rappel from. A single 60m rope should get you back down to the lake. For gear I used doubles of small wires from #2-6 BD, a red tri-cam, 1-4 Camalots, doubles of #2. Some shorty screws may also come in handy, but I was wishing for the super stubbies that they've created down in the Dacks - you know the 5cm types... Unless the bolts are iced over you probably won't need or be able to use screws. I debated adding the second bolt and hope people appreciate it. The gear on the rest of the route was pretty good and that one section with bottomed out stubbies still sticking well out of the crappy ice just weren't very inspiring. The anchor at the top needs rap ring hangers. I didn't have any and had to leave regular hangers threaded with cord. A 9/16" wrench would be needed to change them.
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Jan 26, 2010 - New Routes (Nathan)
We did a couple new routes this season. The first is a drytool route at Elora. Its called Highway Robbery (m9+). Its on the right side of the ice cave, right of the other two bolted M-lines. I its 6 or 7 bolts plus anchors. Stick clip the first bolt, and power out the roof to a tiny first tooth pocket (keep tools sharp to avoid blowing out the lip). Pull onto the headwall and follow well spaced but decent holds to just below the top where slopey but usable holds hit you like a bad joke just before the anchor. Long (10"-12") draws recommended for the 3rd and 4th bolts. This route ABSOLUTELY should not be attempted when the rock is not frozen. It will destroy the route. There is also another TR line that we do that isn't in your topo. It is right of the bolted routes. We always rap in on it, off the gnarly looking maple tree at the first chain link fence behind the hockey rink. We just call it the warm-up. Its probably m6+ish depending on the line you take. It climbs a very wide open book and onto the face above then exits onto the turf left of the bushes at the top. There are a set of big Petzl glue-ins just to the right. Not sure what they are all about, they make no sense. They weren't here last year. I considered bolting the line, but it is so easy to TR it didn't make sense.
The other route is at Diamond Lake. It is called Handicap Accessible (M7-). Its is in the WED area, on the left side (Left of LofWED). It climbs the right leaning crack system up to a ledge and a tree. Start below the slabs, right of the bush about 6' up. Follow the line of least resistance to the bottom of the crack. We added a bolt after the FA to protect the easy but sketchy move to get into the crack. End at the tree for a nice M5 or continue across the big flake and into LofWED, finishing at the LofWD anchor for full value and easy access to the project above. Gear up to a #4 C4. As to LofWED, I think the grade should be bumped up to M7-. I think the upper section is a bit harder than M6. (While I'm on grades, No Bones at Skel#5 is probably a bit sandbagged too, 7+ is probably more appropriate.) We're all just getting used to M-grades...
Jan 25, 2010 - Eagle's Nest (Justin)
Everything has stayed thick through the warm spell we had Sunday and Monday. Freezing temps in Bancroft overnight and a dusting of snow.
Jan 24, 2010 - Raven Lake
The ice was well formed. Danylo climbed a route in between Mr. Poe and Wet Sherpa that headed up the long gulley. Mr. Poe was well formed. Wet Sherpa was thin in spots. Gimme Gimme has formed weird this year, with no final curtain, only a dagger hanging 5 feet below the top (maybe it'll form up better later in the season). Hungry Man was thin in spots, but was sunbaked. I'm not sure what the Monday rains will do for the ice.
Access Note: A group of cottage owners that pay to have the parking lot plowed, ask that a $5 contribution be made per car, and that cras park, so as to allow a vehicle w a trailer to turn around in the lot. Contributions can be "dropped" of at Andy's cottage, the second one on the right. It's tucked into the bay, as you round the first point. Thanks.
Jan 24, 2010 - Tiffany (Alex)
I was up at tiffany this morning to check out the conditions. It was a bomby 4C and the ice is very soft and limited. To the left is a limited but somewhat dry line as is to the far right. Far right is very thin. Everything is the middle will likely break.
