Utah Ice Conditions, 2013 - 2014

Josh Allred wrote:Any suggestions this week with Avi conditions being so high? Provo?

From a few years back (RIP Doug):

Heavy Snow Triggers Avalanches; 1 Killed
Nation IN BRIEF : UTAH January 27, 1997
Heavy snows coupled with high winds caused four avalanches in the mountains of Utah in the last four days, leaving one person dead and injuring two, officials said. Doug Hall, 27, of Silverton, Colo., was ice climbing in the Bridal Veil Falls area of Provo Canyon when an avalanche swept him nearly 250 feet down a canyon wall. Hall's climbing partner, Scott Lee, 25, of Sandy, Utah, suffered head, back and chest injuries in the slide.

Picture of the bottom of Hanging Slab Gully. Fun hike in, fun vertical, no ice on top outs. Of course no es bueno under current high avy conditions. Rap rings just above the second curtain.

Hanging Slab Gully

Climbed White Nightmare and La Punta Blanca yesterday. The White Nightmare is in good condition and seeing lots of action. Steep on the climbers left side and a good line right up the middle. Second pitch was a bit thin at the top.

A fair amount of ice chunks falling off the Main Bridalveil flow. Also a large (medium TV) rock naturally came the cliff between La Punta Blanca and the Fitness Den. It hit one of those small pines and broke part of the tree.

La Punta Blanca

BV and White Nightmare

I was reading this thread and saw Brian in SLC's post. I was a friend of Doug Hall's and he died on January 25, 1997, during the Winter Outdoor Retailer show. It apparently was warm that day and I hope people really do think long and hard about the avalanche danger above them. That's all.

What is the most pertinent avalanche forecasting resource for SLC ice climbers?

CWood wrote:What is the most pertinent avalanche forecasting resource for SLC ice climbers?

http://utahavalanchecenter.org/advisory/salt-lake

When the forecast is considerable to high stay the hell out of Provo Canyon. The only real except is Stairway as all of the other climbs have huge bowls above. Similar for Santaquin.

Klimbien wrote:Photos from today (12/20/13) @ 1400, temp was 32 degrees, Location: Camp Creek alltrails.com/trail/us/utah… The top section looked thin and a lot of water was flowing underneath - rain/snow all day

Very cool. I've always looked over there at those canyons and the cliffs around them. It looks like Spring Creek has a huge amphitheater near its mouth. Is access limited for any of those? It feels like that's total Zion side-country but limestone.

1

maddog wrote:Has anyone climbed at the new area just west of Bridalveil Falls?

I spoke with a couple of guys who claimed responsibility for the area. They said it was farmed and is on public property.

Route Update:

Miller's Thriller: 12/24 - Slushy but, in. The drip line on the left of the top pitch is not touching down yet.

The Fang: 12/26 - The cold spell that came through definitely impacted routes in Provo. In just two days the lower pitches of comparable routes were night and day. Super solid pro on the lower part of the fang. The upper section (the actual Fang) is in but, flowing water. I stayed left and still got super wet (i.e. ruined my cell phone that was inside my gore-tex coat wet).

chadnuesmeyer thanks for responding to my post. Do you know if they applied for a water diversion permit? If not, farming ice in sight of a major highway is not a very bright thing to do. It could cause access restrictions for everybody. I'm not saying I'm above a little water diversion ;) but creating a major ice crag on a busy road... hmmmm. I'm just hoping they got a permit 'cause it's a helluva good crag and they've done some great work. I would hate to see the FS close it off or restrict access. There are a ton of drytool lines to be had WITHOUT the ice.

Has anybody been down to Joe's Valley lately? If so is has any good ice come in yet? Was hoping to do Robert's Horn this weekend but due to avy danger looking for a different area.

Water diversion permit???...Sounds like bureaucratic red tape bs to me....

Briggs wrote:Water diversion permit???...Sounds like bureaucratic red tape bs to me....

Actually it is not and when it comes to water, moving it around can cause issues really quick. Even when water is moved with in the same drainage. For instance, a few years ago folks tried to move a bit of water around in the GWIC gully. The FS, had they known about it, would have had to remove the plumbing - even though the water was still going down the same drainage.

@ Tenesmus - There is no access issue, this area is inside Zion NP, however when you park and go through the gate with a sign letting you know that you are entering Zion it just says, "Please close gate behind you" - all are welcome.

Stairway conditions today, Sunday, Dec. 27. WILL POST PHOTOS TOMORROW, MON.
Lower two benches fine w/some easier starts but drippy & wet. Signs of considerable rockfall (typical) that looked quite fresh - baseball size. We dodged a hail of rocks on the way down; good that Bolted Big Bertha was there to hide behind.
REMEMBER TO PUT YOUR HELMET ON SOMEWHERE ALONG THE TRAIL. BEST PLACE IS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TRAIL, NOT AT THE BASE OF THE CLIMB, then you don't need to worry about it while the missiles are raining from above.

Even though the route(s) are not in best condition, a climber will find almost all types of ice, some of which changes with one or two tool swings. Good training for those who haven't encountered it; for those that have, levitation practice here is fun.

