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

February Ice Conditions

It's been a while since we've seen significant snow, but the ice is great! The park is super fat and sticky. Skylight climbs are good. Ames is getting bigger, Bridalveil is a highway. Stairway and Whorehouse are in good shape.

I haven't heard of anyone climbing the Talisman yet.

Mad Props to Dawn Glanc for winning the comp this year! She deserved it, hardest working woman in ice climbing, not to mention the best handshake!

I've been slugging it out all over the San Juans lately. Closing in on 75 days for the season, a little slow, but plenty of season left.

Cheers, CC

San Juan ice conditions

The fest was good this year. The clinics went smooth despite unpredictable river conditions. I've been out in the backcounty a bunch since then and there are some great conditions on many routes. Stairway to Heaven is especially fat and sticky, and folks have been climbing Goldrush and others in Eureka. The Ames Ice Hose is still good. The first pitch is beat out, hard to find anything to swing into. The last pitch is well traveled as well, but very good. Should have a few more days of mild weather to enjoy.

Cheers, CC

Leading Pitch 3

A good view of Pitches 1 and 2.

Stephen following pitch 1.

Climbed Ames Ice Hose on December 31. Pitch 1 is unusually fat this year. I was able to get 13-16cm screws all the way up. The second pitch was rumored to be full of snice and kinda sketchy, but the a team the day before did a fine job of cleaning out all the garbage and now it is in excellent shape and fuly protectable with screws. The only negative of the whole day was that someone has removed the pitons above pitch 2, so until they are replaced you need to belay from the ice with screw, which places the belayer in a less protected location.Pitch 3 is fat as always.