Jan 17, 2010 - Cathedral Ledge (Fernando and Mike)
We had a very slow morning and showed up and all the easy stuff was taken - there were like 20 cars. We walked to repentance (it's in fat enough, but to the left out of the picture) but there were 3 people on it, on the top pitch. So we could either wait or do Remission. Decided to have a go at this (good thing ... I was on the column when the party finally made it down). The column is hollow ... and appears thicker than it really is and it was pouring... You can't see the finish but it was exciting to say the least... The start (hidden form view in a left facing corner) is a very fun and well protected mixed corner. Easy enough. Super highly recommended...
Jan 17, 2010 - Ham Ice (Al and Joe)
Tiffany Falls is pretty much gone
for the time being until it gets cold again. Only the right side had a relatively
dry line, but you had to kick gently. It'll probably be completely gone with
a few more mild days. Checked out Battlefield Falls later that day as well,
very thin ice with water running behind it. Best left alone to try to survive
the warm spell on its own.
Jan 17, 2010 - Diamond Lake (Danylo)
Joined one part of the ACC group at Diamond Lake on Sunday.
Guardian Angel - still very thin;
upper curtain hasn't formed up yet, except for one thin pillar.
Left of Where Egos Dare (What are
folks calling that? Where Angels Fear to Tread - Fools Rush In?) - large blobs
of ice, thin down low.
Where Egos Dare - in hard early season
shape. Thicker ice in the corner, very thin out on the slab.
Between Egos and Wimps - the ice in the corner
is there.
Malachite Brocade - in, but hasn't
filled out yet.
Ochre Silk/ Blue Velvet wall - one
wide continuous flow; thin and steep on left, thick and bulgy in middle, candled
and steep on the right.
Diamond Couloir - has areas of rock;
not completely filled in.
Thunderdome - in.
Kermit's Finger - beautiful, big,
blue ice.
Tammy Baker's Face - I didn't go
over for a closer look, but somebody was leading it (Daniel and Sonja?), so
it's doable.
Curtain Call looked to be in, but as usual I didn't go over for acloser look.
Jan 16, 2010 - Agawa Canyon (Will)
Went up to Agawa Canyon last week.
Apparently we were the first climbers in this year, but who knows. Everything
very thin, lots of scraping around snowcovered slabs. I was with a friend
climbing ice for the first time, so only climbed a pitch a day. Very cold.
Climbed Three Brothers Right and Centre. All in, but thin near
the bottom. Also Huayhuash, first pitch far left. very thin, although
the centre was fat, when you got up the slab to it! Bridalveil is apparently
pouring water still at the very top, Trestle: thin on the left, too
thin on the right, Victory Daze not in, Pins and Needles and
Salmon Run thin but apparently climbable (from a distance), ANNabelu
or Don's Folly (not sure which) was nice and fat, but the approach
to all the climbs was up unprotected snowy slabs. I pissed myself several
times on approaches and manteling onto the top of pillars...
Unfortunately, the few pictures I could convince my camera to take are on
film. The little digital did not like the weather and refused to turn on at
all.
Jan 14 - 403 Icefall (Danylo)
The falls were in good shape with a nice almost dead vertical 15m pillar of soft hero ice. Quentin and I were happily doing laps by headlamp when a police car with lights-a-flashing pulled up on the 403 below us...
Jan 13, 2010 (Danylo)
Two of the Etobicoke Creek Smears (the GTA's premier ice climbing destination) are in: one just opposite the Horner Ave. entrance to Etobicoke Creek park, and the main flow 300 metres further south. Nice plastic ice. Creek is still open in places, but easy to step across on solid ice. Only for the compulsively obsessed.
