Alpine Climbing Conditions in the San Juans

Spent a few days up in Yankee Boy Basin this past week. Snow conditions are good. You can drive past the toilet to the upper gate and park. There is still plenty of snow for good alpine climbing right now. The south facing routes are holding less snow, but there is enough for great conditions on Teakettle and Sneffels. The north routes like Gilpin are still chock full and even seeing some ski descents.

Tis' the season! Come and get it!

Cheers, CC

Peak 11,300 SW Ridge

I had a great 2nd trip in the Alaska Range in Mid-May. Bob and I flew directly into the West Fork of the Ruth Glacier on May 19th. We set up a nice camp and got prepped to head up on the route the next morning. The SW Ridge of PK 11,300 is one of the finest routes in the range. 4,000 feet of steep snow, sweet iced up corners and couloirs, and loads of clean 5.8 rock steps. From below the route is quite deceptive. It appears straightforward and not too far, but as it unfolds there are seemingly endless cols and corners to navigate before emerging on the summit ice field.We spent the first night at the Grey Rock Bivy, climbed over the summit to the start of the rappels on the 2nd, and back to camp on the 3rd day.Great trip, great company!

Cheers, CC

Mooses Tooth, Ham and Eggs

The Mooses Tooth, South FaceBill and I flew into the Root Canal Glacier on May 1st. On May 2nd, we blitzed Ham and Eggs to the summit of the Mooses Tooth in 13 hours roundtrip. On May 3rd, we flew out. Headed back in on the 19th.

Bill on the summit with Denali in the background.Bing, Bam, Boom. We had planned on a little more time in the range, but with mission accomplished we decided to call it a trip. The unseasonably warm temps had deterioriated conditions on most ice routes, so we were psyched to get one fine route in.

Cheers, CC

Sunday Wall - Unaweep Canyon

Spent a nice day in Unaweep on Friday. We were all alone, as is usually the case here. We climbed the Standard route to Sundancer, and then finished with the top 2 pitches of High Exposure.

For those unfamiliar with the canyon, it is home to a bunch of great 1-4 pitch routes on interesting rock in a nice setting. Very Western. Check it out! CC.

Camp Bird Road - Yankee Boy Access

I've been fielding a lot of questions about Sneffels and Yankee Boy Access, so i thought I would post what I know. The official opening is May 1. I'm not sure how far it will be plowed, but I would imagine at least until the Ruby Trust Mine. If you go, remember that the plow takes all precedent!

Do Not Block the Road!!! Only park where the plow can get around you. I.E. not at the very end of the plowed road where they can't get around to plow further. There are usually adequate pull-outs in strategic locations along the way.

Enjoy the spring skiing and mountaineering! Cheers, CC

Canadian Rockies Trips

Recently got back from a couple weeks of ice climbing in the Canadian Rockies. Started off with a week of guiding classics like Guinness Stout, Murchison Falls, Professor Falls, Louise Falls, and This House of Sky. We happened to hit an extreme cold snap for a few of the days, but we persevered and survived despite many rounds of the screaming barfies.

Paul on the way down Professor Falls after cruising the route in fine style. Congrats!

After that Kevin came up and met me to try some alpine lines, but conditions were not good in the higher mountains so we opted for a few classic water ice routes instead. Overall we had a great week. Here are a few shots of our favorites.

Bourgeau Left-Hand WI5

The Sorcerer WI5+

3rd pitch of The Sorcerer

Curtain Call WI6-

Red Man Soars M6+ WI5Whiteman Falls WI5+

Now I've got a couple weeks to get warm before I head back to Alaska for a few trips. Cheers, CC.

Ouray Conditions

Well, the ice season is over here in Ouray. Although we are continuing to get snow every couple of days. The skiing is good in spots and funky in others. I have been fielding a bunch of inquiries about mountaineering lately, but haven't been super optimistic. We are still in a winter snow environment, so skis or snowshoes and full avi kit are needed to get to the top of most anything in the San Juans. If you are keen and hardy there are lots of good ski mountaineering objectives available for 1 to 3 day trips to the high peaks. I've benn trying to rock climb as much as possible, and the Pool Wall has been quite nice, as have some desert locations.Cheers, CC