Eureka Ice Conditions

Went to Eureka today. Everything was pretty bony. We climbed all of the 2nd Gully and walked off. We ran into some other Ouray folks at the base and they headed up after us. We went over and climbed the first 3 pitches of 1st Gully, but the ice ran out in both the left and right forks up higher. The first pitch pillar is a little fragile, but should continue to get better. It will be a while before any others are ready over there are ready as well.Stairway, Whorehouse, and Hoser's all need more time. One could probably climb Highway to Hell. Other reports from South Mineral Creek are not good either. Think Cold Thoughts!
CC

The Rock is In!!!

Well,

The drytooling has been more reliable then the ice so far. I just returned from 5 days in the Maze of Canyonlands with family and it looks like what ice that was around before fell down during that beautiful autumn weather we enjoyed. In the photo above new Ouray resident Chris takes a lap on the dry routes left of the Skylight. There was was a bit of wet ice on all the routes, but a ways to go still. The Racing Stripes looked the best of anything.
CC

Ice in the San Juans!

A few things are forming up in the highcountry. We went and climbed the Direct North Face Routes in South Mineral Creek. The pillars were a bit funky, but the lower angles terrain is in good shape. Campground couloirs have some ice on them, but thin. Other reports show some ice on Snowblind and the upper parts of Stairway. Now we just need some more cold precip. Looks like its going to be a nice week for rock climbing though. It won't be long now.
CC

Canyoneering Photos

Here is a link to another trip report for Cascade Creek. There is a good photo gallery as well. Check it out if you are interested.
http://www.canyoneering.net/forums/blog.php?b=146
CC

Black Canyon Season

It is starting to get really nice in the Black Canyon. First day of
Autumn means its time to go to the North Rim, right?
I've been down SOB twice in the last couple weeks. It is brisk in the dawn chill, but the sun soon creeps around depending on what route you do. Kevin hadn't had the pleasure of climbing the Casual Route, so with some clouds above we opted for a shorter objective. The old school 5.8 squeeze-chimney is always a good grovel.I went back with GMon and climbed the Russian Arete on Monday. It was great. There were two parties in the canyon, light clouds, and beautiful oak brush colors on the rim. The climb features lots of fun 5.8 stemming, a steep 5.9 pegmatite corner, and lots of 4th and 5th class ridge climbing to get off. A true Black Adventure for fit moderate climbers.
Enjoy the Autumn! CC

Canyoneering in Ouray.

We have been exploring some of the canyons around Ouray this summer. They have gotten a little publicity in the canyoneering community, so we thought we should investigate. The first foray was down Portland Creek, known as Ivan's Trail. It was nice and scenic with one significant rappel under the Ampitheather Bridge. Kevin pulls the rope in the photo below.
Next up was Oak Creek Canyon. It was much longer with incredible atmosphere and soaring cliffs on both sides. We did many long rappels, including the 200 footer down the main falls seen below.

We wanted to check out Cascade Creek Canyon next, so we invested in the 600 feet of canyoneering rope that greatly facilitates the long rappel over Cascade Falls itself. We entered the canyon halfway up its distance to Chief Ouray. It was pretty wild negotiating the numerous drops, slids, and down-climbs. There was one especially entertaining 3 stage waterfall. Eventually we got down to the big tree anchor for ice climbing Cascade Falls. We tied a macrame anchor with the 600 foot rope and rapped down. I must say it was a little unnerving at first to rappel such a long waterfall, but good clean fun. The last 3 photos show some of the cool canyon scenery on the way down Cascade.

Chamonix, Zermatt, and Grindelwald

Greetings from Grindelwald! I'm firing this post out from the Mountain Hostel in Grindelwald, Suisse. In a few minutes I'll jump on the train to Zurich and be headed back to the States. My future daughter has been waiting patiently for me to return, so I better get to it! Despite some rough weather and difficult conditions the last couple weeks, Dr. Forg and I managed to have a great 12 day trip in three of the main alpine centers in Europe.

We started off in Chamonix to 2 solid days of driving rain that left Mont Blanc covered in loads of fresh snow. With an avalanche catching parties the day before and more rain coming we opted to bail to Zermatt early. One more rainy day spent in the Gorner Gorge, and day 4 dawned clear. We did a couple routes on the Riffelhorn. The photo above is of the doc on the summit.
We then climbed Pollux the next day in fine weather. After that came the ultra-classic Half-Traverse of the Breithorn. Photo 2 shows Pat hydrating before heading to the third summit of the traverse. We went up to the Matterhorn the next day for some recon, and soon found too much fresh snow still covering most of the route.
So instead, the next day we bussed over to the Saas Valley and climbed the beautiful 15 pitch Panorama Route (5b or 5.8) on the SE face of the Jagihorn. Excellent climbing and a beautiful day. As we waited at the bus stop, I got a call informing me that the Mittellegi Hut on the Eiger would not be opening for our reservation to climb on the 22nd.

We still went to Grindelwald, and instead went to the Monch Hut and climbed the pleasant SE Ridge to the summit. A hearty lunch, and we were ready to try the Jungfrau the next day. But once again the mountains had different ideas. We awoke to a stiff wind, biting snow, and bad visibility. Above you can see the weather still enveloping the Eiger in the afternoon. We went back doen the Jungfraubahn to Grindelwald and enjoyed a nice hike below the Schwarzhorn instead. This beautiful landscape is just below the towering North Face of Wetterhorn and inhabitated by many lazy and friendly alpine cows.More to come from Colorado! Cheers, Clint