Jan 10, 2010 - Bancroft
Reports are that Bow Lake is safe to cross and the ice on the cliff is fat. Red Rains is touching down and is good to be assaulted! At the Nest there are plenty of options.The curtain is thick enough for heavy swinging on the left, Jetstream is thick, but hollow sounding at the start. Jetstream right is nearly touching down (it's completely covering East Meet West). Powered by Donuts is still revealing some rock, but ice up high. Max's route is showing just enough rock for a couple of stoppers to be placed for pro, before one would jump onto the curtain above... Jetstream Variation also has enough ice for some entertainment. NF of Eiger - not in. Blue Angel has enough ice touching down for a few varints, but snow lying on the thin ice, makes it hard to see and will likely make the quality of ice pretty poor... Dirty Harry is great, with ice on the right side this year (but as always, stemming helps).
Jan 9, 2010 - Fish Lake (Bob Park)
We climbed Crown of Thorns Jan 9th great route, ice was in solid. The lake crossing was solid - about a foot of snow on the lake. About 3 feet of snow at the base of the climb. The ice was hard and brittle when we were there -18 that day.
Jan 9, 2010 - Rosseau (Dave Britnell)
At the far left of the cliff: new route! Rampway to Hell, WI3 M3 (Dave Britnell, Chris Talbot): Walk down and left of Ziggy's Route not too far where you'll see a series of bulges and ramps. Climb the first bulge of thin ice to a left leaning ramp. Climb this ramp leftward until you get to a pillar. The pillar is short but a bit over hanging and faces to the right. Climb this pillar W-3 and you'll get to the next leftward ramp. Steep climbing over thin ice with no gear--climb this left leaning ramp until you get to a flaring crack on the right at the end of the ramp--from here I was able to place two small cams in the crack. Some dry tooling here. A left traverse of a few feet will take you to the crux. (M3) From here there is a horizontal crack system that offered bomber gear. I placed two T.C.U. and a small cam in the horizontal crack. From here climb up and a bit right over a steep snow covered ramp with little ice--it's all footwork here. Once past the crux climb up a steep snow and ice ramp to bushes on the left and rock on the ice. Climb straight up until you hit a rock groove. Climb the groove with very little ice and no gear until you reach a small cliff band where I placed another TCU. Climb leftward and straight up until the trees. Belay here.
Jan 6, 2010 - Spirit Rock (Jeremy)
This is the crag near the water-filtration plant ner the water. It's in Wiarton. Stuff is forming well. Here's a sample of the ice...
Jan 4, 2010 - Tews Falls (Brendan)
Here's what the falls looked like before the curtain snapped off...
Jan 3, 2010 - Landon's Bay (Danylo)
I wasn't really expecting the bay to be well frozen, but it was fine. I wasn't expecting a lot of ice either, but again I was pleasantly surprised - there was already a fair bit of ice. Some of the routes were still on the thin side, but they were there. Overall it's a nice area, in a nice setting with some interesting looking routes. Some of the routes looked a little more vertical and harder than the guidebook grades would suggest. I only climbed one - They Don't Fix Your Brakes or Psoriasis - which seemed about right for the grade of WI2). There also seems to be some mixed climbing potential, for those that are interested.
Dec 31, 2009 - Eagle's Nest (Justin)
Dec 26, 2009 - Bullwinkle, Willoughby
Dec 25, 2009 - Cannon Report
Omega - nope
BD - thick enough for good
climbing, but thin for ice gear
Hassig's
- great
Fafnir - 2nd pitch ice is
good. Third is rotten snice and/or wet rock.
Quartet Ice Hose - it was hidden in a nook, but was dripping due to the warmth... thin, but in?
Dec 24, 2009 - Willoughby Report
I hesitate to call it fat, but there's ice all over the cliffs.
Mindbender amph - couldn't
see.
Pipe Dreams - trying to touch
down...
Called... - looks thick and
wide, but it's white!
Solstice - from afar it looks
to be close.
China Shop - not in, but the
approach ice is "there", making Machine Shop and option.
Who's Who - a wide sheet of
thin ice guards the upper flow.
Last Gent - left and right
variations are possible.
Prom - crux column is "in",
but can be bypassed to the right. Very little ice in behind the pillar for
setting up a belay, so be prepared to link the start, the mushrooms and the
pillar into one pitch. 70's would be nice, but not necessary.
