Eureka Ice Climbing

I had the pleasure of guiding Charlie from NM on Sunday. He was one of the first guys I took out with SJMG 10 years ago. It was Charlie's first day of the winter season, and we chose the fun Gully 2 in Eureka. The road looked a little spicy so opted to walk in. There were 2 parties on Stairway as we approached. 

Stairway to Heaven III WI4+ (11/28/10)

 The conditions on both Gullies and Goldrush have improved significantly since my last visit. We climbed all the way to the last chains on Gully 2 and then rappelled via chains and threads. We past a friendly party on our way down and one soloist. A fairly busy day for Silverton! 

1st pitch of Gully 2.

Top of pitch 3.

Hoser's Highway looked steep and proud, but very doable. Stairway is good to go. Whorehouse looked really big from the parking lot.

In other areas, folks have been climbing the Ames Ice Hose in quite lean conditions, as well as the Talisman. The Ribbon is seeing regular traffic and BBB is getting climbed despite its lean shape. Skylight climbs are all ok as well. Have Fun!!! CC

North San Juan Ice Climbing

Climbed the 2nd Gully Route in Eureka today. No snow anywhere in the area. Ice was thin but generally well formed, protectable, and fun to climb.

Cory leads up the first steep step.

The final headwall into the upper gully and walk off.

 1st Gully looked to be possible, as did the Highway to
Hell. Everything else was super bony. Went into South Mineral Creek as well. The Direct North Face Route had a bunch of ice but didn't quite look go to go. Snowblind is still forming. The campground couloirs had a bit pf ice and could probably get scratched up if you really get the jones. 

Hopefully this next system will give us another blast of ice generating conditions. 

We will be keeping a ice condition table this winter at 

http://www.ourayclimbing.com/pages/show/Ice+Conditionshttp://www.ourayclimbing.com/pages/show/Ice+Conditions

Happy Winter Season, CC

San juan Ice Conditions Update

Warm weather has changed some routes, so I thought I would post and update.

Ice Park: Fat City

Dexter Creek Slabs: Good Condition

Bride's Veil aka Skyrocket: Not recommended. Was good for a bit, but fragile and hollow now. the top may have fallen down.

Fall Creek/Talisman: Some guys climbed the Ribbon, Birdbrain, and Talisman. Looked sporting, probably not a good idea for the average mortal. But if you fancy yourself a hardman with something to prove...

Skylight climbs: Good shape, some are wet and growing fast.

Horsetail is good, Bear Creek is getting super hollow with the warmth.

Engineer climbs that were in are getting slushy.

Eureka climbs are fat and moderate.

Ames Ice Hose is thin but picked out, fairly standard for the route.

Bridalveil is getting more traffic, standard WI5 conditions.

Not sure about Silverpick and the Bone, probably in though.

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Give a call if you have questions.

Cheers, Clint 970-325-4925

Ouray Area Conditions

Here is the latest on the Ouray conditions.

Skylight: A bit thin on some routes, but the standards are good to go.
Ribbon, BirdBrain, and Talisman are not in.

Horsetail/Bear Creek: Both are great right now. That rare opportunity to tag both in a short day.

Sun Splash and Solar Circus are holding ice, but look to be getting sun affected.

Engineer Climbs appear not in, although Abraxas could probably be climbed.

Stairway, Highway, and Whorehouse are fat city. Watch out for hidden ice dams on the rollovers. Its easy to punch through to some chilly water on stepping off some belays.

Ames is hanging tough, and super fun.

Bridalveil continues to be weird this year, only one reported ascent I know of.
Ingraham is reporting touching, not sure about Silverpick, would imagine its climbable though.

Santa Claus Pillar is reported in good condition.

That's all I know off the top off my head. Hope its useful!

1/6/10 CC

Ouray Ice Park

The Ouray Ice Park is fantastic shape, and ready for the Festival!

I spent the last couple days climbing in the park with some super nice folks from Texas. They picked it up really fast! Below is Parker smoking up Pick of the Vic early on his second day of ice climbing. Impressive! Good technique helps! Perfect Triangles.

We took a little lunch on the Upper Bridge and watched this gentleman crash his way up Root Canal, WI5 Funky! The conditions in the Lead area will make you work right now!

It was getting busy, so we headed down to the Ventana area where we found this sweet and steep WI5+ pillar formed up and feeling solid. I was pretty impressed to see these guys do as well as they did on it. I climbed it afterwards and found it to be continually off-balance and thought provoking. If you are registered for an Advanced Ice clinic at the fest, you might get coached up it as well. It is fantastic.

We've got a few more projects to finish before the fest, but its going to be good one. Lots of pros in town already getting a feel for our unique rock and tuning up for the comp. Good time to watch some serious climbing go down!

Cheers, CC

Stairway to Heaven

Stairway to Heaven 12/29/09

I had the pleasure of climbing Stairway with two young gentlemen from Berkeley on Tuesday. The route is as big as I have seen it for this time of year. There was every type of ice on the route, from blue steel to sloppy wet goo. The 3rd pitch was a total shower, but it looks like the flow is getting set on the far right so the the far left side of pillar may be drying. We got soaked, but it was a nice day so no big deal. All in all it is in superb shape. There was light snow falling all day, so if it kept up avi conditions could be different.

Cheers, CC.

Horsetail & Stairway

On Monday Cole & I did Horsetail. It was in primo condition. The middle line on the first pitch was really wet but the far right and left are reasonable. After the first bit the entire route was a gooey highway. We put in threads and rapped the route, back in town for lunch.

Today found us headed for Silverton. Stairway to Heaven is in superb condition. Many nice steep little steps, all sporting great ice (no funky layers). There appears to be a healthy amount of water supplying the route. This will certainly be one of those years it grows to an enourmous size. We opted for the walk off as it appeared to have been well travelled. I couldn't suggest this descent. The upper slopes were funky. All of the rap anchors were burried except the tree at the base of pitch three. Time to put in threads. It was snowing pretty hard when we left today, so things could change a bit for the near future. Enjoy the holidays!

Happy Trails,

Kevin

Ice Park Conditions and Opening

Walked thru the ice park a couple days ago. It is looking GOOD. Let's all hope for continued cold nights till opening weekend Dec. 19.

Think Cold Thoughts! Won't be long now.

Had a chance to check out Eureka and South Mineral some more. Still pretty slim pickings.
We climbed Stairway on Wed. It was a little more engaging than usual, but there were a few decent screws and all the fixed anchors were easy to use.

Then we went to SMC today. We climbed the DNF thru the first three big steps via the M5 variation on the right of the 1st major pillar. Fun choss scaling, all you need is a grey C3.

There was a friendly party of 3 on the route as we rapped. Pictured below is their leader topping out on the slightly wet main pillar crux.

We went over and climbed Snowblind thru the first chockstone, the rest looked fine as well, but Davy caught a piece of ice with his nose and we opted for PBR at the Brown Bear.

Slow start, but some climbing can be done. Cheers, CC.

Eureka

Went over to check out Eureka today. Still pretty bony. I went part way up Gully 2, but every pocket of snow was cracking out, so I opted to bail before the final gully. Jim T. soloed Stairway though after I left, said the top outs were a little spicy but overall pretty fun.

Probably best to wait a bit longer before heading onto the ice for most folks.

Cheers. Think Cold Thoughts. CC