Silverton/Ouray ice conditions this week???

Pardon my laziness to google the above, but, can anyone share recent conditions up in Eureka and Ouray? I am out in So Cal and it is 8o degrees - stellar beach days. i checked the weather channel and highs look to be in the mid to upper 40's? Debating if it is worth the drive up to CO or hit Yosemite or something instead. Thanks, Mike

Go to skywardmountaineering.com if you haven't already. The latest info is from Jan 2nd.

The weather here has been sunny and dry for a couple of weeks. Highs in the mountains in the 30's. Climbed the Ames Ice Hose yesterday, and it was cold in the shade, and 40 in the sun. Most ice climbs in Silverton and Ouray are doing good due to cold temps at night. Everything is getting fat in Eureka, and avanlanche conditions are low until the next snow cylcle. I highly suggest coming to the San Juans!!

Eureka is super fat. Whorehouse and stairway are looking really good, lots and lots of climbers lately up there.

On Friday, Stairway P3 was running a HUGE amount of water and it's only been as warm or warmer since then. Overall, it's in OK condition but not the best I've seen it. Whorehouse is "interesting" - there's a big crack about 3/4 of the way up P1 (probably healed since it didn't fall down when we climbed it but it was very "resonant" near the top)and the righthand option on the last pitch is thinner than a couple of weeks ago. Highway to Hell (aka Highway 666) looks super fun. 1st and 2nd Gully look to be a combination of snow-covered and melted out but we didn't go over there. On the up-side, avy danger is uncommonly low right now. We did The Sherman Climb (aka NE face of Half Peak) today and it was great (though some potential hard-slab issues at the top) but wet in the middle.

2nd gully was in great shape on Saturday. There were a few sections of snow, but had good steps. 1st gully looks a little thin at the moment, especially the upper pitches. The hordes were out in mass on Stairway. We counted at least four groups. Try to hit it during the week if you can.

Mikey boy. Sad you did not fire me an email hhhahahh
wehen ou heading out?

1st and 2nd gully had a lot of ice and rocks coming off them yesterday due to the HOT temps. Aim for something in the shade or get up high early. Storm cycle coming through in the next few days so avi danger will prb ramp up.

I'm in Ouray now and the ice park is a mess from the last week or more of hundreds of climbers marching through it. It needs a rest.

It's been in the mid-forties here and much melting has been going on. It's been freezing at night but getting on the ice early to avoid getting too wet in the afternoon is a must. Routes up by camp bird are in great shape. Really thick and stable but by 2pm you want to be drytooling instead. BBB is still filled with snow and Ribbon Falls is very dry. Ames Ice Hose nd Bridalveil Falls are in great shape, very thick and safe. There is alot of ice forming around the city limits of Ouray. I think it's only going to get better with time.

Kevin's report on Eureka seems accurate. The avalanche danger is less than it was a week ago but we're supposed to get some snow this next weekend. Follow the weather report.

I would think it is definately worth the drive to ice climb in the San Juans right now. You will hit fat conditions and not many people are around. Bring your Hawaiian shirt!

Jack

Well, I just returned... Climbed The first frist creek/gully in Silverton on Thursday and it was not bad. Super fun ice with a lot of snow. Friday was the epic. Drove up to Ouray Thursday evening and headed up to Dexter Creek Slabs on Fri morning. It was very warm and took about 2 hours of shin deep snow to get to the base. On the way to the main ice fall, I triggered a small avalanche about 5 feet below me and was gripped. About a minute later, a small one came down on me from above the rockband where the ice chandlier (see pics) and dumped all kinds of debris on me. At this point, I was way gripped and we decided to bail. We downclimbed to a tree and my partner went down abou t30 feet and had to stop to un-tangle the ropes. I was sitting, freezing balls for about 20 minutes when I heard a loud crash and saw a huge avalanche (Blue line path in one of the pics in the link) come from above the rock bands within 10 feet of me. There were hug fridge' sized blocks coming down with tons of snow. I jumped and grabbed the tree as I was in the firing line. Fortunately, we just got hit with small debris but it could have been much worse. Check out the images of us entering the gully on the approach and us exiting on the way out. You can see all the new debris that "flowed" out from up high. Super sketch! The route looks stellar however, i will return....

s101.photobucket.com/albums…

Holy crap dude! Glad you're OK!!! I don't know *why* this route has a rep for low/no avy danger.

Depending on the approach route selected, one can easily be exposed to a big slope and/or a large terrain trap (the gully/creek bed) - as you found out.

Let's all be careful out there.

I'm still in Ouray/Telluride area and it has been dumping snow for two days.

I was out skiing yesterday because the area received over 10 inches of snow (my ten inch rule is if it snows more than ten inches in 24 hours I go skiing instead of climbing ice. Also, known as The Soles Rule). The avi conditions are pretty funky all over so check first before going out.

Right now it is still snowing and supposed to continue doing so for the next two days. Also high winds (30-40mph) up above 11,500. It seems that all the ice climbs are covered in snow.......

The climbing will be good once the sun comes out and some of this stuff has a chance to melt and sluff off but in the meanwhile, enjoy the pow-pow.
Staying away from the ice park gives the icec a chance to heal itself after all the recent action...........

cheers,
Jack

Madness we were about 30-45 mins behind Mike on Dexter Creek and turned around cause the snow seemed too weird with the rain and warm temps....glad we did.....