Reign of Terror - upper ice
can be reached via Prom traverse, if the spicy start isn't inviting.
Bullwinkle - looked to be
mostly in, but I didn't see the start...
20 Below et al, looked fat. In general, there's plenty of water pouring down the cliff, so things should be FAT, according to everyone's definitions...
Sorry for the people shots in the previous post, here are pics sans butts...
Dec 23, 2009 - NH Report - Frankenstein
There's not as much snow in NH as I would have thought. Ice is forming quickly. Dracula is fat enough for about three variations, Welcome to the Machine is good (but you need to reach around a loose ice block), Dropline is great, Last Exit isn't quite in... (In between Last Exit and Welcome to the Machine is a mixed line... trad gear below the roof, then there's a bolt protecting the exit onto the dagger/ice blob. I've marked it on the WTTM pic.) Hobbit, Chia, Pegasus all looked good... Elephant's Head Gully has been climbed.
Dec 22, 2009 - Kushog (from David Broadhead)
Danylo, my friend Josh and i were at Kushog last sun. We repeated a drytooling line first put up by myself and Curtis Merritt last year. About 15 meters left of Caramel Coating just past the obvious arete/inside corner is a blank slab of rock with a thin seam in it. Climb this to a ledge. Climb another short vertical rock step to a ledge under a 5 meter slightly overhanging (about 95-100degrees) "headwall". Climb straight up this keeping to the left of the obvious lichen patch and in between the two trees. Small gear may be helpful. Thin Lizzy 18m M4. To find the start look for the blocky fault in the pic.
Dec 20, Kushog (Danylo)
Lake isn't well frozen, used land approach to climbs.Caramel Coating - good, thick, wet ice interspersed with a few scratchy sections. Unnamed climb immediately right of Caramel Coating - looked good.Blue Pillar - still fragile and unprotectable in the bottom half, pretty solid and wet in the top half with another nasty top-out (Dave B. got up to the top half by traversing in along the ramp from the right). Dave also led an interesting dry-tooling, mixed line (currently all dry) that follows a thin crack in a slab 15-20m left of Caramel Coating, that he put up last year. He's calling it Thin Lizzy. I'll let him provide the details/ description of it when he gets the chance.Blue Boy - not in yet.Sadly Unknown - looked OK from the road.
Dec 19, 2009 - Bancroft (from Danylo)
Getting fatter. Rollercoaster - much less "scratchy" than last week - two thin, but climbable lines of ice down low, much better higher up. Only dinged the tools once this time. Curtain - Continuing to build. Top-outs are sketchy: snow over rock. Had to mantle up on the tops of the tools and step high. Dirty Harry - a lot of good looking ice. Amazing Glace, Hidden Gully - good looking ice at the bottom, snowed under above.
Dec 19, 2009 - Tiffany Falls (from Franklin)
The left side has mostly formed but is very, very wet and will need time to firm up. The photo's don't show the large amount of water that is flowing over the ice. The right side is still 2-3m from touching down. The base of the falls is solid and dry all the way across the creek.
Dec 13, 2009 - Eagle's Nest (from Justin)
Conditions as of today. Seems the tops of the ice climbs are still sparse. But the sheets and pillars are growing quickly...
Dec 13, 2009 - Eagle's Nest (from Danylo)
Ice on Rollercoaster was poor (thin snice) to nonexistent. In fact, it was probably in worse shape than in those pictures that Justin sent in earlier. Probably something to do with a thick insulating layer of snow and water running underneath. The Curtain is coming along nicely. All the big lakes (Papineau, Bark Lake, Kamaniskeg are completely open), smaller ones (Bow, Paudash) are starting to freeze. Lots of snow on the ground.
Consolation Prize (at Papineau North) is thin, but coming along nicely.
Dec 8 2009 - Eagle's Nest (from Justin)
It's coming.......
