Ice climbing for Halloween

I think this may have been my earliest outing ever for ice... and what a great day it was. Drove up Eureka to take the skis and ice tools for a walk. On the drive we noticed a little flow just south of Whorehouse that looked good - and no skis needed. We drove a little higher to make sure it was the best looking flow; here's the report:

Stairway - thin, fragile looking, but had ice on all the pitches
1st & 2nd gullies and the rest of the S. facing flows - very wet, thin and falling down
Whorehouse - thin and lots of water, a little ice

Heard news of some very wet conditions and marginal ice in S. Mineral Creek, but didn't check it out.

Here's the flow we climbed. Sorry for the bad pic - all I had was the cell phone...


Also worthy of noting - there was good ice forming up on Gravity's Rainbow and the ice up in Bear Creek. The afternoon heat is melting it all fast though...

The Dolomites!

Just wrapped up 11 straight fantastic days in the Dolomites with Paul M. As always the company was fantastic, and the climbing was pretty good too! Here's the breakdown.

The view of the Tofana from Hotel Montana.

A friendly slobber to welcome us to Cortina! I'm a sucker for Saints.Day One. Paul cruising up Via Miriam on Torre Grande in the Cinque Torri. A classic 8 pitch UIAA V+, and a great way to get feel for the dolomite. Day Two: Torre Piccola di FalzaregoContemplating the Italian good life on top.Day 3: Torre Grande di Falzarego, just a little bigger and harder.Day 4: A well deserved rest day of sport climbing at Crepe du Oucera. Paul cranking away on the steep French grade 5c.Day 5: Spigolo Jori on Punta Fiames. Can you spot the line?
A little bit of air between Paul and the track as we approach the arete proper.On top with the hikers. Where did we come from?
Day 6: We went sport climbing at Sas di Stria. Too many pitches of French 5 to count.
Day 7: The Primo Spigolo, Tofana di Rozes. What can you say, its primo.10 pitches in with the famed Pilastro behind.Beautiful line. Worth another look.Day 8: The Grande linkup of the Torri di Falzarego. Clouds threatened, but Paul was getting pretty fast by now. Brits and Germans provided some good entertainment and motivation, but we were the first to the top!
Day 9: Via Ferrata di Innerkofler to the top of Paterno.

Day 10: Sport climbing in the rain under the huge overhangs at Landro. Paul cranked out 10+ pitches of stellar limetone that day, impressive. He was insistent we were first to be there, last to leave. the other guide thought we were a little weird, but dedicated.

Day 11: The beautiful Mazzorana route on Piz Popena Basso. Only 5 pitches, but sweet stemming for the last 60 meters. Then the crux of the trip, negotiating Piazza di Roma in the heart of Venice. Paul made it in, and i made it out alive. Mission accomplished.

The gorgeous Croda di Lago. Next year Paul?

Summer in the San Juans

Its been a great summer season in the San Juans this year. We've had lots of great adventures all over the range. I've slacked a little on blogging regularly so here are a few highlights.

Rainbow Overflow in the Uncompaghre Gorge

Beautiful Blue Lakes from the pass.

Grady makes the FA of Grilled Cheese Sandwich 5.7. One of the new sport routes put up by SJMG guides in the Pool Wall Alcove.

I'll keep working on this, I'm in Italy! CC

Mt Wilson - El Diente Traverse

I had the pleasure of spending the weekend with JD from Highlands Ranch. We have had a few adventures together over the years, including a fast ascent of the Tre Monts Route on Mont Blanc.

We started off with a day of rock climbing in the Alcove. Below is JD working up into the crux stemming moves on Groove Tube 5.9.

After that we packed up and hiked into Navajo Basin. We had some hail on the hike, but it was beautiful camping in the upper basin. We got up at 0330 and started climbing up the steep snow couloir on Mt. Wilson's North Face.
We climbed the 1500 feet of good neve, and headed over to the summit block on Mt. Wilson.
After topping Mt Wilson, the weather was holding ok, so we headed across the ridge to El Diente.
There are a couple ways to make the traverse. What I like to call the climber's traverse or the hiker's traverse. We opted for the high line and did the majority of the traverse on the crest itself.

As you approach El Diente, the ridge becomes more sharp and you are faced with this drop-off. An airy 20m rappel leads to the notch on El Diente and the summit shortly thereafter.
We descended the North Couloir on El Diente, and made the hike to camp and out to the trailhead. One of the sweetest ridges in the state. Good work JD!

Cheers, CC.

Maiden Voyage, Black Canyon

Went into the Black with Dave L. from Australia today (Tues. June 23). He had seen the canyon before, but this was his first foray into the depths. We chose Maiden Voyage for his 1st Black route; opting for its clean rock, morning shade, and sweet handcracks!Dave was right on my heels for the descent down the Cruise Gulley, there were nice ropes fixed on the rappels, and we were soon at the base. Dave hiked every pitch like he was walking down the sidewalk.Having fun in the shade!Checkerboard's Island in the Sky.

Back on the Rim 4 hours later. Super fun climbing!
Cheers, CC

Dallas Peak South Face Couloir

Bob O. and I got the chance to go into Mill Creek and climb the South Face Couloir on Dallas Peak on the 19th. Dallas has the reputation as the hardest 13er in the state, and it definitely has its challenges. The SFC is a sweet alpine route for those with good snow and ice skills. It features a moderate (2.5hrs) approach hike, and then 2500 feet of sweet neve, short steps of water ice, and good alpine rock. I'm not sure if anyone else ever climbs this route, but it is excellent. We were the first party on top for the year.This is one of the best alpine routes in the San Juans, period. If you have the skills. Bob is an alpine animal. Should be good for another 2 weeks.

Cheers, CC.

Summit for Someone Course

Last weekend I instructed a 4-day Alpine Mountaineering Course for the Summit for Someone program. It is a pretty cool organization that raises money for at-risk youths to get to go climbing. The folks on our course each raised over $2000 each to go towards the Big City mountaineers foundation.We started with a thorough overview of equipment and packing techniques before heading up into the mountains. We made a nice camp at snow line with running water and great views. The next couple days we learned a ton of new techniques for snow and ice, and then climbed the very alpine South Slopes route on Mt Sneffels. It was a bit brutal in the morning with snow and high winds, but everyone put their best foot forward, and a few hours later Nick was on top of his first 14er! We elected to escape the harsh weather and spent the last day rock climbing and working on rope skills at a nice crag overlooking Ouray.

Super fun course! Looking forward to next year.
CC