First three pitches are zig here, zag there. Repeat.

Third bench, in places, offered true, very, very hard, scalloped, bullet proof ice - good place to practice your delicate "peck, peck, peck" to ballet dance your way up this. Trying to bash your way up this will only frustrate & tire you, and it's poor form. The crowds below will boo you. It is also an excellent ice type to practice setting screws. Too many people give up or pass by these "training" opportunities. Would you rather drill your very first bullet proof ice screw while you're hanging on to your tool 100 ft up (leashes or not) OR have taken a few hours or more to give up a short climb and practiced? (Don't forget your screw cleaning tool such as a Candella. The ice inside the screw might be rock hard.) And don't drop it...more screws are dropped in this kind of ice unless the climber is experienced.

Enough of that. With an early start by a strong climbing team, a circuitous route can be put together (would also add just a tad of route finding in upper benches; some of the normal reliable pillars have either not touched down or fallen). Someone do it & post up. With fading light, we retreated at the fourth bench. The rest of it will go - just get an early start. Stairway has been weird this year; will be interesting to see how/if it fills in, thus, somebody getting on it this week might be able to provide an overview of the upper sections (a lot of water, bonded or not, touched down or not, etc.)

A fair amount of Ouray-aerated ice, a lot of it very drip, can be found on the first & second pitch. Some ice takes Styrofoam sticks nicely. Bad news is that the ice is inconsistent - long runs of similar ice are just not in yet. GOOD NEWS: because of conditions described above, it's a good place to hang out, do a few pitches & tune your techniques.

Up high the ice is better, however, very wet & drippy. Middle right is an obvious larger, more consolidified sheet/column (Steady WI 4) but wetter than we had hoped. 22 cm (8 to 10 on safe side) & knowing how to use opposing V threads for pro is a plus. We used this technique twice to get down. If you don't know how to do opposing V threads to get you down (and up, used as lead pro) in weird conditions, it's a good thing to practice. Bottom of the first pitch (flat ground) would be a good place to practice, esp. cuz right now, even the lower section presents a range of ice conditions.

When conditions are like they are now & long pitches aren't yet in the cards, don't get too bummed out, esp beginners. Make the most of it & practice or learn things you didn't know. Better "down there" than "up there" to do it. REPEAT: WILL POST PHOTOS TOMORROW.

Klimbien wrote:@ Tenesmus - There is no access issue, this area is inside Zion NP, however when you park and go through the gate with a sign letting you know that you are entering Zion it just says, "Please close gate behind you" - all are welcome.

Sweet!!

Russell Sneddon wrote:Has anybody been down to Joe's Valley lately? If so is has any good ice come in yet? Was hoping to do Robert's Horn this weekend but due to avy danger looking for a different area.

We went to Joes Valley on Dec 23. Some decent ice on a few routes. CCC falls was pretty good. Dead bolt was really wet over the top of solid plastic ice. The WI 5 pitch was very chandelier,with good hooking.
Donorcicle was not in, a huge gap before it touched down on the cone below. Wolfenstien nothing.

We climbed Maple last Friday, not much in. The least ice I have seen in at least 5 years in Dec. Climbed some small thing on right after box canyon. Wet itchies in Left Hand Fork ok, not great but climbable. Get whacked not in, none of the climbs on South side of Road like Running Man is in. In Box Canyon, we checked out the dagger, the first half up to the overhang is usually in and a good little warm up,but it was thin, not protect able, seeing how little ice was on it, when normally it is one of the fattest features, we did not venture further in.

Josh Allred wrote:Any suggestions this week with Avi conditions being so high? Provo? GWI? Maple (Doubt there is anything)? Any word what the ice is looking like at Joes? Thanks. Edit: I guess I should clarify. Any SAFE suggestions this week with Avy conditions being so high?

We went to Joes Valley on Dec 23. Some decent ice on a few routes. CCC falls was pretty good but last pitch very very wet. Dead Bolt was really wet in places over the top of solid plastic ice. The WI 4/5 pitch was very chandelier,with good hooking.
Donorcicle was not in, a huge gap before it touched down on the cone below. Wolfenstien nothing.

We climbed Maple last Friday Dec 27, not much in. The least ice I have seen in at least 5+ years in Dec. Climbed some small thing on right after box canyon. Wet itchies in Left Hand Fork ok, not great but climbable. Get whacked not in, none of the climbs on South side of Road like Running Man is in. In Box Canyon, we checked out the dagger, the first half up to the overhang is usually in and a good little warm up,but it was thin, not protect able, seeing how little ice was on it, when normally it is one of the early forming features, we did not venture further in.
12 year old daughter on CCC falls Dec 23

4/5 pitch on dead bolt Joes valley Dec 23

Wow I'm pretty surprised as to the shortage of ice in Joe's. Wonder what the culprit is? Not enough water?

SwC wrote:Wow I'm pretty surprised as to the shortage of ice in Joe's. Wonder what the culprit is? Not enough water?

Its all being diverted to the dirtcicle ;-)